Interview with Sasha

SASHA: I started [going] about three or four years ago. Stace [Bass] and Kimball [Collins] brought me down there to start with and I played at Oz at the Beecham Theatre which was amazing, and then later on at the Firestone. I love Orlando. I love that whole Florida vibe there. Of course, things change, every club scene goes through changes and transitions. I don't know exactly how much it has changed because I haven't played there in over a year. There was such a buzz on Orlando that the bubble was bound to burst for a little while. What will happen is the scene will change and it will splinter and new promoters and new DJs will appear and it will move on. Like the Hacienda -- it was good from '88 to '91 but it had to come to some sort of change because that energy when people first get into the music and get really blown away and have an amazing club right on their own doorstep doesn't last forever.

DJ TIMES: Do you notice any new scene developing in America now that you've played a lot of places here?
SASHA: I'm really excited about the way New York has changed over the past year, and started to respond favorably to mine and John's music. I've played in New York quite a few times in the last three years. The usual scenario would be a half-full club and people would be standing around saying 'what the fuck is this music?!' When we first did Twilo last year we started to get a response to what we were doing. The last two gigs we've done there have been amazing, the atomosphere has been brilliant, and obviously the sound in that club is out of this world. It's very satisfying to be able to come over to New York and to see a crowd that weren't into what I was doing suddenly be turned around. It makes me feel really good.

DJ TIMES: What do you attribute to the change of heart?
SASHA: I guess British music in general has been getting more exposure in the press and MTV with them reacting favorably to artists like The Prodigy, Orbital and Underworld. There's just quite a buzz on English music at the moment. Through film or whatever -- The Trainspotting soundtrack was a slice of English club land. All these factors sort of add up.

DJ TIMES: What sort of music are you playing? You're known for playing 'epic house' are you still focusing on that?
SASHA: No, not really. I'm so over that sound, whatever that sound may be. Everyone has an idea of what's cheesy and what's not and what's techno and what's not. I don't want to put a label on anything. The stuff I've been getting excited about lately is sort a breakbeat-y sounding, funkier stuff. Still with the beautiful elements that I've always liked playing. Stuff like Way Out West, Uberzone...I've signed a William Orbit record to my label Excession called "Scream" under the guise Invisible. It's a really original record. I'm really into mixing up the beats a lot more lately. At Twilo last Friday, I played Gus Gus' "Believe" which is sort of a downtempo hip hop sounding record, and then I segued it into Armand Van Helden's "Ain't Armand" which is a drum 'n' bass record. I just went all over the place that night, which is where my head's at right now.

Written 7/7/97
Originally posted by Jennifer Warner, reposted with permission.