Sasha is coming to New Mexico. For a long time, we used to wonder when this day would happen and now that it is one day away, I can’t help but be happy for how far we’ve come as a dance community to get a dj like Sasha to play here. It’s no short of an amazing accomplishment that’s taken decades for this city to make happen, although I don’t think you’d believe me If I’d tell you the whole story.
This isn’t Sasha’s first time coming to New Mexico, so don’t let anybody make you think otherwise, and I was there last time as well. It was for the Delta Heavy Tour when he was traveling America with fellow top-level DJ John Digweed. I can remember I had just turned eighteen and I found myself finally eligible to attend the eighteen and up events that used to seem so much cooler than the underage raves we used to go to every weekend. It’s so funny to think like that now. There was once a time where the club and the music hall were more interesting to us than the rave. It was something new to us, and that’s where we were when we found the tour was coming to the Sunshine Theatre in 2002.
The night itself when it finally arrived, was memorable, to say the least. The show was opened by Jimmy Van M, followed by Sasha and Digweed each taking turns on the decks before finishing with a b2b, which was something that was still very rare at the time. Now, it’s as if every festival or afterparty has to have some special one of a kind b2b, and don’t get me wrong, I love them, but it’s still fun to remember a time when Sasha and John Digweed were the only ones playing like this. Topping that of, they still only played Vinyl, making it a night full of sonic uniqueness at its peak.
To this day, I cannot remember one song they played, and still I stood there on the dancefloor for over four hours absolutely amazed by what I was hearing and seeing. So subtle. So precise. So aware of every single sound they conveyed. I am still altered by that night, and not just because of the DJ’s. I have seen them together again since then, and I have seen them separate as well, but never has it felt quite as good as it did that first time in Albuquerque. I see so clearly now, though, it wasn’t just Sasha and John Digweed that made it special. It was the city as well.
When I’m on the road, and I’m talking to people, and I tell them where I’m from – New Mexico- their usual response is never to label it as a dance music mega city, and I don’t blame them. That’s not something New Mexico is ever going to be, and that is our advantage. New Mexico does not have the size, but it does have the commitment, and the quality. Intimate and connected. So devoted to staying exactly who it is, who it’s always been. When a DJ plays here, they aren’t playing for a crowd, but rather becoming a part of the experience.
We offer them a knowledgeable dancefloor filled with people who will look the DJ in the eye, and still allow them the freedom and space to play in a way I’ve seen them never play in the bigger cities or even at festivals. They’re coming to New Mexico is as much a treat for them as it is for the people lucky enough to get a ticket to a show that should sell out and pack the dancefloor.
This is a chance to hear one of the gods of electronic music in a setting so unique and exclusive that you will never be able to match it again. This isn’t just Sasha DJing for a couple of hours. This is Sasha in the desert wasteland we call home. Sasha in and abandoned old Staples next to the Family Dollar. Sasha in a place more committed to being a rave than club.
What I hope for New Mexico moving forward is a commitment to a safe environment for its dancers and a return to our roots. A reminder of who we really are, and if we’re smart that will start with Friday, October 1st at the Electric Playhouse.
Electronic music belongs in a setting worthy of its creative spirit, and with New Mexico we have that. If you have the chance go and witness the rebirth of a city that deserves it with a DJ that can make you live, and cry, and die on the dancefloor. Get there a little early too so you can catch House Legend, Eldon, play as well. No other DJ could help set the mood right.
Sasha is coming to New Mexico. A night that has taken decades to make happen, and all you have to do is show up, look him in the eye, nod your head as the beat slowly creeps in, and without even thinking twice, let go.
I will be with you in spirit, but not in body, and as someone who knows how long it took and how hard it was to book a musical mastermind like Sasha, I wish to say thank you for this. And good job. And keep going. Don’t let this be just one thing. Let it be the start. The start of what New Mexico is meant to be. A place DJs are already talking about. A place the rave world deserves to know is special.
Rebuild in a warehouse. Rebuild with Sasha. Rebuild the way New Mexico knows how. Pay your twenty bucks and go show respect to a DJ that has seen the world and has helped change it, and now, wants to play for you, and only you.
This night isn’t about Sasha, or the Electric Playhouse, it’s about New Mexico, and the future of raves in our wasteland paradise. Tell me if he plays Xpander, I’ve always loved that one.
There was excitement, anticipation, and a touch of anxiousness in the air for everybody with a ticket to Arc Music Festival, in Chicago, IL last weekend. The first-year festival was held at Union Park over two days during Labor Day weekend, and it offered an impressive list of quality DJs in both house and techno from all around the world. Top that off with Elrow hosting its own stage in Chicago for the first time and multiple afterparties to choose from and what they offered was something we knew we could not say no to. Even the chance at seeing Eric Prydz in all his three forms was as much a reason as any to take this trip. It was our first festival since after the quarantine, and possibly our most challenging. Chicago would ask more of us.
Day One was devoted to techno, and you could tell immediately arriving at the festival that everybody dressed accordingly. We started our day at the expansion stage, which was an open-air stage that seemed almost medieval in its theme. There were lanterns in the trees and the stage was designed out of wood and lights, something so subtle, and yet when supported by good music and good lasers, always enough to start the party right. The mix of natural and artificial fog was a nice touch as well.
First, we saw DJ Pierre b2b Idriss D, and right off the bat they gave me one of my favorite moments of the weekend. DJ Pierre is nothing short of an absolute acid house legend and hearing him play the sound he invented in the city he made it in was as legendary a welcome to the city a person could dream of. His heavy bass and sweet vocals had me feeling Chicago immediately, and from there we never let each other go. All weekend long Chicago offered something with Arc that we knew we could not get anywhere else in the world.
After that we wandered over to the Elrow stage and prepared ourselves to be blown away by the unmatchable commitment that is always expected from them, no matter what continent you’re on. As we arrived, we were amazed by the colors, shapes, costumes, and sounds coming from deep within the Elrow tent. We found ourselves suddenly in the middle of a psychedelic portal right there in the middle of that park. I was expecting Elrow to be open air and found the tent packed all weekend long, but then again this was Elrow. What did we expect other than colorful madness everywhere? They lived up to their name and our expectations immediately, but for next year if they return, I hope they go bigger.
On that first day we found ourselves bouncing around from Layton Gioradani representing Drumcode, Rodriguez Jr. playing his smoothness at the grid, Deborah de Luca throwing bangers one after the other, and over to Eli & Fur controlling the Elrow stage. It was a buffet of good sounds that we never seemed to know where to settle on. By the time we ended up at Nicole Moudaber our heads were spinning with musical bliss. Nicole was set to play the Drumcode after party that night, so it was no surprise to us that she chose to play a more mellow and progressive set than the techno a lot of people are used to. We have both always been huge progressive fans, so we found this a very nice and emotional surprise, with the rainfall that followed as a sign that even Chicago felt the same. That would be the only time all weekend we’d dance in the rain and Nicole made it a dance we would always remember.
Next, we were back at the expansion stage to hear Cirez D belt out his own style of techno that has always left the techno world having playful arguments over, constantly. Everybody has an opinion about Eric Prydz. I enjoyed his Cirez D set, but then again, I spoke to multiple friends who didn’t. Although, they did also mention how much they loved Eric Prydz that next day at The Grid, so again, he is just that guy that polarizes no matter where or when you see or hear him.
We showed our age during his set by finding a seat in the back of the VIP and relaxing to the music for a bit. Admittedly, not the most techno moment of my life, but I am not a young raver anymore, and having the chance to hear such quality music while still being able to relax is something us older ravers appreciate far more than we ever want to admit. We bought VIP tickets by accident months before the festival but found ourselves happy with the mistake it allowed us to take advantage of.
We finished day one listening to every moment of one of my all-time favorites Luciano, making his Chicago debut and playing that smooth Latin percussion sound I love so much. It was a beautiful moment matched with beautiful sounds in a beautiful environment, with a beautiful date. By the time the music was over we had just enough energy to catch the Green Line home to our hotel to rest after a very eventful first day back.
We had plans for an afterparty but chose to sit it out realizing we’d probably benefit more from a good night’s rest than we would from yet another afterparty. Another sign of our age, no doubt, but also one I feel no raver should ever have any shame in admitting. If you can’t make it, you can’t make it. Save you energy for the next day. I’m glad we had the foresight to see that one. Cause day 2 would take the insanity of Arc and Chicago to the next level. Day 2 was dedicated to house.
We got to Day 2, and right away you could feel the energy was different than from day one. Day one had a bit of a business techno feel, and you could feel the anxiety from a lot of people being at their first festival since the end of the quarantine. Everybody wanted it just to go well so bad that we didn’t completely let go until day 2, when we knew, it was going to happen no matter what.
We started with Chicago house Legend DJ Heather, a favorite of ours since we were teenagers, and a great way to get the day going. From there we went to see another Chicago legend, Gene Ferris, who I had never seen but always loved. The energy at the Elrow stage was much more high energy from the get-go on day 2 and you could tell Ferris was a huge reason for that. As he played a track from recently deceased legend Paul Johnson, you could feel the raw energy of the city starting to take over. Day 2 was about the city more than it was about any one DJ.
After the confetti went everywhere in the multicolored madness of Elrow, we wandered back over to our favorite stage of the weekend, the expansion stage, and we found ourselves lost in the crowd as the Martinez Brothers started right as the sun began to set on that Sunday in Chicago. They brought that funky passionate sound that only they can play, and it went wonderfully with the falling of the sun behind the trees that surrounded us. We danced and enjoyed that moment together. It was perhaps one of my favorites of the whole weekend.
Somewhere towards the end of our fun with the Martinez Brothers we agreed on doing a half and half of Lee Foss and Hot Since 82 at the Elrow stage. We caught the last half of Lee Foss, where he was playing a sound so amazing, I can say I had never heard him play so well up to that point. We have always been huge Lee Foss fans, seeing him multiple times in multiple cities, but seeing him again in such a unique environment playing such a different sound was out of this world, and another great moment for us and everybody there.
Next, we caught the first half of Hot Since 82, and he gave me my most emotional moment of the weekend by starting his set with a track a Chicago legend and favorite of mine, Mark Farina, used to play during his Mushroom Jazz sets we loved so much. Hot Since 82 found a way to connect with me that showed we both found a love for this city and its music even though we both came from such distant places from one another. House music is a language we speak to each other without actually even saying a word. I know what Hot Since 82 was saying because it was the exact reason why I was there too.
Finally, we ended with a once in a lifetime set with Seth Troxler doing a b2b with the one and only Derrick Carter to close out the festival. Seeing Derrick Carter play in Chicago was the reason I was there that weekend. Everybody seemed secondary to seeing him, and now having the chance to see him play with Seth was simply a bonus. I would compare walking to that stage to seeing Kevin Saunderson in Detroit my first time going to Movement Music Festival. It takes on the feeling of a spiritual or even religious journey. A pilgrimage. House music is my religion, and I was now hearing it from one of its creators. There are very few moments in music or even life that can match the feeling I had that night. It felt like I won the game of life.
“Can you dance to my beat?” The song echoed out of the speakers, and it appeared for a bit a blue haired mermaid with a beard was Dj’ing, although, I couldn’t get anybody to believe me. There was even a moment where a friend turned to me and said, “I don’t even know what they’re playing. It’s like hip hop, and house, but something else. I love it.” “Yeah, and r & b. I think I’ll call it hip house.” We laughed. They invented a new style of music just for us right there. By the time they finished we found ourselves sitting under a tree waiting for our friends to find us.
The day had come and gone in a flash, and we found ourselves covered in layers and layers of dirt. Happy but dirty. There was even a moment where we all stood at the station and all danced and sang to ‘Billie Jean’, playing on a car passing us by. So content, so satisfied, so alive. Arc gave us a full experience and it happened in such a mad rush that it’s still hard to believe it was all real.
That night we chose the after party at radius where not only did we get more of Hot since 82, but also a very impressive closing set from Anthony Parasole, and since they had the doors to the bigger room open, we even got a chance to see Pryda for a bit, something we had no plans for, and yet, I’m glad we at least got a chance see that other side of him.
We finished with a final after party at PRYSM that Monday with Lee Foss doing a b2b with Gorgon City to close it all out for us. It was a beautiful final dance in the city we dreamed of for so long, and now we knew we’d love forever. We even found a spot where my partner could watch him and admire his mixing skills. When we first discovered house music and dreamed of Chicago as teenagers, I was the DJ. But now that we are adults it’s the other way around. She is the DJ and student of music now. It was a moment where I could feel how much both House music and we as people, had really grown up over all these years. “He’s playing two songs at once again.” She smiled from behind her mask.
There are things I know Arc could improve on. High drink prices, only one water station, a bit of sound bleed between the stages, Adam Beyer and Christoph having to cancel, but even with saying that, I can’t help but admit the festival was a complete success. Most of the issues were out of their hands and the other ones weren’t so bad. All of which, can be improved with a second year. Next year.
It was Business techno, it was Chicago house, and it was everything else in between. We even managed to sneak in a Friday night at North Coast Music festival, but this isn’t about that, this is about Arc, and house and techno. Good music with friends in settings we used to only dream of. Chicago pushed us passed our limit, and in return it gave us so much more. If they have arc again next year, I say go. Just bring extra money, study the subway lines, and be ready to dance, a lot. See you next year.
Perfecto Presents: Sandra Collins Cd 1 Release date: September 23, 2003
The first mix or song that I’m going to talk about is actually a Cd we bought together before we started our life on the road. It was when we were still teenagers and still dreaming of the things we’re doing now. Back then we didn’t have the internet to help us find our dreams, though. Now things are so different. Any Dj, any event, any city is reachable as long as you can find it somewhere online.
But it’s more than that. You don’t just find the events, you also find people, and those people are searching for the music just like you are. But again, this was before all this happened. In 2003 the internet was there, but we just didn’t see it as that. We were still in that period of time where if you wanted to find new music you had to go physically find it. Whether it be a new band playing in town, or even a new dj.
Sandra Collins, to me, will always be the best example of going and finding something that was already looking for you. I discovered Sandra Collins in 2000, when I was 15 years old. It was my third electronic music event ever and it would prove to be far more monumental than I ever could have imagined when I arrived at the sunshine theatre on that Tuesday evening. Part of why I call it an event instead of a rave is because of the day and place it happened. I knew she was a dj, but why was it being held at a concert venue on a school night? How was this different than the couple warehouse functions I found myself in before this moment?
The answer was simple. It was because of the Dj. I didn’t know Sandra Collins at all other then the fact that my friends said we should go. I wish I was cool enough to know more, but that was just about it. I was young, and new to the scene, and completely willing to trust my friends when they said I shouldn’t miss this one. I remember I didn’t even ask my father if I could go. I just bought the ticket and went. Knowing very well the show would end well after midnight and I had school the next day, I simply didn’t care. all that mattered was that I was there.
Sandra Collins was on tour that year for her edition of the tranceport cd series that had previous versions from Paul Oakenfold and Dave Ralph. I didn’t know any of this stuff, though. I was simply just there. Now, these words are not meant to describe that night, so I won’t say much, other than she changed me in such a profound way that im still in awe of that night now 22 years later.
I remember she came out barefoot and wearing sunglasses. Idk why that’s the first thing I remember. I remember her plugging her headphones into the mixer and throwing on her first records to be played, but after that, I’ll admit it was sonic and audio bliss surrounded by a blur. And I can’t say it was alcohol, I was only fifteen. And I can’t say it was drugs, cause again, I was only fifteen, so I know without thinking twice what Sandra Collins did that night was completely natural and completely real. She set the bar for every dj I would ever see for the rest of my life. I am always comparing every single one of them to that first moment with Sandra Collins. And not out of disrespect, but rather as a challenge. Show me what she did all those years ago.
It didn’t end with Sandra Collins after that, though. After that I met a girl, and she became my girlfriend, and she loved going to the rave too. She loved dancing, and smoking weed, and watching the sunrise, and she loved Sandra Collins. Sandra Collins was actually the first dj we each loved separately and then we loved together. She was that first bridge through music for us. I can still remember the first time my girl came over to my house and I showed her the autograph I got from Sandra Collins that first night I saw her. I could tell it impressed her. I owe Sandra for that one.
Anyways, after that we sort of just became lost in the rave for a while, although, twenty two years later not much has changed. You just keep going. First this one, and then the next one, and the next one, and the next one. In 2003 we were nineteen and very much ready to be done with our teen years.
Well most kids spent that stretch going to the prom and to football games we spent it traveling around New Mexico. Warehouses, deserts, mountains. Wherever there was a beat we went after it. Again, not much has changed. Because of our travels there started to be a real need and commitment to what was played in the car on the drive to and from the rave. It’s almost as if that choice became more important than the rave itself. The rave was gonna happen one way or the other, and whether it was busted or it went all night, that was beyond us. We just had to get there. But the music in the car, became a major deal. We all suddenly became the dj.
By the time this cd came out we had already owned at least three Sandra Collins cds, so this wasn’t our first or our last purchase of her cds, but what seems to stand out to me, all these years later, was just how excited we were for it to come out in the first place. Sandra Collins, our favorite dj, releasing a mix on the record label of our second favorite dj, Paul oakenfold’s Perfecto Records, just sounded like it was made just for us. They were already connected through tranceport, and now this was a double cd, something that was still rare, even for electronic music.
We were excited to see what she could do. It started right away, with a Junkie XL track. I had always heard of Junkie XL as legends before my time, but I’ll admit, I don’t remember hearing one of their songs until she started her mix with it. Part of a dj’s job is to educate us with music we may not have found on our own. Sandra Collins always provided that for us. This cd showed that as much as any we heard.
From there the education continued. In This world (slacker’s rain before carnival remix) by Moby moved me so completely that I would spend years searching out that song on vinyl, which I accomplished almost four years later. A record I still own to this day. It was epic and moody progressive house before the next generation would speed up the tempo and bpm to what it is now. But it was also progressive trance.
Progressive trance is a style that most people don’t want to touch nowadays, and part of that is because it’s so hard to describe. It’s easier to just call it all progressive house and let the listener decide for themselves. Sandra Collins has always been the best at being able to walk the line between both.
Another great track was No other Man (The Greek Remix) by Gpal Presents Ghos. I would also spend years trying to find this song on vinyl, which I believe is another good sign of how great of a dj Sandra Collins really is. She doesnt just play songs you like, she plays songs you love and become obsessed with. I’d try to find these songs just like I’d try to find the next dancefloor, or even the next highway. What amazes me even more now, looking back, is how this track was released on the Yoshitoshi label, a label started by two of my other all time favorite djs, Deep dish. Deep dish deserves an explanation all on their own, but again, it still stands out to me that even before I knew who any of these people were, this dj introduced me to them. I’d spend the rest of my life loving the tracks made by deep dish and their labels, and the very first one I loved was played by Sandra Collins.
Finally, the last track of the cd, Traveling On (Gabriel & Dresden Campfire mix) by Beber & Tamra. Everybody has their style of music that they love the most, and for me that style will always be emotional but subtle vocals over a heavy and melodic beat. Gabriel & Dresden are still two of my favorite producer/dj duos and this the first of many of their songs I’d love all my life.
I love the emotional stuff, and this song is as perfect an example of what I love as maybe any song I’ll ever play for you. If I want you to remember me, I’d probably play this song for you. I can remember the first moment we heard it together, in our car, holding hands as we drove around the city. Feeling like we had everything even though we had nothing. This song will always take me back to that moment. The moment where we were young enough to believe this music would save us. And now we know it did.
By the time the song ends you just don’t want it to, and you realize you just spent over an hour completely immersed and connected with the music you just heard and the person playing it. I can remember wanting to hear it again. I can remember being so happy that we found it. Feeling lucky that we were chosen to be a part of this world.
Now, so many years later, I’ll listen to this mix, with my girl that’s now a woman who is now my wife, and maybe our kids will be there too, and I’ll think of how far we’ve traveled, how much we’ve seen and have been allowed to experience. And I’ll always remember that dj that helped us on our way. Helped give us a beginning. These words are for Sandra Collins. They’re to say thank you. Thanks for giving us that moment, and so many after. And this mix. A cd we found somewhere hidden in this desert. A cd that changed our lives.
Take a listen if you have the time. See you on the dancefloor.
Ourdancefloor.net 