Published in the November 2008 issue of DJ Times Magazine
Volume 21 - Number 11
By Emily Tan

After all these years, Sasha is one of the few global DJs still worthy of having the much-maligned term “superstar DJ” affixed to his name. Just look at his résumé—the accomplishments scan nearly two decades and he’s showing no signs of stopping.

Like many of his generation, the Welsh-born Sasha (aka Alexander Coe, 39,) caught the Acid House bug at Manchester’s legendary Haçienda club, and he soon sharpened his deck skills by playing the U.K.’s exploding rave scene of the late 1980s. He moved up through the ranks until his profile hit front and center with his production work and live gigs for the Renaissance imprint and club brand.

But it was his collaborations with fellow DJ John Digweed that pushed Sasha into the global hierarchy. In addition to prog-genre-defining releases like Northern Exposure, Sasha & Digweed’s four-year residency at New York’s Twilo club became a touchstone for thousands of clubbers. Later, their Delta Heavy tour—a jaunt through North American arenas with DJ cohort Jimmy Van M—put the full strength of electronic music on display.

Now that he’s only occasionally doing gigs with Diggers, Sasha has put more emphasis on his studio work. His 2002 artist CD, Airdrawndagger (Kinetic), pushed a more atmospheric vibe, while 2004’s Involver (Global Underground) essentially reinvented the mix compilation.

Recently settled in New York City, Sasha has released his follow-up, Invol2ver, another unique mix comp featuring his own re-interpretations of favorite tracks. Working with his engineer and production team, Sasha’s inventive use of guitar pedals gives Invol2ver a signature sound. Deep, warped and proggy with occasional breaks, Invol2ver offers a full listening experience. From his take on Aparat’s crunching “Arcadia” to his mix of Thom Yorke’s ethereal “The Eraser,” it’s certainly not just another toss-off comp with a bomb track or two.

His touring schedule isn’t quite as hectic as years past, but Sasha’s still out there. Always aware of technology’s impact on his profession as a DJ, Sasha remains a proponent of performing with Ableton Live. And he says that The Maven controller he created for manipulating Ableton will finally be available at retail in 2009 via a yet-unnamed manufacturer and at a number of price points.

Speaking to DJ Times from Ibiza, Spain, it’s clear that Sasha’s enthusiasm for his craft hasn’t faded one bit, so we talked tech, studio and DJing.

DJ Times: Why release the next Involver now?

Sasha: It felt like the right time to put another record out. I always intended on following up Involver, so it felt like the time was right for a sequel.

DJ Times: Involver2 is somewhere between a mix compilation and a straight artist album. It’s more of a production mix. Where was it recorded, in your home studio?

Sasha: I recorded it in London and New York; I spend most of my time in New York. I have a studio in New York that’s not in my home. We’ve got loads of software and we’ve got a proper studio—it’s soundproofed, air-conditioned, the whole thing.

DJ Times: Is your New York studio mainly software-based, or do you have a lot of analog gear, like a big Neve desk?

Sasha: We don’t have an analog desk, but we bought a lot of analog gear for this album. We worked out some tracks last spring after Winter Music Conference where we got together and started working on ideas. This is the first time I’ve been in the studio since the first Involver [2004], and a huge amount has changed in those three years. We started working with ideas last spring before I went on tour. I wasn’t getting the sounds I wanted. I was listening to all these German recordings and they were just amazing, the sound of getting analog signals through analog processors. We started trolling around on eBay and Craig’s List, trying to find analog gear. We actually got some really amazing bargains. We bought a lot of used compressors and a lot of the sound design was done with guitar pedals.

DJ Times: Are guitar pedals something you’ve experimented with before?

Sasha: I saw an article in a men’s magazine about this guy who’d been in a band at school, and he was talking about guitar pedals. I was reading through all this about guitar pedals, and I remember when I first started doing records, that’s how I started doing sound design. We got 20 or 30 guitar pedals and we made these crazy signal passes with Kaoss pads through there. Rather than sitting in front of a computer screen and processing stuff that way, we took a lot of stuff and we’d just run cables through the guitar pedals and have some fun. The great thing about using analog gear is, you have these wonderful, happy accidents. Things you couldn’t recreate if you tried. It happens by feeding things into it and you just see what happens.

DJ Times: You’ve always been technologically savvy. Did you do your own engineering, or did you have help?

Sasha: Barry Jamieson is the engineer. Charlie May worked on the whole album with me, so it was a real collaboration. Leo Leite did a lot of the drum programming. It was like a band. We had two rooms in the studio, and I was writing and doing sound design in one room, and the other was a production room where we could mix the tracks down.

DJ Times: How much time was invested into Involver2?

Sasha: We spent a couple of months last year to find our feet again…I went away for the summer, moved house…I got into the studio in January, and I spent five months there. So, seven months in total.

DJ Times: In my opinion, your triple-CD compilation with John Digweed—Renaissance: The Mix Collection from 1994—is one of the all-time greatest compilations ever recorded. Do you think you approach recordings with more care than most DJs?

Sasha: Whenever I make music, I wanna make something that’s gonna be around for a while. I guess that’s a driving theme behind a lot of stuff I do. I want people to be able to listen in the future. I want my music to be relevant. You never really know how it’s going to be received.

DJ Times: What was it like collaborating with Thom Yorke on “The Eraser”? Did he seek you out? Were you friends?

Sasha: No, we’re not friends. I was actually playing a bootleg of that track out last year, and I dropped it at Manchester Warehouse Project, and the whole warehouse went crazy. Someone had taken a video of it, and [Yorke] posted that video on the Radiohead website. We called him up and asked if we could do a proper mix of it, and he was into it.

DJ Times: Are you releasing any singles from Involver2?

Sasha: We just released a package of five unmixed tracks, then another this week. We don’t really have a single. We’re releasing the original on emFire.

DJ Times: EmFire is your digital label. Is the label profitable, and why even bother starting up a label in this climate?

Sasha: It’s fine. It’s just an outlet for me to put out music when I have a new track, a new idea. It’s not really to make money. A lot of the tracks I put out on emFire are just ideas and experiments, and people read too much into those tracks I put out. [Laughs] Everything I put out gets under the microscope. I’m gonna put out weird and wonderful things.

DJ Times: Are you releasing anything through emFire under pseudonyms?

Sasha: On emFire, everything is just me.

DJ Times: What’s your DJ booth setup these days? Are you still DJing with the Maven controller you created for Ableton Live?

Sasha: Yeah, I am still using the Maven controller. I’m just signing a deal to put it into production. So sometime next year, you can see it and buy it in stores. The top unit will be expensive, but we’re releasing more budget-type versions, too. I’m not sure how many models.

DJ Times: Who’s the manufacturer?

Sasha: I can’t say right now.

DJ Times: So, you’re still DJing with Ableton Live.

Sasha: Yeah, I’m using the latest version. I use the native plug-ins. I don’t like adding plug-ins because I’m a little scared of crashing. [Laughs] I’m conservative in the way I use it. It feels like DJing to me, now. I got really used to playing with Ableton. I have CDs with me, and sometimes I mix in CDs if I haven’t had the time to rip a track if I got it given to me at a pub. Otherwise, it’s all Ableton.

DJ Times: You’re not at least a little bit interested in experimenting with digital vinyl systems like Serato or Traktor?

Sasha: This is the way, which is better than anyone else’s way. I can’t watch DJs play CDs off vinyl. This is the way to go.

DJ Times: Have you been touring a lot since Winter Music Conference?

Sasha: The album’s taken up my life for the past year. I’m touring, coming back to the States, then going to Asia, then Australia. Touring’s going to take up my time. I’ll get back in the studio in January and then plot my next move. Everything at the moment is very positive. I don’t really have a big plan at the moment.

DJ Times: I’m diggin’ the Ladytron track from Involver2, “Destroy Everything You Touch.”

Sasha: It was a remix of one of their songs. The collaborations are really with Adam Parker and Ray La Montagne. The Ladytron track was a remix of one of their old tracks. I remember getting it after the last Involver and I knew I wanted to include it. It was an old tune.

DJ Times: How do you stay relevant and in demand given the state of the global economy and with a new crop of DJs constantly grabbing at your heels?

Sasha: I’ve been DJing for 20 years. You have to keep your ear to the ground, keep open in terms of where the music’s going and not get bogged down into one sound. You have to be open to what’s happening out there. Too many successful DJs found a sound they like, and they stick to it over and over. A lot of new, beautiful music is constantly being cut out when you do that. I read an interview with an ex-superstar DJ saying that the music doesn’t have anything new anymore, and that gets me so mad.

DJ Times: You don’t agree?

Sasha: It takes a lot of….you have to keep at it, and I’ve had tough years, yeah. And maybe my music’s not en vogue that year or whatever and people are very quick to write you off as not being valid anymore. But you have to always have faith in yourself and believe in what you’re doing. Believe in the music you’re playing. Even when you’re not sure of what you’re playing, just keep plugging away at it! Find music that excites you, and let that excitement breathe through you.

DJ Times: How do you see the future of the DJ?

Sasha: It’s been a really great year for electronic music. I’ve seen a lot of amazing music’s been made. A lot of sounds have been pushed forward. Even if it’s not maybe the coolest thing. Maybe the whole DJ culture doesn’t have to have the crazy buzz around it, like in 1999-2000, before the dance music recession kicked in. There are a lot of successful DJs out there, throwing huge parties. Even in the U.K., where they said it’s dead and buried, there are 100,000 people going out every weekend.

DJ Times: You’ve been pegged as a progressive-house DJ over the years. Have your musical tastes changed over the years?

Sasha: I guess my tastes haven’t changed that much. I’m always attracted to certain kinds of sounds and melodies. A lot of records that I’m playing out are German, lately. The label “progressive house” is what I’ve been categorized into. But, whenever I look at the progressive charts on these websites, I never buy any of that music! It’s not music I play. The Renaissance compilation, people call that a progressive recording, but there were vocals on there, breaks on there! It’s hard to categorize what I do. I look at the best music I can get my hands on.

DJ Times: What’s your take on the whole mash-up, open-format style of DJing?

Sasha: If people are going out and dancing to it and like it, I guess it’s a valid way. The most difficult thing with electronic music is that people take themselves too seriously. At the end of the day, it’s about going out and having a great time. If that music’s doing it and people are having fun, then it’s enough.

DJ Times: Are you still having fun after all these years?

Sasha: I am! I won’t deny, though, you do get slagged off for a set you played…people don’t write about the 50 good sets you had. They pick the one bad one and tear you apart for it. That’s not pleasant, but you just keep believing in what you’re doing. My DJing side of things is really my bread and butter. It’s what I do. My production career’s important to me, but at the end of the day, I’m first and foremost a DJ.