When original "superstar DJ" Sasha finishes his set at New York City Club Twilo as dawn breaks this Saturday morning, and his clubbing faithful head home to recover from the all-nighter, the folks from British Superclub Cream step in to whisk him off on a private jet to headline their ultimate summer dance festival, Creamfields, which takes place later that day on an old airfield in Liverpool.

Creamfields is a harder, more hedonistic version of Woodstock's all night rave, and Sasha is one of the headliners.

Though mainstream America may be more familiar with his contemporaries like the Chemical Brothers and the new electronica Madonna, the underground trance and progressive house artist has seen his profile increase recently as a result of the remixes he did for both of those musicians' most recent efforts.

"When I travel around the world, people know all about the Madonna thing," Sasha begins. "You know, it's definitely, definitely done wonders for my name. But in terms of actually opening doors, I'm just really concentrating on my own music at the moment."

In addition to his turntable duties (which include a monthly residency with John Digweed at Twilo) and mixing commitments (like April's thoroughly urgent records Global Underground 003: San Francisco and Northern Exposure 3) Sasha has finally buckled down on his party boy excesses and started recording an album of original material.

It's a record that's been years in the making, having suffered setbacks inherent in the active life of a London clubber. But the man the British club scene likes to refer to as "the son of God," earlier this year moved to the English countryside where the only distractions are a pair of cats -- Biffo and Hattie, who came with the house -- and a home studio.

"I'm actually not working quite as hard as I did in London. In London I'd stay in the studio til 9 o'clock in the morning and I'd really force myself to work. It was kind of like I was chasing my tail. Now I actually go to the studio for like three or four hours a day, have a bit of a fiddle and actually make records really quickly and it's because I'm so chilled and the working environment is so wonderful, I'm getting so much more done. Making music now has become like an effortless process compared to what I did before which was just like, constantly in the studio and staring at the computer screen and thinking why does this sound shit!"

The Xpander EP, a product of this new process, was released in Britain in July, but its glorious title cut has been spinning on dance floors from San Diego to Santiago, Tokyo and beyond since late June. Sasha also has Global Underground 006: Ibiza due out on Sept. 21, and the soundtrack to the Sony PlayStation game Wipeout 3, which he's overseeing, out shortly thereafter.

A Sasha full length won't be out til early '00. In the meantime, DJ culture's first pin-up idol will be increasing his recognition factor as he weaves his way around the world.

"Hopefully when my album comes together and gets released next year, that willtake things to another level."

JOLIE LASH
(August 27, 1999)