Sasha, originally named Alexander Coe, was born in Wales in September 1969. He first discovered the house music scene during visits to Manchester’s famous Hacienda club in the late 1980s and was immediately captivated by the smoke machine, strobe lights, and carefree attitude of the club-goers.
He relocated to Manchester to immerse himself in the burgeoning house music scene and began DJing at a local club under the name Sasha. His unique style of playing acapellas over instrumental Italian piano house tracks won him many fans and accolades, leading to his residency at Shelly’s in Stoke in 1991. That same year, he became the first DJ to be featured on the cover of Mixmag.
Sasha’s signature sound is characterized by long, fluid, hypnotic tracks featuring gated vocals and swirling synths. He was invited to take up a residency at Renaissance in 1993, where he met John Digweed. The duo went on to produce the first-ever DJ mix CD, “Renaissance – The Mix Collection,” which featured many of the big tracks of the time, as well as their own productions and remixes.
Sasha and Digweed went on to create the Northern Exposure brand, which included a club night and a series of mix CDs produced using production software. In 1994, Sasha released two singles on Deconstruction Records that showcased his progressive house sound, featuring long intros and outros, pianos, 303s, and emotional vocals.
In 1995, Sasha formed a friendship with producer BT, resulting in his remix of BT’s “Embracing The Sunshine” and the co-production of the B-Side of Sasha’s biggest hit, “Be As One.” The duo also collaborated on the Atraxion Future Mix of Seal’s “I’m Alive,” widely regarded as one of the greatest remixes ever made.
Sasha’s production work took a less commercial slant between 1996 and 1998, until the release of the four-track “Xpander EP” in 1999. The title track featured uplifting and melodic synth parts that brought him a whole new set of fans. In 2000, he collaborated with Underworld’s Darren Emerson to record “Scorchio,” another uplifting synth track that charted in the UK.
Sasha continues to produce and DJ to this day, remaining as popular as ever.
