Sasha
Sasha at a performance with Lee Burridge on 27 April 2006
Background information
Birth name	Alexander Coe
Also known as	Sasha
Born	September 4, 1969 (1969-09-04) (age 38)
Origin	Hawarden, Wales, UK
Genre(s)	House, Trance, Progressive house, Electronica, Breaks
Occupation(s)	Disc jockey, Record producer
Years active	1989 – Present
Label(s)	Global Underground, Deconstruction, Boxed, Ministry of Sound, emFire
Associated acts	Sasha & John Digweed, BT
Website	http://www.djsasha.com/

Sasha (born Alexander Coe^[1] on 4 September 1969), is a Welsh DJ and record producer. Lee Burridge is an internationally known house and Breakbeat DJ. Events 1124 - David I becomes King of Scotland. 1296 - Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 476 - Romulus Augustus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hawarden ( IPA /ˈhɑdən/ "Harden" Penarlâg is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, approximately 5 miles (as The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other House music is a style of Electronic dance music initially popularized in mid-1980s Discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino Trance is a style of Electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s Progressive electronic dance music (often referred to as just progressive) usually refers to differentiate various offshoot styles of Electronic dance music from Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary Electronic music designed for a wide range Breakbeat (sometimes breakbeats or breaks) is a term used to describe a collection of sub- genres of Electronic music, usually characterized A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Global Underground is a music label founded in 1996 by Andy Horsfield and James Todd Deconstruction Records was a Record label founded in 1987 by Pete Hadfield and Keith Blackhurst in the United Kingdom. Boxed (legal name Club Parasite Ltd was a Record label which has released around forty mix albums from DJs such as John Digweed, Nick Warren, and Ministry of Sound ( MoS) is a global dance music brand and a Nightclub in Elephant and Castle, Southwark, South London, officially emFire is a sublabel of Renaissance Recordings which is run by Sasha as an exclusive outlet for his original material Sasha & John Digweed are a pair of DJs from the United Kingdom. Events 476 - Romulus Augustus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing Sasha began his career playing acid house dance music in the late 1980s, and became a central figure in the development and popularisation of electronic dance music. Acid house is a sub-genre of House music that emphasizes a repetitive hypnotic and trance -like style with samples or spoken lines usually used rather than sung lyrics Synonyms Since around the mid-1980s electronic dance music has enjoyed popularity in many Nightclubs and as of 2006 is the predominant type of music played in He partnered with fellow DJ John Digweed in 1993, touring internationally and producing a series of mixes (compilations of other artists work played in a continuous fashion). John Digweed (born Thomas John Digweed 1 January 1967 in Hastings, England) is a British DJ and Record producer A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together to appear as one continuous track ^[2] Through their track selection and mixing techniques, Sasha and Digweed were instrumental in the evolution of progressive trance and house music. House music is a style of Electronic dance music initially popularized in mid-1980s Discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino ^[3]

Sasha has produced multiple UK-charting singles^[4] and has remixed tracks for artists such as Madonna and The Chemical Brothers. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A remix is an alternative version of a song different from the original version Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16 1958 known as Madonna, is an American The Chemical Brothers are an English Grammy Award winning Electronic music duo of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons (occasionally referred to as Chemical His remix of Felix da Housecat's "Watching Cars Go By" earned him a 2004 Grammy nomination. Felix da Housecat (born Felix Stallings Jr on August 27, 1971 in Chicago, Illinois The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Sasha's remixing and production often combine electronic music genres, making it difficult for critics to pinpoint his musical style,^[5] including on his debut album of original work, Airdrawndagger. Airdrawndagger (or ADD for short is an album by Sasha. It was released in 2002 by Kinetic Records and BMG. ^[6]

After achieving success as a producer and DJ, Sasha worked with younger DJs and producers such as Brian Transeau and James Zabiela, influencing their musical styles and techniques. Brian Wayne Transeau (born October 4, 1971 in Rockville, Maryland) is an American music producer composer singer and songwriter better known James Zabiela (born August 7, 1979) is a DJ from Southampton in the United Kingdom. His use of live audio engineering equipment helped popularise technological innovations among DJs who formerly relied on records and turntables. Audio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of Sound through mechanical and electronic means A gramophone The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded Sound from the 1870s through the 1980s ^[7] Despite the changing trends in electronic dance music, Sasha continues to perform in large dance venues and is currently on an intercontinental tour of large European and United States venues. ^[8] In 2007, he formed a record label with Renaissance Records called emFire, which will be the exclusive outlet for his new music.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Digweed era 2.1 Delta Heavy Tour 3 Post-Digweed 4 Musical genres 5 Techniques and technology 6 Popularity and honors 7 Selected discography 8 Notes and references 9 External links

Early years

Sasha was born in Bangor, Wales in 1969, but spent most of his youth with his mother in the Welsh town of Hawarden. Bangor, in Gwynedd, North Wales, is one of the smallest cities in the United Kingdom. Hawarden ( IPA /ˈhɑdən/ "Harden" Penarlâg is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, approximately 5 miles (as Sasha's early musical taste was primarily Top 40 pop music like The The and The Police. The Top Forty or Top 40 is a music industry shorthand for the currently most-popular songs in a particular genre. The The are an English musical and multimedia group that have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer/songwriter/frontman Matt Johnson being The Police were a three-piece rock band consisting of Sting ( vocals, Bass guitar) Andy Summers ( Guitar, ^[9] After an "idyllic childhood", he passed the entrance exam for Epsom College at age 17. ^[9] He did not like Epsom, however, and left before completing his Advanced Level (an academic qualification in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland). The A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a General Certificate of Education qualification in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Instead of continuing his schooling, Sasha moved to Bangor to live with his father and stepmother. Sasha's stepmother forced him to take piano lessons which, although he disliked them at the time, Sasha ultimately found to be beneficial to his music career. ^[10]

Sasha became aware of electronic dance music in 1988 at The Haçienda, a Manchester dance venue. Fac 51 Haçienda (better known simply as The Haçienda) was a Nightclub and Music venue in Manchester, England. ^[11] Drawn to the rough sound of acid house music and the rebellious attitude he associated with it, he visited Manchester weekly and soon moved to nearby Disley. Acid house is a sub-genre of House music that emphasizes a repetitive hypnotic and trance -like style with samples or spoken lines usually used rather than sung lyrics Disley is a Village and Civil parish in the Borough of Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. ^[12] Sasha purchased many acid house records, and began to teach himself how to mix. A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together to appear as one continuous track A local DJ at a club Sasha frequented announced that he was looking for other DJs to travel with him on a regional tour. Sasha volunteered, and made his first live appearance in nearby Stockport. Stockport ( is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground on the River Mersey at the influx of the rivers Goyt Sasha recalled of his debut, "I'd never even touched a Technics: I thought the pitch control was the volume, I didn't even know where to plug my headphones in! I'm sure I was absolutely horrendous. A variable speed pitch control (or vari-speed) is a control on an audio device such as a turntable, Reel-to-reel, tape deck or CD "^[10]

Sasha soon found himself in debt due to low-paying performances and the many records he bought. ^[11] To finance his record collection, he performed at illegal warehouse raves in the Blackburn and Blackpool areas. A rave (or rave party) is a term in use since the 1980s to describe Dance Parties (often all-night events Blackburn ( is a large town in Lancashire, England. It lies to the north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley Blackpool (/ˈblækˌpul is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. With the assistance of another local DJ, Jon DaSilva, Sasha secured work at The Haçienda, where he learned key mixing (matching melodic keys) from DaSilva and refined his ability to beatmatch (to synchronize the beats of two simultaneously playing records). Jon DaSilva is a producer and DJ He has had releases on labels such as Deep Records and Deconstruction. Harmonic mixing or key mixing is a DJ 's Continuous mix between two pre-recorded tracks that are most often either in the same key or their keys are Beatmatching is a Disc jockey technique of Pitch shifting or Timestretching a track to match its Tempo to that of the currently playing track Though he enjoyed playing at The Haçienda, in 1990 Sasha left for a club called Shelley's Laserdrome in Stoke-on-Trent. Shelley's Laserdome was a night club in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Stoke-on-Trent ( often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city in Staffordshire, England which forms a linear Conurbation almost 12 miles (19 ^[11] There, he established part of his signature sound by mixing euphoric trance music with hard techno and emotional a cappellas. Trance is a style of Electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s Techno is a form of Electronic dance music (EDM that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, USA during the mid to late 1980s A cappella (Italian or Latin "From the chapel/choir" Music is Vocal music or Singing without instrumental Accompaniment ^[10] Because of his increased popularity and visibility at Shelley's, Mixmag featured Sasha on its first cover, under the headline "SASHA MANIA - THE FIRST DJ PINUP?". Mixmag is a British Dance music and clubbing Magazine. With a circulation of 37139 and a readership of 276000 as of August 2008 it claims ^[12] While continuing to DJ, Sasha began to produce several of his own dance tracks. This, he later noted, was contrary to the career paths of many successful DJs, for whom it was more common to start out as producers. ^[13] Upon signing a recording contract, he also set up an entire recording studio at the same time, which led to a "painful learning curve" at the outset. A recording contract (commonly called a record deal) is a legal agreement between a Record label and a Recording artist (or group where the artist A recording studio is a facility for sound recording. Ideally the space is specially designed by an acoustician to achieve the desired acoustic properties (sound ^[13] He released his first single, "Appolonia", under the name BM:Ex with producer Tom Frederikse on Union City Recordings. Tom Frederikse is an Electronic music producer who has performed remix work for Sasha in the early-1990s on Sasha's single "Appolonia" as well as working Union City Recordings was an Electronic music Record label set up by Circa records in 1991/2 from their operations in West London After DJing at Shelley's for several years, Sasha left his position because of increasing gang violence in and around the club. As a result of his growing reputation, Sasha was offered work in several London and Australian clubs. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. ^[11] He accepted, instead, a spot in the DJ rotation at Renaissance. Renaissance is a British electronic dance music club brand and record label

Later in 1993, Sasha produced "Together", his first single under the name Sasha. "Together", which he produced with Danny Campbell for Pete Tong's FFRR, peaked on the UK Singles Chart at #57. Peter "Pete" Tong (born July 30, 1960) is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. FFRR Records was a subsidiary of London Records. It was founded and run by English DJ Pete Tong. The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (OCC on behalf of the British record industry With this success, Sasha began a series of records for Deconstruction Records with the singles "Higher Ground" and "Magic" (for which Digweed performed a remix), and The Qat Collection with Frederikse and vocalist Sam Mollison. Deconstruction Records was a Record label founded in 1987 by Pete Hadfield and Keith Blackhurst in the United Kingdom. The Qat Collection is a 1994 album by Sasha and Tom Frederikse featuring vocals from Sam Mollison. Sam Mollison is an electronic music producer and vocalist He has collaborated with Sasha for his release of "Magic" and The Qat Collection. ^[14]

Digweed era

Main article: Sasha & John Digweed

In early 1993, Sasha partnered with fellow Renaissance DJ John Digweed. Sasha & John Digweed are a pair of DJs from the United Kingdom. Sub Labels EmFire USR (Underground Sound of Renaissance Catalog Albums REN38CD John Digweed (born Thomas John Digweed 1 January 1967 in Hastings, England) is a British DJ and Record producer ^[2] Sasha and Digweed honed their DJing skills, often performing in tandem and focusing on track selection and technical mixing abilities. Renaissance was pleased with their performances, and had the duo compile the triple-CD mix album Renaissance - The Mix Collection, releasing it on the club's own Renaissance Records label. A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together to appear as one continuous track Renaissance The Mix Collection is the first mix CD set by Sasha & John Digweed. Sub Labels EmFire USR (Underground Sound of Renaissance Catalog Albums REN38CD ^[11] The album featured tracks from such artists as Leftfield, Fluke, and 2 Bad Mice, and original productions and remixes from Sasha and Digweed. Leftfield were a duo of Electronica artists and Record producers Paul Daley (formerly of The Rivals, A Man Called Adam and the Fluke are an English Electronic music group formed in the late 1980s by Mike Bryant, Jon Fugler and Mike Tournier with Julian Nugent as 2 Bad Mice formed in England in 1991, and was comprised of Sean O'Keeffe Simon Colebrooke & Rob Playford, also owner of Moving Shadow The Mix Collection was released soon after Sasha's departure from Renaissance in April 1994. Following his success at Renaissance, Sasha was again featured on Mixmag with the tagline "SON OF GOD?", though he resented the accolade. A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in Marketing materials and Advertising. ^[15] After touring together for two years, the duo became "true superstars"^[2] with the release of their double CD Northern Exposure on mega-label Ministry of Sound. Northern Exposure is a 1996 Mix album by DJs Sasha & John Digweed. Ministry of Sound ( MoS) is a global dance music brand and a Nightclub in Elephant and Castle, Southwark, South London, officially Around this time, Sasha began a recurring mentorship and partnership with fellow producer BT with the album Ima. Brian Wayne Transeau (born October 4, 1971 in Rockville, Maryland) is an American music producer composer singer and songwriter better known ^[11] As well as providing guidance for BT, Sasha produced a "euphoric" and "introspective" 42-minute rendition of the album which formed the centrepiece of the UK release and appeared as a "bonus" second disc on the US release. ^[16] He continued to advance his own production work by pairing with vocalist Maria Nayler to produce the single "Be as One", which reached #17 on the UK singles chart. Maria Nayler is an British female Singer on many electronic music releases ^[17]

In 1997, Ministry of Sound released Northern Exposure 2, Sasha and Digweed's next double-CD entry in their Northern Exposure series. Northern Exposure 2 is a Mix album by Sasha & John Digweed released in 1997 To support the album, the duo toured internationally, and in the process helped to define the sound of trance music in the late 1990s. ^[2] After extensive touring, Digweed and Sasha took up residency at New York City's famous Twilo nightclub, where they would DJ for the entire night. The City of New York Until its closing in 2001, Twilo was the most beloved and its critics charged most played-out Nightclub to grace the streets of New York City since the ^[18] In 1998, the two released separate mix albums on the Boxed label, as part of the Global Underground series: Digweed's Global Underground 006: Sydney, and Sasha's Global Underground 009: San Francisco, which drew from his experience touring on the West Coast of the United States. Boxed (legal name Club Parasite Ltd was a Record label which has released around forty mix albums from DJs such as John Digweed, Nick Warren, and Global Underground is a music label founded in 1996 by Andy Horsfield and James Todd The " West Coast " " Western Seaboard " or " Pacific Seaboard " are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the Western United States Both DJs formed their own record labels that year: Sasha created Excession Records and Digweed started Bedrock Records. Bedrock Records is an English Record label for trance, house and techno started by Nick Muir and John Digweed Excession released fewer than ten records, the last in 1998; the experience, however, led Sasha to found the management agency "Excession: The Agency LTD. " Excession remains a booking agency for many DJs, including Hybrid, Nick Warren, and Steve Lawler. A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for Actors Musicians models, and other people in various Entertainment Hybrid is a British Electronic music group based in Swansea, formed around the duo of Mike Truman and Chris Healings Nick Warren is an English house DJ and producer. He is well-known for his seven albums released in the Global Underground series Steve Lawler is a British House music producer and DJ born in Birmingham, England. ^[19]

Sasha reached a more mainstream audience with his remixes of Madonna's "Ray of Light" and GusGus's "Purple" for those artists' single releases. Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16 1958 known as Madonna, is an American " Ray of Light " is the second single by American Singer Madonna from her 1998 album of the same name, and is based on Curtiss GusGus is a band from Reykjavík, Iceland. They were founded in 1995 His success in pop music led him to score the music for the PlayStation video game Wipeout 3. A film score is a broad term referring to the music in a film which is generally categorically separated from songs used within a film The PlayStation (abbreviated PS, PSone, PS1, or informally as PSX) is a 32-bit fifth generation Video game console A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. Wipeout 3, alternatively spelled Wip3out, is a futuristic racing video game developed and published by Psygnosis exclusively for the ^[20] In 1999, Sasha and Digweed reunited in the studio to record their third edition in the Northern Exposure series, Northern Exposure: Expeditions. Northern Exposure Expeditions is a 1999 Progressive trance Mix album by Sasha and John Digweed. ^[2] In addition to mixing and DJing, Sasha joined Charlie May of Spooky to produce the Xpander EP,^[21] the title track of which many clubbers still view as "one of the greatest trance tracks of all time". Charlie May is a producer who has helped produce albums such as Airdrawndagger, Involver, and Xpander with Sasha Spooky is a British house / Techno duo consisting of Duncan Forbes and Charlie May. Xpander is a 1999 EP by Sasha along with Charlie May. This single was featured on many compilations such as Global Underground A title track is a Song which shares its name with the album on which it appears ^[22] He used the title track as a centerpiece for Global Underground 013: Ibiza, his second Global Underground release. Sasha continued his collaborations with BT on the track "Ride", which was released as a single on Yoshitoshi Records and on BT's Movement in Still Life. Yoshitoshi Records is a Dance music Record label which is owned and operated by ( Washington D Movement in Still Life is the third Album by Electronica artist BT. Soon after, he worked with Underworld's Darren Emerson on the single "Scorchio", Sasha's first charting single in four years. Underworld is an English electronic group and principal name under which duo Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have recorded together since 1980 Darren Emerson (born 30 April 1971, in Hornchurch, England) is a dance music DJ, and later joining member of the UK electronic In between touring and producing original material, Sasha and Digweed released the mix album Communicate in 2000, prompting them to temporarily leave their Twilo residency for a promotional tour of the United States. Communicate is a Mix album by Sasha & John Digweed. Track listing Disc one Jaimy & Kenny D Communicate had mixed reviews: Spin stated that despite a "few stellar moments, [Communicate] is ultimately a let-down". Spin is a Music Magazine that reports on Music for Life Founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr LAUNCHcast, too, described Communicate as "boring and lackluster…stalled in a monochrome world of dead beats". ^[23]

During the late 1990s, the increased popularity and visibility of "superstar DJs" led to the creation of superclubs such as Liverpool's Cream and Sheffield's Gatecrasher. This page relates to a form of nightclub For the article on one of the largest video store chains in Quebec, see Le SuperClub Vidéotron. Cream, based at the Nation nightclub in Liverpool, is one of the best-known Night clubs in the UK. Gatecrasher (later Crasher) is a Dance music event formerly held at the venue Gatecrasher 1, previously Republic in Sheffield England. By 2003, however, electronic dance music clubs languished. The Guardian's pop critic, Alexis Petridis, attributed the "terminal decline" of dance music to its over-commercialisation by big-name DJs, such as Sasha, and to their demands for increased fees for performances. The Guardian (until 1959 The Manchester Guardian) is a British Newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ^[24] Though dance music had been declared "dead" by many in the dance industry, Sasha continued to tour—despite the closing of many superclubs, including his resident club Twilo in May 2001. ^[25]

Delta Heavy Tour

After the closing of Twilo, Sasha and Digweed embarked on their ambitious Delta Heavy Tour of the United States in 2002. Featuring veteran tour producer Kevin Lyman and opening act Jimmy Van M,^[26] the tour covered 31 cities and played to 85,000 people. Kevin Lyman is creator of the Warped Tour the Taste of Chaos and the Mayhem tours Jimmy Van M (born James Van Melleghem is a DJ of Progressive house and Downtempo music ^[27] The appearances, complete with laser shows and video production, were more akin to rock concerts than to typical DJ events. A laser lighting display or laser Light show involves the use of Laser light to entertain an audience ^[26] This development was new to the DJing scene, and compelled other DJs to host similar concerts. ^[28] A DVD of performance highlights, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage was released as Sasha & John Digweed present Delta Heavy by System Recordings. Sasha & John Digweed present Delta Heavy is a DVD release from System Recordings which chronicles Sasha & John Digweed 's "Delta Heavy" tour of System Recordings is a New York City based Electronic music Record label founded in 2000 by Eric Silver and Louis Montorio with a single artist American ^[26] Ben Turner, creator of the DanceStar awards, retrospectively described the Delta Heavy tour as "a landmark moment for electronic music". ^[26] Though the duo of Sasha and Digweed never explicitly split up, demanding schedules and frequent independent touring prevented any substantial collaboration for a long period after Delta Heavy. ^[2]

Post-Digweed

During the latter half of 2002, Sasha collaborated with big beat artist Junkie XL on the single "Breezer". Big beat (sometimes called chemical breaks) is a term deployed in the mid 1990s by the British music press to describe the music of The Chemical Brothers, Tom Holkenborg (born December 8, 1967) also known as Junkie XL or JXL, is a Dutch Musician. ^[29][30] Junkie XL, along with Charlie May, also assisted Sasha on his first album of original material, Airdrawndagger. Airdrawndagger (or ADD for short is an album by Sasha. It was released in 2002 by Kinetic Records and BMG. ^[31] Airdrawndagger took several years to produce due to Sasha's desire for the album to be "as near to perfection as possible. "^[32] That March, Sasha suffered a perforated eardrum in a traffic accident, further delaying the album's production. Rupture or perforation (hole of the Eardrum can occur in Infection, trauma (e Though the accident temporarily impaired his hearing, he drew inspiration for the album from his ordeal. Airdrawndagger was finally released, in August 2002, to much fanfare. However, the album was "received with a lot of head scratching", according to Sasha, which he attributed to its unexpected mix of genres. The album did not feature the heavier "club sound" of Sasha's previous mix albums, bearing a closer resemblance to ambient music. Ambient music is a Musical genre in which sound is more important than notes ^[3] Airdrawndagger generally received favorable reviews,^[33] though critics noted that it was not as consistent and well produced as his DJ mixes. Sasha himself described it as "a selfish, slightly self-indulgent record", though he maintains that he is "happy with it to this day". ^[34] Some critics, however, called it "sleepy"; E!Online described it as being "more in league with Yanni than Moby". E! Entertainment Television (or simply E!) is an American Cable television and Direct broadcast satellite network Yanni (born Yiannis Hrysomallis (Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης classical transcription Giannis Chrysomallis) on November 14, 1954 in Richard Melville Hall, also known as Moby (born September 11, 1965 in Harlem, New York) is an American DJ ^[35] To encourage listeners' interest, Sasha held an amateur remix contest for the album's first single, "Wavy Gravy". ^[36] Due to the contest's success, Sasha released all the tracks from Airdrawndagger on his website, so that fans could download and create their own versions. ^[37]

After the release of Airdrawndagger, Sasha took the young DJ James Zabiela "under his wing". James Zabiela (born August 7, 1979) is a DJ from Southampton in the United Kingdom. He introduced Zabiela to the CDJ1000 turntable, and signed Zabiela to the Excession talent agency. CDJ-1000 The CDJ-1000 (known as the Mark 1 once the second version was released is a digital turntable that plays back CDs and can store cue points on ^[38] The two toured the United States together, which extended Sasha's influence to already-popular American DJs such as Kimball Collins. Kimball Collins (born December 12th 1967 in Atlanta Georgia is one of America's most respected and renowned Upfront Electronic Music DJs specializing in Electro/Progressive House ^[15]

In 2004, Sasha signed with Global Underground to produce another mix album. Global Underground is a music label founded in 1996 by Andy Horsfield and James Todd However, he found the process of creating a standard mix album unrewarding,^[39] and decided to apply his production and DJing skills to a mix compilation that resembled a "real" album—that is, one featuring original material. ^[9] Sasha's next studio album, Involver, was "a fusion of mix album and production record", consisting entirely of Sasha's reworkings of tracks by other artists. Involver is a Progressive house and Breaks mix compilation by Sasha. ^[17] "I tried to take all the separate sounds to all the tracks [and recombine them]", he later explained, "and it allowed me to mix the tracks together on a much deeper level. "^[40] He accomplished this by sequencing the album using Ableton Live^[41] and Logic Pro. A music sequencer (also MIDI sequencer or just sequencer) is software or hardware designed to create and manage computer-generated music Ableton Live is a professional loop -based software Music sequencer for Mac OS and Windows by Ableton. Logic Pro is a Digital Audio Workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform ^[39] Ableton Live is a music loop-based software package that Sasha uses to engineer tracks in real-time, whereas he used Logic Pro primarily for premeditated edits to audio tracks. In Electronic music, a loop is a sample which is repeated Loops may be repeated through the use of Tape loops delay effects cutting between

In 2005, Sasha produced his next album, Fundacion NYC, based on his nights DJing in New York at the Crobar club. Fundacion NYC is a Progressive house mix compilation by Sasha. Fundacion NYC received positive reviews for its originality, though JIVE Magazine found it "too complicated for the ear". JIVE Magazine is a popular-entertainment, Technology, and urban-culture Magazine. ^[42] Sasha is pleased with the album, and plans to make a series of Fundacion albums. ^[43] The next year, Sasha released 10,000 copies of a June 2006 DJ set for sale using Instant Live, making him the first DJ to use Instant Live's licensing and publishing services. Instant Live is a service by Live Nation which provides for the distribution of digital live recordings of concerts and music events available soon after a performance has ended ^[44] While continuing to regularly DJ, Sasha is working on material to produce another Involver mix and the next Fundacion mix. ^[45] Global Underground announced that Sasha's Involver 2 will be released in 2007. ^[46]

Though frequent performing kept them apart for several years, Sasha and Digweed announced that they would reunite for a few Australian performances. ^[47] In November 2006, the duo performed at several venues, including Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne as well as numerous tour dates throughout 2007. Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 ^[8] In August 2007, Sasha announced the formation of his record label, Emfire, which will be the exclusive outlet for his new material in both vinyl and digital formats. ^[48] Its first release is "COMA", a collaborative track by a group of the same name which features Sasha, Barry Jamieson, Charlie May, and Duncan Forbes. ^[48]

Sasha runs a music studio and lives in New York City, and maintains a house in London. ^[3] He brings his wife with him on his frequent tours. ^[27] Sasha finds the constant touring to be physically tiring, though he also feels that he thrives on it. ^[49] While fans may regard Sasha to be a DJ "hero", he is uneasy with fame; Sasha considers himself "shy at heart" and is typically uncomfortable discussing his personal life. ^[40] He has mentioned on numerous occasions that he is so busy with DJing and production that he rarely has any free time. However, he enjoys watching football, cooking, and sampling the cuisine of the countries he visits. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered ^[50] The movie "New Emissions of Light & Sound" won the Best Original Score at the X-Dance Film Festival. The score was made up of new and previously unreleased tracks. ^[51]

Musical genres

Influenced by the early sound of The Haçienda, Sasha began his career playing records of the rough, danceable genre of acid house. By the early 1990s, he had moved towards a more dark European house music style, though by the time of his Shelley's residency he had begun to experiment more with American house. House music is a style of Electronic dance music initially popularized in mid-1980s Discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino His tastes further developed as he moved to Renaissance, and he began to incorporate the pop-based sounds of Moby, Spooky, and Leftfield. Richard Melville Hall, also known as Moby (born September 11, 1965 in Harlem, New York) is an American DJ Spooky is a British house / Techno duo consisting of Duncan Forbes and Charlie May. Leftfield were a duo of Electronica artists and Record producers Paul Daley (formerly of The Rivals, A Man Called Adam and the Sasha's second Digweed collaboration, 1997's Northern Exposure, was described as "epic house",^[11] and subsequent releases featured the spacey and atmospheric progressive trance sound of artists such as Sven Väth, Matt Darey, Tilt, and Armin Van Buuren. Sven Väth (born 26 October 1964 near Frankfurt, Germany) is a DJ who has produced a large body of work since his career began Matt Darey, who is from Leicester, England, has been a Trance music DJ since 1994 and is considered one of the founders of the trance genre. Tilt is a group of electronic music producers composed of Andy Moor and Mick Parks Armin van Buuren (born December 25, 1976) is a Trance music producer and DJ A rhythmic and bassy progressive house influence distinguished his Xpander EP and the mix albums of the late 1990s. ^[52] At the time, Sasha's music rotation included records by artists such as Space Manoeuvres, BT, and Breeder, and Sander Kleinenberg's single "My Lexicon". John Graham is a British music producer who is also known under the pseudonyms "Quivver" and "Space Manoeuvres" Brian Wayne Transeau (born October 4, 1971 in Rockville, Maryland) is an American music producer composer singer and songwriter better known Breeder is a progressive house production and DJ duo consisting of Simon Noble and Rowan Blades. Sander Kleinenberg (born 1971 Delft) is a Dutch Disc jockey and Record producer.

With the 2000 album Communicate, the duo's work moved towards a deeper and darker house music sound. The album featured tracks by Morel, Mainline, and Jimmy Van M. Richard Morel is a singer/songwriter DJ, Remixer and record producer from the suburbs of Boston Massachusetts. James Holden is a British Electronic music artist and DJ who has released numerous singles and remixes on different labels such as Lost Language, Perfecto Jimmy Van M (born James Van Melleghem is a DJ of Progressive house and Downtempo music The focus shifted from the melodic themes of previous releases in favour of a stronger emphasis on the bassline. ^[52] The Delta Heavy Tour and Airdrawndagger marked a dramatic shift in style, and reflected the influences of relaxed ambient and breakbeat music on Sasha's work. Airdrawndagger (or ADD for short is an album by Sasha. It was released in 2002 by Kinetic Records and BMG. Ambient music is a Musical genre in which sound is more important than notes Breakbeat (sometimes breakbeats or breaks) is a term used to describe a collection of sub- genres of Electronic music, usually characterized These influences inspired the album's strong melodies, occasional breakbeat loops, and limited use of percussion. Involver was primarily a fusion of the musical style of house and ambient breakbeat music characterised by UNKLE and Lostep. Unkle (also written as UNKLE and UNKLE) is a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy With 2005's Fundacion, Sasha's style was mostly progressive house and electro-house music, with work by James Holden, Tiefschwarz, and Swayzak. Electro House is a subgenre of House music that rose to become one of the most prominent genres of Electronic dance music today James Holden is a British Electronic music artist and DJ who has released numerous singles and remixes on different labels such as Lost Language, Perfecto Tiefschwarz is an Electro house group comprising brothers Alexander "Ali" ( June 7 1967 - and Sebastian "Basti" ( December Swayzak is a Tech house duo from the United Kingdom that consists of James S ^[5] With his success in progressive house, Sasha has commented that he feels people try to "pigeon-hole" him into playing that genre. Rather than calling it progressive house, Sasha considers his most recent material to be between house, trance, and breaks,^[53] though he has stated that he prefers not to associate himself with a specific genre of music.

Techniques and technology

Sasha attributes his success to his technical skill and ability to "connect with his dancers". ^[15] During performances, he balances new and experimental material, while ensuring that "the party is still rockin". ^[27] His spontaneity carries over to studio work; he typically has only a vague idea of the track listing when beginning work on a new mix album. ^[54] Because of this, his albums never turn out quite as he expects. ^[54]

Sasha is known for applying new music technologies to both his studio and live work. Both Sasha and Digweed used Pro Tools on Macintosh computers when mixing their compilation albums, and used turntables and records during live performances. Macintosh, commonly nicknamed Mac is a Brand name which covers several lines of Personal computers designed developed and marketed by Apple Inc For their remixes, however, they used an Atari ST—an obsolete personal computer from the early 1990s—with Notator, a music sequencer used for arranging audio tracks. The Atari ST is a home / Personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated Logic Pro is a Digital Audio Workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform A music sequencer (also MIDI sequencer or just sequencer) is software or hardware designed to create and manage computer-generated music ^[55] For more recent albums such as Fundacion NYC, Sasha used an Ableton Live for sequencing, partially because of Pro Tools' higher price. ^[50] In live performances up to the late 1990s, Sasha performed exclusively using records. Before he started using the CDJ1000, a "turntable" used for CDs, he had his digital music specially cut to acetate records before each tour. CDJ-1000 The CDJ-1000 (known as the Mark 1 once the second version was released is a digital turntable that plays back CDs and can store cue points on An acetate disc (also known as a test acetate or in the United States a lacquer) is an audio disc that is created as part of the process of producing a Gramophone ^[34] Once he integrated CDs into his live act, Sasha operated CDJ1000s with Allen & Heath mixers and FireworX. Allen & Heath (also known as AH or A&H is a company based in Penryn Cornwall, UK specialising in the manufacture of audio Mixing consoles Allen & Heath also makes FireworX is a "multi-effects processor" created by TC Electronic. ^[3] While he is now known for heavily utilizing audio technologies, Sasha was one of the last DJs to begin using CDs in live performance.

Sasha began DJing with Ableton Live in his live act as well, using it in tandem with turntables. Having explored its functionality, Sasha found that he could perform entirely through Ableton Live. He then co-developed the Maven controller with Ableton, which he uses as a physical interface to the Live software. MIDI controller is used in two senses In one sense a controller is hardware or software which generates and transmits MIDI data to MIDI-enabled devices ^[54][28] (DJing with a mouse alone, he has said, is "not going to look right or feel right". In Computing, a mouse (plural mice, mouse devices, or mouses) )^[13] Fundacion NYC was the first album on which he regularly used the Maven controller. ^[56] During DJ sets, clubbers often believe Sasha is playing new, unheard remixes; in fact, he is often playing modifications of tracks created in Ableton. ^[41] Sasha most often uses the built-in Ableton plugins, preferring their superior stability and performance over third party plugins. ^[54] For the first public performance of Involver material, he used a PowerBook running Ableton,^[57] but has since shifted to a setup that includes an iMac G5 and Ableton Live. The PowerBook is a line of Macintosh Laptop Computers that was designed manufactured and sold by Apple Computer Inc The iMac G5 was a desktop Macintosh computer designed and built by Apple Inc ^[41] Despite Sasha's insistence that Ableton Live allows for greater creativity and spontaneity, "vinyl purists" have accused him of taking much of the challenge and mystique out of DJing by using software in performances. ^[7]

The Internet has greatly changed how Sasha obtains and uses tracks for performance. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks While he once hunted through record shops for new records, Sasha now regularly receives new tracks from producers and labels via the Internet. ^[28] These tracks, which number in the hundreds each week, are edited by Sasha and others for use in his live DJ sets. ^[28]

Popularity and honors

He has been voted among the top ten DJs in the world by readers of DJMag every year since 1997, placing first in 2000. DJ Magazine is as of January 31 1991, a monthly magazine dedicated to Electronic Dance Music (EDM and DJs The magazine is translated ^[58] At the annual Winter Music Conference, Sasha has won the "Best Techno/Trance 12" award (1999) for the Xpander EP, and "Best CD Compilation" awards for Global Underground: Ibiza (1999, 2000) and Involver (2004). The Winter Music Conference is a weeklong Electronic music event held every March since the mid-1980s in South Florida ^[59] He was also nominated in the categories "Best European DJ" (2004) and "Best Remixer". ^[60] At the 1999 Ericsson Muzik Awards, he received an award for "Outstanding Contributions to Dance Music". ^[58] Sasha has been nominated as the top DJ in his genre every year since 2000 in the DJ Awards, but has yet to win.

In 2005, the Grammy committee debated whether Involver was eligible for nomination as Best Electronic/Dance Album. The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album was first awarded in 2005 The Recording Academy decided that the album was eligible, but Involver did not receive a nomination. The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Inc is known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS. ^[61] Sasha did receive a Grammy nomination for his remix of Felix da Housecat's "Watching Cars Go By", which was featured on Involver. Felix da Housecat (born Felix Stallings Jr on August 27, 1971 in Chicago, Illinois

Selected discography

Albums

• 2002: Airdrawndagger (Kinetic Records, BMG) (UK Albums Chart #18, Billboard 200 #157, Billboard Top Electronic Albums #5)
• 2008: New Emissions of Light and Sound (emFire)
• 2008: The EmFire Collection: Mixed, Unmixed & Remixed (emFire)

DJ Mixes/Compilations

• 1994: Renaissance - The Mix Collection with John Digweed (Renaissance Records)
• 1996: Northern Exposure with John Digweed (Ministry of Sound, Ultra Records)
• 1997: Northern Exposure 2 with John Digweed (Ministry of Sound, Ultra Records)
• 1998: Global Underground 009: San Francisco (Boxed)
• 1999: Northern Exposure: Expeditions with John Digweed (INCredible, Ultra Records)
• 1999: Global Underground 013: Ibiza (Boxed)
• 2000: Communicate with John Digweed (INCredible, Kinetic Records) (Billboard 200 #149)^[62]
• 2004: Involver (Global Underground Ltd.) (Billboard 200 #200, Billboard Electronic #1)
• 2005: Fundacion NYC (Global Underground Ltd. Airdrawndagger (or ADD for short is an album by Sasha. It was released in 2002 by Kinetic Records and BMG. The UK Albums Chart is a list of Albums ranked by sales in the United Kingdom. Top Electronic Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top selling electronic music albums in the United States The emFire Collection Mixed Unmixed & Remixed is a collection of remixes of Sasha's tracks "Coma" "Park it in Shade" "Who Killed Sparky?" Renaissance The Mix Collection is the first mix CD set by Sasha & John Digweed. John Digweed (born Thomas John Digweed 1 January 1967 in Hastings, England) is a British DJ and Record producer Sub Labels EmFire USR (Underground Sound of Renaissance Catalog Albums REN38CD Northern Exposure is a 1996 Mix album by DJs Sasha & John Digweed. Ministry of Sound ( MoS) is a global dance music brand and a Nightclub in Elephant and Castle, Southwark, South London, officially Ultra Records is an American independent Electronic dance music Record label. Northern Exposure 2 is a Mix album by Sasha & John Digweed released in 1997 Boxed (legal name Club Parasite Ltd was a Record label which has released around forty mix albums from DJs such as John Digweed, Nick Warren, and Northern Exposure Expeditions is a 1999 Progressive trance Mix album by Sasha and John Digweed. INCredible is an offshoot on Sony Music Entertainment. INCredible releases electronic Dance music of all kinds including the Gatecrasher series Communicate is a Mix album by Sasha & John Digweed. Track listing Disc one Jaimy & Kenny D Kinetic Records was a New York City -based Record label that featured releases from artists such as BT, Deepsky, Tilt, Timo Maas The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard Involver is a Progressive house and Breaks mix compilation by Sasha. Boxed (legal name Club Parasite Ltd was a Record label which has released around forty mix albums from DJs such as John Digweed, Nick Warren, and Fundacion NYC is a Progressive house mix compilation by Sasha. ) (Billboard Electronic #4)
• 2006: Avalon Los Angeles CA 24/06/06 (Instant Live)
• 2008: Invol2ver (Global Underground Ltd.)

Singles/EPs

• 1993: "Together" with Danny Campbell (FFRR) (UK Singles Chart #57)^[63]
• 1994: "Higher Ground" (Deconstruction) (UK #19)^[4]
• 1994: "Magic" with Sam Mollison (Deconstruction) (UK #32)^[64]
• 1994: The Qat Collection (Deconstruction)
• 1996: "Be as One" with Maria Nayler (UK #17)^[65]
• 1999: Xpander EP (Deconstruction, Ultra Records) (UK #18)
• 2000: "Scorchio" with Darren Emerson (Deconstruction) (UK #23)^[66]
• 2002: "Wavy Gravy" (Kinetic Records, BMG) (UK #64)^[4]
• 2007: "Coma" (emFire)
• 2007: "Park It In The Shade" (emFire)
• 2008: "Who Killed Sparky?" (emFire)
• 2008: "Mongoose" (emFire)
• 2008: "Coma (Remixes)" (emFire)

DVD

• 2006: Sasha & John Digweed present Delta Heavy with John Digweed (System Recordings)

Notes and references

External links

Official

• Sasha's Official Website
• Sasha at MySpace

Biographies and related

• Sasha discography at MusicBrainz
• Sasha at Allmusic
• Sasha at Discogs
• Sasha Tracklisting archive

Persondata
NAME	Alexander Coe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Sasha (stage name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Popular disc jockey of electronic music
DATE OF BIRTH	September 4, 1969
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hawarden, Wales
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

MySpace is a popular social networking Website offering an interactive user-submitted network of friends personal profiles blogs groups photos music and MusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an Open content Music database allmusic (previously All Music Guide) is a Metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. Discogs, short for discographies, is a Website and Database of information about Music Recordings including commercial releases promotional A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience Electronic music is music that employs Electronic musical instruments and Electronic Music technology in its production Events 476 - Romulus Augustus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hawarden ( IPA /ˈhɑdən/ "Harden" Penarlâg is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, approximately 5 miles (as

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