From classical to trap music, graduate student and DJ, Anton Radke, has been stretching his musical muscles since he was a child. Now, he is looking forward to the concerts, gigs and friends he will encounter in the future with his DJ prowess.

Radke, who spent his first 14 years in Alaska playing string instruments, realized his love from electronic music when his brother introduced it to him as a child. During high school, he began to DJ, and after that, he realized he wanted to make his own music. That’s when he decided to teach himself through online classes and YouTube videos.

“For a very long time I was not making anything good,” Radke said. “And then around 2015, I started actually being really proud of what I was making.”

Radke then moved from Alaska to the WSU campus, where he met Zachary Cartwright — also known by the EDM name Catalyst — who got him involved with the entertainers at Pullman cocktail bar Etsi Bravo. Cartwright, a Ph.D. graduate in food science and resident DJ, said he was hooked by Radke’s talent when he met him, and immediately wanted to help him out.

“It’s kinda silly,” Cartwright said, “but right before I met Anton, I watched a documentary on Avicii, and I realized that Anton has a lot of the same skills that Avicii does … [I saw] how Avicii didn’t have very good guidance and needed some mentorship. I realized Anton… had a lot of talent, but just needed some help getting his foot in the door.”

The two, who have considered themselves a team as well as friends, hang out all the time and support each other during gigs. To Radke, Cartwright has been there since the beginning.

Now, Radke has played big shows in places like Portland, and has opened for bigger artists. Soon, he will be involved with a couple of EDM companies from Spokane.

Radke worked as one of the EDM directors for KZUU and created a radio show called Radke’s House, where he played house music for the campus. However, the artist said he loves a wide variety of music, and that hopefully one day he can find a new sound of his own.

“[I love] the feeling of working on the track, and then, before I know it, [the track] is starting to sound really exciting and cool to me,” Radke said. “I’ll just get up and start dancing in my little bedroom studio, just having a good time and vibing to it on my own. It’s so cool to feel that and recognize that I created something that I actually like. That feeling of accomplishment — it’s a whole lot of serotonin, and I like it.”

This winter, Radke is excited to put out his next EP on SoundCloud, and the mixtape he has worked on with a member of the entertainment group, Nuu Wave. He also has helped form a collective called the Catalyst Crew with other artists where Radke would have the chance to teach and grow in his skills.

“I’m not trying to be no massive superstar or anything,” Radke said. “I mean, if it happens, that’s cool, I’m with it. But the main thing for me is [that] I’m putting food on my plate and there’s a roof over my head and I can do it through the avenue of playing music, running a collective or a label, or DJing. I just want music to be my career. I just love creating.”