Hotstar: Cashmere Cat, From Underground Turntable Champ To Producer Of The Stars To Touring Force

Cashmere Cat has gone from underground turntable champion to touring force, having wrapped a stellar co-bill tour with fellow Scandinavian musician MØ and with some festival plays coming in late summer.

Hailing from Norway and real name Magnus August Høiberg, Cashmere Cat released his debut LP 19 last year featuring major starpower such as Ariana Grande, Kehlani, Ty Dolla $ign, and Tory Lanez, connections that go back to his producer credits that also include the likes of Charli XCX and Kanye West. Those collabs have led to big moments onstage, such as when Grande joined him during his set at Ultra Festival in Miami in 2015.

“I first saw Cashmere Cat perform at SXSW around 2012/2013,” co-manager, Andrew McInnes at TMWRK told Pollstar. “ We had heard about him via his soundcloud buzz and me and Skream went to see him at a party. The party was at a typical SWSW non-music venue. I believe it was a hair salon.

“Cashy was great and I became a fan. We became friends via the mad decent block party which I ran for many years. Sam and Latane [Hunt and Hughes, at Windish Agency before it merged with Paradigm] were working with him, his Norwegian manager Vegard Waske had become a friend of mine. We would put him on as many block parties as we could. I saw him play many times and he stood out every time. He has a vision for his live show that sets him apart, not that unlike his recorded music career. That is the key to his success. Always different but always great. “

Most recently on the road, he’s done festivals including the just-wrapped Hangout in Alabama, Air + Style in Los Angeles and in February completed a MØ co-bill known as the “MEØW” tour that saw sellouts at venues including Oakland’s Fox Theatre Feb. 17 ($83,586) and two Brooklyn Steels, according to Paradigm’s Latane Hughes. MØ and Cashmere worked together in the studio before where they hatched the tour plan.

“Both acts were looking to cross over into each other’s respective worlds a bit more,” Hughes told Pollstar of the Q1 co-bill. “Cashmere wanting to play to more pop/indie fans, and MØ wanting to play to a bit more electronic/hip hop leaning fans. They both had done solo headline tours earlier in their album cycles, and were looking for a new and interesting touring idea to present to their fans.”

Other reports submitted to Pollstar include two nights sold out at the 9:30 Club in D.C., which moved 2,122 tickets and grossed $74,270, a sold-out Vic Theatre in Chicago ($41,549) and 1,915 tickets sold to House of Blues Boston Jan. 21, which grossed 56,881. Another major show was 1,915 tickets sold to Boston’s House of Blues, which grossed $56,881.

“Cashmere Cat’s live show is just him DJing, and he’s one of the best there is,” said Hughes, who signed the artist around 2012 before The Windish Agency merged with Paradigm. “He’s very entertaining up there, the way he mixes his records is pretty insane. He’s doing it all live up there and brings a fair amount of production and a pretty substantial light show on tour.”

Previous headlining dates included 2,300 tickets sold to Terminal 5 in New York.

Up next are festivals including Imagine Festival in Atlanta, North Coast in Chicago, Life is Beautiful in Las Vegas, Float Fest in Texas, and 515 Alive in Des Moines, which Hughes says shows Cashmere Cat’s reach.

“He’s kind of a niche-sounding electronic act but has been able to expand to play festivals in very tertiary markets,” Hughes said. He is part of the MoMA PS1 warmup series and has Euro festivals as well. “Some would say that kind of underground sound can really only play major markets, but this would prove otherwise – we’re playing in New Mexico, Des Moines, San Antonio. He’s one of these highly credible underground electronic acts that’s been able to permeate every market in the United States.”

Beyond that, “The plan is to release new music later this year / early next year and to hit the road,” McInnes added. “If you look at his history he was playing b2b sets with Tripy turtle(lido) then he took out Sophie as support then the co/h with Mø. More interesting tours and diverse bills are definitely in our future.”