A little bit about "Sasha"

Sasha (born as Alexander Paul Coe on 4 September 1969 in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales) is aWelsh DJ and record producer. 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.....



 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).Through their track selection and mixing techniques, Sasha and Digweed were instrumental in the evolution of progressive trance and house music.Sasha has produced multiple UK-charting singles and has remixed tracks for artists such asMadonna and The Chemical Brothers. His remix of Felix da Housecat's "Watching Cars Go By" earned him a 2004 Grammy nomination. Sasha's remixing and production often combine electronic music genres, making it difficult for critics to pinpoint his musical style,including on his debut album of original work, Airdrawndagger.After achieving success as a producer and DJ, Sasha worked with younger DJs and producers such as BT and James Zabiela, influencing their musical styles and techniques.

His use of liveaudio engineering equipment helped popularise technological innovations among DJs who formerly relied on records and turntables. Despite the changing trends in electronic dance music, Sasha continues to perform in large dance venues. In 2007, he formed a record label with Renaissance Records called emFire, which is the exclusive outlet for his new music.Sasha was born in Bangor, Wales on September 4, 1969, but spent most of his youth with his mother in the Welsh town of Penarlâg. Sasha's early musical taste was primarily Top 40 pop music like The The and The Police.After an "idyllic childhood", he passed the entrance exam for Epsom College at age 17.

However, he did not like Epsom and left before completing his Advanced Level (an academic qualification in England, Wales and Northern Ireland). 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.

Sasha became aware of electronic dance music in 1988 at The Haçienda, a Manchester dance venue.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. Sasha purchased many acid house records and began to teach himself how to mix. 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. 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."Sasha became aware of electronic dance music in 1988 at The Haçienda, a Manchester dance venue.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. Sasha purchased many acid house records and began to teach himself how to mix.

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. 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."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. His tastes further developed as he moved to Renaissance, and he began to incorporate the pop-based sounds of Moby, Spooky, and Leftfield. Sasha's second Digweed collaboration, 1997's Northern Exposure, was described as "epic house", and subsequent releases featured the spacey and atmospheric progressive trance sound of artists such as Sven Väth, Matt Darey, Tilt, and Armin Van Buuren. A rhythmic and bassy progressive house influence distinguished his Xpander EP and the mix albums of the late 1990s. At the time, Sasha's music rotation included records by artists such as Space Manoeuvres, BT, andBreeder, and Sander Kleinenberg's single "My Lexicon".With the 2000 album Communicate, the duo's work moved towards a deeper and darker house music sound. The album featured tracks byMorel, Mainline, and Jimmy Van M.

The focus shifted from the melodic themes of previous releases in favour of a stronger emphasis on the bassline. The Delta Heavy Tour and Airdrawndagger marked a dramatic shift in style, and reflected the influences of relaxed ambient andbreakbeat music on Sasha's work. 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. With 2005's Fundacion, Sasha's style was mostly progressive house and electro-house music, with work by James Holden, Tiefschwarz, and Swayzak.

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, though he has stated that he prefers not to associate himself with a specific genre of music.He has been voted among the top ten DJs in the world by readers of DJMag every year since 1997, placing first in 2000. 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) andInvolver (2004). He was also nominated in the categories "Best European DJ" (2004) and "Best Remixer". At the 1999 Ericsson Muzik Awards, he received an award for "Outstanding Contributions to Dance Music".

Sasha was nominated as the top DJ in his genre every year since 2000 in the DJ Awards, but did not win. However, in 2008, he was selected as the best DJ in the progressive house category.In 2005, the Grammy committee debated whether Involver was eligible for nomination as Best Electronic/Dance Album. The Recording Academy decided that the album was eligible, but Involver did not receive a nomination. Sasha did receive a Grammy nomination for his remix of Felix da Housecat's "Watching Cars Go By", which was featured on Involver.