An incredible year for one of the world’s most loved DJs…a stunning reception to a new Involv3r album, his Last Night On Earth label making serious moves on the underground scene, sell out DJ shows coupled with big sound festival appearances and yet again, a great summer in Ibiza. Here, Dan Prince checks in with the main man to talk about New Years Eve in London, the EDM scene in America, DJ Sneak’s Twitter rant, the recent RA/DJ Mag polls and why he’s happy just having a seat at the dance music table…
Sasha I have interviewed you in some strange places over the years – a stunning castle in the south of France, a back room of a warehouse rave in Manchester and lying by a pool in the hills of Ibiza. Today though tops the friggin’ lot, I am calling you from a Carvery restaurant in Coventry. How are you in New York?
“Hahaha! What the hell are you doing there?”
I was starving and it was the only place open in this godforsaken city. Anyway enough of my festive woes, let’s crack on and talk about your fabulous looking ‘Last Night On Earth’ event at the 02 Academy Brixton in London on New Years Eve…a stunning party starring the likes of Guy Gerber, Nic Fanciulli, Hot Since 82 and Laura Jones. When did these big plans all begin?
“We started talking about these parties back in the summer. We have some great ideas for our future events and thought Lock N Load would be the perfect partners for the project – and New Years Eve is a perfect platform to launch everything.”
So you say ‘events’, does that mean there’ll be more happening next year?
“Yes it’s a string of ‘Last Night On Earth’ events, all taking place in the UK to begin with. I am really excited about them as I am completely hands on with it all.”
The UK scene is looking great again…Sankeys reopening in Manchester, London with over 20 decent nights a weekend, Warehouse Project taking on the world, Bristol giving it the swagger – the underground is most definitely back! Why do you think the UK is leading the way again…?
“Because we have an excellent taste in music Dan! It’s looking really good though isn’t it? There are so many brilliant producers emerging all of the time, some great nights…I think every resident DJ in Berlin at the moment is British! I know the UK went through a really bad time around 2002 when lots of labels were going down, superclubs were closing every week and the commercial R&B sound kicked in, but the underground never went away. This is the healthiest it has been for a very long time and we should all celebrate that.”
You readily admit that after you finish a big project you have to leave it alone for a few months before listening to it again as you are that sick of hearing it. Now that the dust has settled and you have had the summer playing parts of your creation to dancefloors around the world, what are your thoughts on Involv3r?
“I haven’t really listened to it, there’s two or three tracks that I’ve been playing out but that’s about it. But what really blew me away was the amazing response I received for the album. When you put your heart and soul into something it is so rewarding to get good critical acclaim back, the feedback injected so much positivity into my sets all summer and I couldn’t have asked for more.”
It must have been quite mad to see so much direct response on your social medias?
“Absolutely. This is the first major piece of work I have completed since the likes of Facebook and Twitter arrived and to get so much great feedback from people on the day of the release was overwhelming.”
You took the world by surprise with your post on Facebook concerning Resident Advisor, stating that “I wasn’t going to play the whole vote for me game but as everyone else is doing it then why not?”. You must have been very happy with your finishing position amongst all those young whippersnappers?
“Haha I was! I have to admit though the whole DJMag100 doesn’t even enter my head anymore, it’s pointless really. Why should I get involved in something with these artists who have five times as many Facebook followers as me and can just tap them up for votes? RA on the other hand is a tastemakers poll and it is great to be amongst artists who include those who have influenced me, are heroes of mine as well as including the new up and coming producers who are bringing us so much good music right now.”
Your label is in a great place right now, it has it’s own sound, your team are sending you music from producers even you haven’t heard of yet and all is looking is good for 2014…
“I am very happy with the way the label has grown these past twelve months. It has developed at a great pace, the momentum is there and things are coming together nicely. To begin with the label was focused on a lot of my own stuff but as 2013 progressed we were putting s lot of up and coming producers out there. When I was involved with Excession Records a few years ago I was very proud to be part of developing careers of a lot of young DJs, James Zabiela for instance was very exciting to be with from the start. It was a great 3-4 years but I feel now that Last Night On Earth has taken it’s place, we are working with a lot of new artists and keeping quite a wide genre with the music which let’s us be very creative.”
Let’s talk about Ibiza, your Never Say Never parties down at Ushuaia Tower were one of the highlights of the summer for me, what a venue…and they were free! Happy with it all?
“Well this summer didn’t go exactly to plan, the whole Ushuaia Tower residency wasn’t what I signed up to before the season started. We were meant to be doing big parties poolside by the beach but the Ibiza licensing laws yet again got in the way and we had to move to party into the sky to the Tower. But the looks on people’s faces when they got up there and saw the view and setting blew all my concerns away immediately. We had great line ups, the parties were full every week and as you mention, it was great to put on a party of this quality for free. I am not sure what I am doing next year, there are a few offers on the table and we shall see.”
One of your guests at Ushuaia Tower this summer was DJ Sneak, a man in the news at the moment due to his Twitter dig at Yousef and his Circus night. What did you think of all that?
“I have to admit I sniggered a bit when I saw his digs aimed at the Swedish House Mafia a while back, but this time I think it was all a bit silly. These people are all friends of mine, I have known Yoss for ages and I get on with Sneak – I like him and he is a great DJ. But it seems he is just angry at everyone at the moment. Things get out of hand very quickly where social media is concerned but at the end of the day Dan, it’s all playground stuff.”
This summer was your busiest for years – at one point you clocked up 16 gigs in 19 days and 22 flights. I read somewhere that you are now very comfortable where the artist Sasha is in the music world and are quite happy being part of the scene just playing your part?
“God you do your research! Yes I am happy to be in demand after all these years, I have had a long career – an amazing career and it is great to still be relevant and feel like I am still integral with the scene. And I don’t see myself stopping just yet!”
Fuck me dude you’re not that old!
“True, I mean what else am I going to do…open a greengrocers or something?”
You have just got back from Hawaii haven’t you?
“I have, it was part of my Fall Winter Tour and was at The Fix in Honolulu. It was quite surreal being in such a holiday renowned place as Hawaii playing in a club. But I think I brought a great big black cloud over from Manchester with me as the weather was crap, but the night was great – I had a lot of friends on the dancefloor which was nice.”
I can’t interview you without touching on the whole ‘US EDM’ debate. You have been involved in the American dance scene since day dot and are in a perfect position to see the current state of affairs exactly how it lies – and that is that the underground is strong and there is a massive commercial end. Did you every honestly envisage this happening in your adopted home country?
“No I didn’t. Funnily enough someone rang me last week who’d found an interview I’d done in 2005 where I stated that I didn’t think the US would ever pop. Well I was wrong wasn’t I? The difference here is that this massive resurgence in the electronic scene has come from the top down, whereas in the UK when it exploded in the late 80s, it all started in the underground and gradually got bigger and bigger. Here in the US the dancefloors are littered with the likes of Rihanna, Calvin Harris and David Guetta bringing commercial success – and yes, there will be a generation of clubbers who move from this top end side of things to the underground sound. Nobody should be complaining how things are going over here at all.”
When you were starting your DJ career it was all about building sets and educating people. Now everyone can be DJ with our modern technology. Does this piss you off?
“No not at all, you can’t stop progress. In my opinion it doesn’t matter what you use to play to get the music across to people – whether you use the sync button or slip on a piece of vinyl…long may this all continue.”
‘Last Night On Earth’ at Brixton Academy this NYE features Sasha alongside Guy Gerber, Ellen Allien, Nic Fanciulli, Deetron, Hot Since 82, Laura Jones, Ejeca and many more. Final allocation of tickets are selling fast, tickets available below…
http://www.lnoe.co.uk/tickets/
