In 1996, inside a small, Christmas-lit room at an Ohio art college, a 13-year-old named Kadilak stumbled into the sound that would shape his life. While the main rave floors pulsed with house and trance, this tucked-away space throbbed with something stranger, faster, and rawer: Jungle. For a kid raised on grunge and hip-hop, it was like hearing the future. “The room was filled with what appeared to be outcasts of the scene,” he remembers. “It was perfect for me.” That night, a lifelong obsession with bass-heavy music was born.
His sound today carries that same duality—both nostalgic and cutting-edge. Kadilak channels the intensity of ’90s drum and bass pioneers like Konflict and Technical Itch, while sharpening it with the clean, intricate bass design of modern electronic production. The road there wasn’t straightforward. Overwhelmed at first by jungle’s technical demands, he cut his teeth on slower BPMs, experimenting with hip-hop beats and the rise of dubstep, before circling back to the sound that first lit him up. Years of trial and error became his apprenticeship in sculpting basslines that feel as physical as they do musical.
The turning point came in 2022 when he signed with South Yard, a respected label that gave his work an official stamp of credibility. “I hit the ground running because I knew I could do this,” he says. “I had found my drive, purpose, and confidence in myself.” That validation unlocked a new creative momentum, one that has only accelerated since.
Still, Kadilak is candid about the realities of the independent grind. Social media, he admits, can be draining: “I get a lot of cold responses, so it just drives me back down into my hole.” Rather than chase industry validation, he’s redirected that energy into relentless output. His most ambitious undertaking yet is underway in 2025: releasing one new track, for free, every single week of the year. It’s part discipline, part experiment, and entirely a gift to the fans who have stuck with him.
That work ethic has already earned him milestones most underground producers only dream of. His tracks have aired on Vision Radio, the tastemaking platform of Noisia, and landed on DJ Craze’s Slow Roast Records—a surreal full-circle moment for the kid who once idolized the turntablist legend. Yet for all the accolades, Kadilak’s priorities remain refreshingly grounded. He’s chasing growth, not clout; connection, not charts.
Kadilak’s story isn’t about a lucky break or viral moment. It’s about the long game—the patience to refine a sound, the persistence to keep going when the industry looks the other way, and the joy of making music that feels true. Nearly three decades after that night in a Christmas-lit Ohio room, he’s still driven by the same instinct: find the outsiders, turn up the bass, and make something unforgettable.
Follow Kadilak’s journey and download his weekly free tracks on his official channels.
“Learn to keep hold of just making music for fun and not worrying about all the accolades. Those will come… learning to stay authentic to yourself is the most important thing.”
— Kadilak