CADE Turns Heads With New Music & Fall Tour: The Nocturnal Times Interview

L.A. based singer, songwriter, and producer CADE is catching fire with his latest music and artillery of talents. Currently in the middle of his Fall tour, CADE is traveling to cities around the U.S. including New York City, Nashville, Tallahassee, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and more, as well as opening for the likes of Adventure Club, Kiiara, and Cheat Codes. Not too shabby, eh?

His recent collaboration with TK Kravitz on “I Know You Know” successfully bridges the gap between electronic, pop, and hip-hop. CADE aims to do this with his style, and incorporates genres like R&B and hip-hop into his pop songs, creating something truly special.

Back in his homeland of Florida, last week CADE hit his Orlando tour stop at Ono Nightclub. In a vibrantly colored club he put on a super fun and unique high-energy set full of catchy pop, high-powered dance music, and soulful r&b styles. His set included original tracks like “Where We Left” “Sorry For Myself” and “Stay With You,” his sexy collaboration with Cheat Codes. He even slid in his upcoming single “Warning Sign,” which will make an appearance on his next EP.

The Nocturnal Times had the chance to sit down (at a cozy pizza shop) with CADE just moments before his performance in Orlando last Thursday. The setting was comfortable and fun – the perfect introduction to CADE. A fun loving, funny, and mega-talented young artist, you can see the passion and excitement he has for his music both when speaking to him and during his live performances. With so much still ahead, he is off to an unbelievable start with his career. Read our exclusive interview with him below, where we discuss touring, collaborations, Summer highlights, new music & more.

The Nocturnal Times: You’re from Tampa – how does it feel to be performing so close to home?

CADE: It’s amazing. It’s really fun because I get to see some faces that I know, and I just love being home. It’s fun to be back on my stomping grounds and say hi to people I haven’t seen in awhile. It’s a good time!

The Nocturnal Times: Do you prefer it as opposed to playing shows around the country/world?

CADE: I definitely love coming home and seeing friends. At the same time I think it’s super fun to travel. I love seeing new places so I love them both but yeah it’s definitely a good time.

The Nocturnal Times: What do you have in store for everyone here in Orlando tonight?

CADE: I’m going to put on a pretty energetic set. It’s going to be a mix of my pop music with a lot of dance tracks – get the energy mixed up so it should be pretty fun. I’m looking forward to it!

The Nocturnal Times: This stop is in the middle of your Fall tour. You’ve got more dates coming up/ in the past opening up for artists like Adventure Club. Kiiara, Cheat Codes – how does that feel?

CADE: Super fun. It’s really cool opening for those kind of guys – you really learn a lot from them. Just watching them, they really know what they’re doing and I usually get to meet them and hang with them which is cool. Everyone has been nice so far – I feel like I’ll learn a lot from opening for those guys.

The Nocturnal Times: After working with Cheat Codes on different projects you’ve had the chance to form a great relationship with them, yeah?

CADE: Absolutely. I actually live in a house with Trevor now – he and I have been close for awhile. We actually met touring way back, like years back. He used to record my first music and then he actually got me with my management team, so yeah he has always been like a music mentor to me, and him and I are super close. I used to live with him and Matt, who is also in Cheat Codes, and we play a lot of shows with the boys so it’s super fun working with those guys. It’s cool because they give me a lot of good pointers and they’re always super supportive. Fun to hang out with too – those boys know how to party. Shoutout Cheat Codes!

The Nocturnal Times: Along with Cheat Codes, who else would you name as some of your bigger inspirations?

CADE: I really love Drake. I think DJ Snake is awesome. You know who I’ve been digging? It’s actually one of my buddies, but Lauv. He’s awesome so shoutout Ari! I don’t know, I’ve been listening to a little bit of everything. Now with Spotify you can just listen to all of it so it’s great.

The Nocturnal Times: Are there any specific tracks or artists in the last week or two that you’re totally obsessed with/can’t keep off repeat?

CADE: Lately, honestly, I’ve been really loving the new DJ Snake/Lauv record. Other than that it’s been pretty random. I listen to a lot of chill R&B stuff, and a lot of dance music. Yeah it’s kind of all over the place.

The Nocturnal Times: Your recent single, “I Know You Know” – super fun and catchy. How did that track come about?

CADE: Thank you so much! So I wrote it back in L.A. I actually wrote it with this really talented girl from the Netherlands. Her and I wrote it together, and basically I just felt like the song was really special to me. I do a lot of writing sessions but that song felt really special, so I really wanted to focus on it. I finished out the production, and I knew that I wanted to have a rapper on it so I reached out to a couple teams, and TK Kravitz reached back so we got him on the song and I’m glad we did!

The Nocturnal Times: Flashing back to before all of this, how and when did you start producing music and writing songs?

CADE: I started really young. I started by doing the whole band thing, so I was like making my own rock bands. I’m talking early days like during middle school. So i started by doing the band stuff and then I took a more serious route. I started music directing for other bands, specifically this girl named Macy Kate, who is a YouTuber. When I went on that tour I met Trevor from Cheat Codes and then I started recording my own music. So that’s kind of how I got in, and it’s been fun – it’s been a journey.

The Nocturnal Times: Last year was the release of your first EP, Care, with Spinnin’ Records, a huge label – how does that feel?

CADE: It was awesome. It was really cool because obviously they gave me a chance before anyone did. The EP got a better response than I expected it to so yeah it was really cool! I was glad that they were nice enough to give me the opportunity and obviously since it did pretty well I’m excited about it haha. It’s a good way of getting things started.

The Nocturnal Times: What runs through your head when you’re performing, you’re up on stage with a crowd in front of you, and you see them all responding to/loving your music?

CADE: I just really like feeling the buzz of energy in the room. I guess a lot of things are running through my head. Obviously I’m thinking about my performance and how I’m being responded to but I really like seeing people react to the music. That’s one of my favorite parts about doing the whole thing. Creating the music and then seeing how it comes together live. I live for touring – touring is the best. I really like seeing new places. I love playing shows, I just think it’s fun.

The Nocturnal Times: Now that Summer has ended and we’re starting in Fall, what were some of the biggest/the biggest highlights of your Summer?

CADE: So I played at Lollapalooza with Cheat Codes, which was really cool. They featured me in their performance on mainstage, which was – I don’t even know how many people but it was a lot of them, like I could not see to the end so that was unbelievable. I played at a festival in Milwaukee called Summerfest. That was an incredible experience. I got to do a Jimmy Kimmel interview and stuff so all that was really fun. It’s been a fun Summer. A lot of cool moments, a lot of good memories.

The Nocturnal Times: What new music do you have waiting on deck?

CADE: I actually have an EP in the works. It’s a three-song EP and I’m super excited about it. I actually did a majority of the writing and a majority of production by myself which I’m pumped about. There’s a single coming up on it called “Warning Sign” – that’s definitely going to be my focus single in the next few months. Look out for “Warning Sign” – hopefully everyone likes it.

Featured photo credit: Billboard