Description
Cascada (pronounced /kəˈskɑːdə/) is a German eurodance group active since 2004. They are most famous for their songs "Everytime We Touch" which won them a World Music Award in 2007 as well as becoming the group's first number one single, "What Hurts the Most" which reached the charts in 2008, and "Evacuate the Dancefloor" which became their first UK number one single in 2009. So far the group has sold an estimated 14 million copies of their three albums, and 36 million singles worldwide. Cascada consists of the German-born English singer Natalie Horler, and Record producers DJ Manian and Yanou. Cascada was originally founded as "Cascade", but the name had to be changed due to trademark conflict with the musician Kaskade. In 2010 Cascada was announced as the second most downloaded dance artist of all time only being beaten by international dance producer David Guetta.
Natalie Horler was born on September 23, 1981. As the lead singer, Horler is often presented as Cascada, as opposed to the entire group. From the age of 16 onwards, she collaborated with several dance DJs, providing uncredited vocals on several dance releases from acts such as Akira ('Piece of Heaven'), 2 Vibez ('Sometimes'), Diamond ('Reason') and Scarf! ('Odysee'), many of which were produced by Cascada producer DJ Manian.
DJ Manian
DJ Manian is a German producer, trance DJ, owner of dance music label Zooland Records and a member of Cascada, alongside Yanou and Horler. He has produced a number of singles under various pseudonyms, and maintains a number of different musical projects, including Spencer and Hill (under the pseudonym Josh Hill), Tune Up! (now defunct), Scarf (now defunct), Bulldozzer, M.Y.C, Ampire, Phalanx, Plazmatek, Basis 1, Kareema and Liz Kay. Mostly, he co-operates with Yanou and Vengeance Sound producer Manuel Schleis.
Yanou
Known professionally as Yanou, Yann Pfeiffer is a German producer and Cascada member. He collaborated with DJ Sammy on the worldwide hit "Heaven" with vocalist Do. He produces Cascada's music alongside Manian and Horler. He is known for his re-arranged 'Candlelight Mixes' of 'What Hurts The Most', 'Everytime We Touch' and 'Draw The Line', transforming the uptempo dance tracks into slower ballads with orchestral instruments; piano, strings, woodwinds and light percussion.
Music
Everytime We Touch (2004–2007)
Cascada experienced mainstream success in the United Kingdom and the United States almost a year after releasing their second American single, "Everytime We Touch", which interpolates the chorus of a 1992 Maggie Reilly song of the same name. In total, eight singles were released from the album. Everytime We Touch reached the number one spot in various countries, including the US Dance Chart. It remained at number one in Ireland for several weeks. "Everytime We Touch" became the best-selling dance track of 2006. Despite receiving a number of negative reviews, the follow up single "Truly Madly Deeply" also fared well in the charts. The third release was "Miracle", which became another number one hit for the group in some areas of Europe and received mainstream chart success in the United Kingdom.
Cascada became the fourth best-selling group of 2007, and were only beaten by global successes Leona Lewis, Amy Winehouse and KT Tunstall.
[edit]Perfect Day (2007–2008)
The worldwide lead single, "What Hurts the Most", was released in late 2007 and early 2008, along with its B-side, a cover of Wham!'s "Last Christmas". It became Cascada's second best-selling single in the United States, certified gold. On June 30, 2008, it was announced that the second single for the United States and Canada was "Faded" which appeared only on the North American version of Perfect Day. "Because the Night" became available as a digital download in Europe on this date and received a physical release on August 4, 2008. The last single was the album's title track, "Perfect Day", released in North America on February 17, 2009.
In the United Kingdom, a platinum edition of Perfect Day was set to be released on October 20, 2008, which was to feature the American tracks and a DVD with live performances from Clubland Live 2008, Horler's favorite Cascada music videos, an exclusive interview with her, a photo gallery and an acoustic performance of "Another You" in the studio with Yanou on piano. There was no further word about the album being released, and it was later cancelled.
Evacuate the Dancefloor (2008–2009)
On 10 April 2008, Horler announced that work on the third album would soon commence and that the album would be released in 2009. Jo Whiley announced on her Radio 1 show that Coldplay's Chris Martin would work with Cascada, but this was later denied by Horler. Producer Yanou confirmed that the single and album would be released around June and also stated there would be no cover versions on the album. Evacuate the Dancefloor was released on July 6 in the United Kingdom and Germany. The lead single and title track of the album "Evacuate the Dancefloor" was released on June 29, 2009 in the United Kingdom, where it become the group's first number-one single. The single went on to achieve worldwide success. In the United States it was certified platinum with sales of over one million.
On May 28, an album launch party was held in London where Horler performed, previewing tracks off the new album: "Evacuate The Dancefloor", "Breathless", "Draw the Line" and "Dangerous". The album was initially released in the United Kingdom on July 3, 2009, and was released in other countries across the world in the following months. Horler made appearances in nightclubs across the world to promote the release of the album. It has a greater variety of sounds than the previous two albums, introducing different basslines and new instrument sounds in contrast to the traditional "hands-up" style of Cascada which was the only styling used on previous albums. On July 17, it was announced that Cascada would be the opening act for Britney Spears' The Circus Starring Britney Spears tour, at the O2 World in Berlin, Germany on July 26, 2009. "Fever" became the second single from the album in most countries including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and was released in early October. Cascada's United Kingdom label AATW decided to release "Dangerous" in the UK and Ireland as the second single instead; it was released as a two track CD Single and digitally on October 12, 2009
"Fever" was released as a digital single both in the UK and the US on December 21, 2009, and January 26, 2010 respectively.
Fourth Studio Album (2010–present)
Natalie Horler mentioned in a interview (for a Sheffield radio station) in November 2009 that Cascada would be working on a new album soon. In an interview with Digital Spy, Horler was asked about the possibility of a fourth album, and replied, "There will be an album eventually, but right now we're just trying to bring out a few new and exciting songs to surprise people... One day we'll sit down and choose the best ones and bind them together for an album." In an email newsletter to all their fans and subscribers, Horler and the crew announced that a fourth album is now in the works, and that details would be coming very soon. It was confirmed on their official website and Twitter that a new album is in the making.
On February 12, 2010 Cascada premiered the single "Pyromania" on German Radio with the music video following a week later. It was released in Germany digitally on March 16, following by a physical release on March 19, 2010.
It was later performed on March 5 on the German show The Dome in Berlin.
In an interview with 4Music, Natalie said a new Cascada single would be released in a few months time and the track will follow the same style as Evacuate the Dancefloor and Pyromania. US label Robbins Entertainment commented on the leak of a remix version of the song "Night Nurse" saying that it could be a possible followup single to "Pyromania". They also later stated that "Everytime I Hear Your Name" may be released as the next US single for the previous album. Horler stated on her official Twitter account on October 20, 2010 that she was shooting a new video, which was later revealed on 6 November to be Night Nurse, with the video being premiered on Clubland TV and YouTube. No further information has been given on the release of Night Nurse. On 26th November 2010, tickets went on sale for the 2011 UK tour. It is believed that the tour is to promote the upcoming album which is expected be released in 2011.
Appearances in media
Before Cascada's third album, Horler did not receive much media attention. However, following the success of Evacuate The Dancefloor, she has become, in the words of Digital Spy, a 'Star'. Her face has appeared in many daily newspapers such as 'The Sun' and the 'Daily Star'.
In the autumn of 2006, Horler made her first foray into television as the guest host of the viewer request show Back @ Ya on bpm:tv, a Toronto-based cable channel that broadcasts all across Canada and some parts of the United States. bpm:tv specializes in playing dance and electronica music videos. That same year, she appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly to promote Everytime We Touch.
Horler has also presented 'The Clubland Top 50' on the UK music channel 4Music, as well as the 'MTV Dance Top 50'. She has performed on various television shows, mainly in Europe. Among them is UK breakfast show GMTV: in December 2007, she performed "Last Christmas" live there to promote the UK version of Perfect Day; on July 28, 2008, she performed "Because the Night" live; and on July 3, 2009, she performed "Evacuate the Dancefloor" to promote its namesake album. On 18 September 2009 she appeared on the UK EuroMillions lottery performing "Dangerous".
Discography
Main article: Cascada discography
Everytime We Touch (2006)
Perfect Day (2007)
Evacuate the Dancefloor (2009)
TBA (2011)
Awards and nominations
Award Show Award Title Nominated work Result
2006 International Dance Music Awards Best New Dance Artist Solo Won
Best High Energy/Euro Track “Everytime We Touch” Nominated
Napster Awards Most-Played Dance/Electronic Recording Won
2007 World Music Awards World's Best Selling Female Pop Artist Nominated
Best-Selling German Artist Award Won
2008 European Border Breakers Awards Best European Border Breaker (Germany) Everytime We Touch Won
International Dance Music Awards Best High Energy/ Euro Track “Truly, Madly, Deeply” Nominated
Best Dance Artist (Solo) Nominated
2009 Best Dance Artist (Solo) Nominated
2010 Best High Energy/Euro Track “Evacuate the Dancefloor” Nominated
Best Pop Dance Track Nominated
Best Artist (Group) Nominated
Comet Awards Best Party Song “Evacuate the Dancefloor” Nominated
Best Female Artist Won
The Urban Music Awards Best Dance Act Won
MTV Video Music Awards Best Dance Video “Evacuate the Dancefloor” Nominated
BMI London Awards Dance Award Won
Tours in the UK
Solo
2007 - Everytime We Touch Tour
2008 - Perfect Day Tour
2011 - 2011 Mini Tour
2008 - Clubland Live Tour #1 (Headlined with Scooter)
2009 - Clubland Live Tour #3 (Headlined with N-Dubz)