Sasha - Fundacion : NYC

Having embraced the groundbreaking Ableton Live technology several months ago, Sasha's career has been revolutionised, a transition that started with the remix album project 'Involver'. Since then he has intergrated the software into his live gigs, with the aid of a custom built one of a kind controller he calls 'The Maven' allowing him manipulate, edit, and remix tracks on the fly to create a totally unique experience at each and every gig. This has been showcased via his Fundacion nights in New York and Los Angeles, and also via his regular appearances at London's Fabric, and his latest CD for the Global Underground takes us right to the heart of the dancefloor and gives us a first hand insight into the Fundacion experience. For the details on this forthcoming album, including comments from Sasha, check out this preview, with a review to follow shortly ahead of it's release in mid June.

"Fundacion : NYC is a snapshot of my recent residencies in New York and LA. It captures the spirit and the sound of the Fundacion night." - Sasha

Sasha's Fundacion residencies at New York's Crobar and Los Angeles' Avalon have been part of an overall renaissance in club land. He's been able to experiment with a revolutionary new DJ set-up that began with his 'Involver' album, which was released through Global Underground a year ago.

"'Involver' was my experiment with Ableton, my remix project. It really pushed the capabilities of Ableton in the studio. 'Fundacion : NYC' captures what I can now do with Ableton in a live capacity, this is my mix album." - Sasha

Created over a period of months, 'Involver' utilized the Ableton computer mixing system. It inspired Sasha to ditch the traditional Technics decks and CD players and take Ableton on the road. To do this, he and a technician friend worked for months creating a bespoke, state-of-the-art mixing console that Sasha has nicknamed 'The Maven'. This one-of-a-kind custom designed controller, along with Ableton Live software and an Apple G5, enables Sasha to sample, loop, layer and re-edit live in the booth and has transformed his DJing.

"It's like a live performance every night. It's the ultimate DJ experience." - Sasha

Completed in just a few days, 'Fundacion : NYC' is the sound of Sasha's Ableton/Maven set-up in live action and enables Sasha to mix some of the coolest electro-house sounds around with forgotten classics he has revived and reworked. Sometimes as many as five tracks come together at once to create completely new interpretations – though Sasha's innate ability to clarify and streamline sound means things never get over-crowded. Instead 'Fundacion' captures a great DJ having the time of his life.

"It's completely re-energised me again. I'm jumping up and down in the DJ booth, and people can feel that on the dance-floor, they know." - Sasha

A brilliant example of just what Sasha has been able to do using the Maven can be heard on 'Tides'. This is one of the most complete transformations of any track on 'Fundacion : NYC'. Originally a downtempo, acoustic soul number by oddball German trio Beanfield, from their 2004 album 'Seek' - it was then given a sparse remix by Detroit techno maestro Carl Craig. Sasha in turn has rebuilt Carl Craig's rework into something epically melodic, yet still cool as ice.

"It's a fantastic record, but the original is just a kickdrum and a bassline, very stripped down, very minimal. For my kind of sets it didn't have the energy." - Sasha

After a six-month residency in the States, Sasha will be taking his Fundacion night to Ibiza this summer – the third location to host the Fundacion experience. The newly re-furbished Space is to be Sasha’s home for five Thursdays this summer starting on 28 July until 25 August.