‘5 Questions With’: Casscade

Following up on his previous single ‘Crazy Scenes‘, North West London rapper and songwriter Casscade finally returned with a brand new track, ‘Dance For Me’. The up-and-coming artist has been in the game for a while and there’s no slowing him down anytime soon. From performing at the renowned Notting Hill Carnival to being championed by industry legend DJ Semtex to collaborating with German Gold-selling artist Joshi Mizu – Casscade is a force to be reckoned with, and his astounding talent and passion for his artistry has gained him a loyal, ever-growing fanbase in the UK and beyond.

Most recently, he’s dropped a mash-up of his latest single with Kanye West‘s hit ‘Flashing Lights‘, featuring soul singer Carmy Love. Performed over a string quartet supplied by the Vitamin String Quartet, Casscade effortlessly switches back and forth between the songs, showcasing his remarkably dynamic vocals.

Read the full interview below…

EQ: So far, your musical journey has had lots of exciting moments. Which one do you think has been your most memorable moment personally?

C: Hmmmm. That is a hard one! I’ve got to say it’s probably out of Anthony Kilhoffer proper vibing to my song or when I performed at Notting Hill Carnival 2019. I think I’ll say Carnival because it was my first time doing a crowd that big. It’s a spot I usually start my carnival experience with every year that I’ve gone so to be performing on that stage was dope. I was the underdog. I had a few people come out that knew me but I still didn’t expect much. I just went out there in confidence because this is what I do. To get the reaction I did was crazy. Even the promoters were shocked. I was only supposed to do that day but it was so lit I got asked to come the next day too. Definitely a landmark for me.

EQ: Your sound is quite versatile but especially with ‘Dance For Me’ you’ve shown us a new side to your artistry. What was your creative process this time, did you approach anything differently?

C: If I’m being totally honest, it’s a side that’s always been there but I never really put on show. You’d hear it in songs like ‘PFY‘ on my last EP ‘Ignorance Is Bliss‘ but not really at the forefront. The pandemic really got me to sit down with everything and I just decided to dive into my artistry. You’ll be seeing and hearing more like this trust me. But just going back to ‘Dance For Me‘ – the instrumental kind of just guided my spirit the first time I heard it. The first day I heard it I basically recorded the track there and then. In the first 30 minutes I had the skeleton for the whole track. I was happy with it and went from there.

EQ: Let’s also talk about the accompanied cinematic visual. Did you take inspiration from somewhere or how did you come up with the concept?

C: It’s crazy because I actually recorded the song last summer in 2020. I originally had like a really basic concept but then like I said earlier I just had this thought to really dive into the artistry and just do things differently. The concept was cooked up by myself and the director John Mouratis. It’s a process I usually do where I send the director loads of pictures and ideas and the director and myself cook up like a mood board. I draw inspo from literally everything. I could go to a gallery, see a picture of someone in a suit and bang, that’s it. You’ll be the first to know that one of the pictures I sent the director was actually from a game called Tekken. I also incorporate things that I’ve been into lately. Like, I’ve been on Youtube searching for instrumentalist covers of songs recently so it inspired me to get my own piano version of ‘Dance For Me‘ made and introduced it at the beginning of the video to give it a melancholic feel. I’m just a big fan of attention to detail in music.

“The instrumental kind of just guided my spirit the first time I heard it. The first day I heard it I basically recorded the track there and then. In the first 30 minutes I had the skeleton for the whole track.”