If the British progressive trance movement has a Godfather figure,then the UK’s Sasha (aka Alexander Coe) is the obvious contender, though in many ways he has transcended the sound he pioneered with John Digweed and Paul Oakenfold.
These days the DJ-cum-producer may be looked on as a pop star, but he also stands as one of dance music’s most inscrutable figures. The UK dance press has cast him as a party boy, even briefly (and tenuously) linking him to waifish supermodel and serial date Kate Moss, yet the softly-spoken Sasha, 31, comes across as shy, sensitive and surprisingly sober about his success. Oh, and he and Moss were never an item.
“Obviously the lifestyle is great and the adulation is something that is very bizarre and weird, but it is there, and I just try and keep my head on straight,” he says from his countryside retreat just outside London.
Credible and sincere, Sasha claims that he stays grounded by maintaining close ties with his circle of DJ friends – among them longtime ally John Digweed, Tyrant stalwarts Craig Richards and Lee Burridge, and American Jimmy Van M. However, he is philosophical about the love/hate cycles that govern any career in entertainment and, despite lately being voted the world’s number one DJ in DJ magazine’s influential poll (as well as on the dotmusic Web site), he remains ambivalent about the dance media’s efforts to turn the DJ ranks into a competition of egos. Coe avoids reading his own press – not to mention venturing into chat rooms on the Internet. Indeed, Sasha remembers once visiting the Cream nightclub Web site and being “horrified” by the distorted perceptions of himself (and other DJs) he encountered. “I think the fact that when I’m DJing I really concentrate quite hard people think I’m quite an arrogant, moody twat and I don’t think anything could be further from the truth if you actually met me. I don’t know…”
Born in Wales, Sasha moved to Manchester – or ‘Madchester’ as it was nicknamed during the Summer of Love – in the latter part of the 80s after falling under the spell of house music at the city’s legendary Hacienda nightclub (which was recently demolished). In 1991 Sasha – then with romantic long locks in a pony-tail – landed his first major local gig at the club Shelley’s, playing a Balearic mix of music. Sasha would discover fame as an international DJ soon after he took up a residency at Renaissance.
It was at Renaissance, too, where Sasha met John Digweed, another resident DJ. The two became friends and eventually unleashed the first of their popular Northern Exposure mix-CDs in 1996.
In recent times Sasha has continued to orchestrate any number of mix-CDs – Northern Exposure’s Communicate came out mid-2000. He’s collaborated with American epic house producer Brian “BT” Transeau (they record together as 2 Phat Cunts) and completed remixes for Madonna and The Chemical Brothers. Last year he also dropped the hit Xpander EP.
But, generally, Sasha has been far from prolific in the studio, with just a few sporadic singles to his name – including his latest Scorchio, a collaborative effort with newly liberated Underworld member Darren Emerson. “It was fun. We just met up in South America in January and, even though I’ve known Darren for about 10 years, it was actually the first time we’d ever really sat down and hung out with each other and we really hit it off. As soon as we got back, we called each other and it was like, ‘Let’s get into the studio!’ So we started messing about one afternoon and the track just came together almost instantly. And it was just like, ‘Wow, we’ve just made a little cheeky Ibiza record!’, so I thought, ‘Let’s put it out.’ I think it works really well.”
Sasha signed to the UK label Deconstruction seven years ago yet the dance scene is still anticipating his first full-length album – one of three he owes them, according to the deal. Sasha has attributed the delay to his hectic DJ schedule and the need to set up his own studio and identify the right long-term collaborator. Not so long ago he moved out of London to semi-rural Henley to escape the distractions of his chaotic lifestyle and his mates. “When I was living in London my weekends all seemed to join together,” he says. “I never really got much work done there at all, so this is definitely a move that has helped my peace of mind; it’s given me a life outside clubs.”
Sasha has already laid down a few ideas for what he envisages as a diverse work that will reference his musical influences and decade-long DJ career, and he’s resolved to put his flourishing DJ career on hold for at least six months to concentrate on the project.
Sasha is above all a perfectionist – a trait that tends to work against productivity. “I’m definitely guilty of that,” he says, “but I feel like it’s important that I just put something out now. I think it’s important that I don’t try and think about making Sergeant Peppers or Leftism again and just get on and make an album that I’m happy with and then build on it from there. I guess I have been a bit nervous about doing anything because my standards are so high.”
