[ t e x t . o n l y . v e r s i o n ] [ b y . c y c l o n e . w e h n e r ]
At the moment progressive house is the dominant force in commercial clubs
around the world. And now this trancey sound is also crossing over into the
pop charts. If this movement is looking for a Godfather figure, then the
UK's Sasha is an obvious contender. The DJ-turned-producer (born Alexander Coe) certainly stands as one of
dance music's most intangible figures. The affable Sasha claims that he
hasn't set out to generate that mystique. 'I didn't get into DJing to do
interviews and to be a public figure, I just got into it for the music. And
when I did get into it, DJs weren't really superstars or anything like they
are now. So as that side of things evolved with the press and stuff, I
wasn't very comfortable with it, so I have tried to keep to myself most of
the time. And I guess I've always done things kinda differently ... I'd
hate to be really predictable and boring.'
The softly spoken DJ superstar also remains a little bewildered by the
British media's preoccupation with his lifestyle. Sasha doesn't need any
prompting to rattle off some of the wildest rumours he has read about
himself. 'Well, I've been sleeping with Kate Moss and I've been in rehab
with Robbie Williams and I'm best buddies with Oasis -- it's all just
fuckin' nonsense! They're always going on about some rubbish or other. I do
get up to mischief -- I am quite a mischievous person. I work hard and I
travel and my schedule is pretty gruelling, but I do like to party as well.
So it's like there's no smoke without fire. But, at the same time, some of
the stories that I've heard about myself are just a little bit over the
top.'
Sasha originally moved from his native Wales to Manchester after falling in
love with house music at the city's legendary Hacienda nightclub. Later
Sasha 'blagged' his first local gig when a promoter announced that he was
looking for club DJs. Sasha would find fame as an international DJ soon
after he took up a residency at Renaissance. It was just the beginning.
Over the past two years Sasha has travelled monthly to New York to spin
alongside his good mate John Digweed at the world famous club, Twilo. The
pair have acquired a cult status much to the annoyance of the other players
in the city's house scene. 'I can see that perhaps some of the New York DJs
might have a bit of a problem with us coming to NY, but we kinda came to NY
and created our own scene there. It's not like we came and robbed anyone's
crowd or anything like that. And I think most of the people in NY are
really happy that we came there and gave the scene a kick up its arse.'
In recent times Sasha has put his name to a neverending flow of mix albums
(among them the best-selling Northern Exposure series, compiled with
Digweed). He has virtually mentored Brian 'BT' Transeau. He's completed
remixes for Madonna and The Chemical Brothers. And he recently composed
five exclusive tracks for the Sony Playstation game Wipeout 3. But,
generally, Sasha has not been especially prolific in the studio. And so
fans are savouring his new "Xpander" EP.
Sasha collaborated on two of the "Xpander" tracks -- Rabbitweed and Baja --
with his sometime Australian protege, Andy Page. 'He was just helping me
out in the studio and we were doing some writing together. I basically took
him all over the place. I even took him to LA when I was doing the Madonna
stuff, so he got to hang out in LA. I think he had a pretty exciting time
altogether.' In fact, Baja was composed a couple of years ago when Sasha
returned from a day's diving at the Great Barrier Reef. To this day, he
maintains that it's his favourite piece of work.
Yet some six years after Sasha signed to the UK label Deconstruction the
dance scene is still anticipating his first full-length album (he allegedly
owes the label at least three LPs as part of his record deal). Devotees
won't have to wait much longer, he reassures. Slated for release next year,
Sasha's debut will follow a series of three EPs, of which "Xpander" is just
the first. 'I actually like the fact that no one expects it to come out
now, so when it does it will be a surprise,' he laughs.
Sasha puts this delay down to logistics. Firstly, he has been DJing
non-stop. And then it has taken him ages to set up his own studio, learn
how to use it, and find the right long-term collaborator. Still, Sasha did
recently move out of London to Henley ('a quintessential English town on
the river') to get away from the distractions of his chaotic lifestyle.
'It's completely changed my life, actually. When I was living in London I
just didn't seem to have any headspace. I'd be DJing in the weekend, going
out a lot during the week, and then all my friends would be popping around
to my studio the whole time -- I'd never get any work done. But now I've
got a place completely out in the sticks; I've got my studio in my house
and it's just wonderful. I get back from my gigs on Sunday night and
basically have until the next weekend to just work on music and chill.'
Oddly enough, Sasha doesn't sound too concerned that trance may be due for
a backlash that would render him obsolete overnight. It may be that he is
already plotting his self-reinvention. But, if so, Sasha isn't letting the
cat out of the bag. 'This year trance is the style everyone is talking
about. There are all these compilations and there's a lot of cheesy trance
records coming out. I'm sure by this time next year trance will be a dirty
word, but that's the way it is. It happens all the time. As soon as
something gets big people start to knock it.'
Sasha has just turned 30. So what does he now want out of life? This very
private Virgo isn't about to get deep. 'I still have a long way to go with
my DJing. I really wanna develop the sound that John and I have built up in
the States and push that into places like Europe and the Far East, which
are the kinda of places where we haven't been represented that much --
like, we've never played in Japan. So I still think there's a long way to
go with DJing. And, with production, my main focus is getting my album done
and following up the EP.'
Aside from finishing his LP, Sasha's long-term desire is to collaborate
with major league artists. He especially admires William Orbit's work on
Madonna's electronica opus, "Ray Of Light", of last year. As it happens,
Sasha ended up mixing three of the singles -- with the best being his epic
house reworking of the title-track. Tellingly, Sasha doesn't entirely
understand the dance scene's ambivalence towards Madonna for appropriating
a club-based style for her pop comeback. 'It was a brave album,' he
enthuses. 'The production was fantastic. William Orbit is one of my heroes.'
Xpander is out through BMG. Sahsa's new Global Underground 16:Ibiza is also out through Club Boxed. |