If manoeuvring club nights in Ibiza is a bit like chess, then the positioning of Viva/Fundacion on Thursdays at Space is a move worthy of a grandmaster.
We Love's loss of Mr Lawler, their terrace closing king, will be the gain of those who yearn for extra hours with their hero. The new terrace roof will enable queens, pawns, knights, bishops and those castle rooky things in the corners to engage in dark sonic arts till dawn.
Add to that the organisational nouse of Darren Hughes and the mooted Café Mambo premier etage with Pete Gooding and special guests and you’ve got the promotional equivalent of the famous Blackmar-Diemer gambit.
Speaking to Spotlight, Sasha says audiences in Ibiza 2005 will be treated to a technological leap.
Sasha: "This is gonna be first summer djing out in the big wide world with my computer and my controller. I’ve spent the winter testing it out in New York and getting all the wrinkles ironed out and it’s running smoothly now."
For the geeks, what exactly are you using?
"I’m using Ableton Live, and I built a controller for it called the Maven which I’m basically using to control the computers. I’ve ditched vinyl, I’ve ditched CD. We’ve spent about nine months, a lot of time, a lot of money. But it’s amazing, it’s just completely re-energised, re-invented what I can do in the dj booth."
Fundacion debuted in January this year with a six-month residency at both Crobar in New York and Avalon in LA and it was so warmly received there has been some State-side message board-muttering about Sasha's "defection" to Ibiza for the summer.
But, as defenders pointed out, who wouldn't want to set up shop on the White Isle? Especially when you have had as good a time as Sasha has had here.
On djmag.com, the jock who lent his name to new Ibiza rave flick 'It's All Gone Pete Tong' says that its fictional hero "dresses like a cross between Judge Jules and Barry Ashworth, yet he acts like Brandon Block meets Sasha in his most notorious days".
It's clear that something about Ibiza quickens Sasha's spirit. Fellow headliner Steve Lawler believes Sasha plays better here than anywhere else:
Lawler: "I’ve heard Sasha play at Pacha, I’ve heard Sasha play at different clubs around the world, and I’ve played with Sasha on quite a few occasions in different cities, and I’m telling you Sasha shines when he plays at Space. I don’t know what it is. Maybe he just feels very comfortable there, maybe that room is aesthetically perfect for him, but he performs fucking well at Space."
Steve would know. He first heard "the man like" at the tender and impressionable age of 17.
"I used to play at a bar in Birmingham and finish at 12 o’clock. Then me and a bunch of friends used to drive up in Stoke to a club called Shelley’s which was an amazing night. I avidly followed the music at the time so I knew who was playing. None of my friends had a clue who was djing, they didn’t care to be honest, but I was a bit more focussed on what was going on musically."
Now Steve is also a globe-trotting superstar with a gold card on all three frequent flyer programs.
What are your most and least favourite airports?
I don’t have a favourite airport, they’re the biggest pain in the arse… urghh. I hate airports. I don’t mind flying, I can work on my computer, listen to music, watch a film. But it’s that two hours of bullshit before hand that I hate.
Ever flown in by private jet?
I’ve done a few private jets yeah. There’s certain gigs that came last year that we said we couldn’t do because of my commitment to Space on Sundays. But these people really wanted me to play so they arranged a private jet which is very nice. It’s just one place, bosh, straight to the next, whenever you want it. I was a smoker last year and you can even smoke in the air which is great.
How life as a non-smoker going?
It was fucking awful at first but I’m coping with it now.
What method did you use to quit?
Will power, though for the first few days I used Nicorette chewing gum which stopped me pulling all the hair out my head.
Why are you doing your new night Viva on Thursdays?
There’s no way I’d do Mondays, because on that day the kind of crowd I wanna attract would be torn between Dc10, Cocoon and this night. I don’t want to create unnecessary competition. And I had to get away from a weekend gig because doing Sundays for six years at Space was a killer. I did it, but it was very difficult. Sometimes I finished playing a club in Italy at 8 o’clock in the morning, then had to take two flights back to get to the terrace at 10 o’clock.
Who's playing?
I’ve had confirmations from Josh Wink, Alex Neri, Jacques lu Cont, Tiefschwarz, X-Press 2, Slam. They’re brilliant but you don’t really get to see them often in Ibiza. Also there some guys called Audio Fly, who are two Italian guys living in England that I’ve signed to my label Harlem Records. I’m going to get them to be warm up residents on the terrace. Also I’ve got another Italian dj called Remo who’s a resident of Pervert Gold in Rome to be a warm up resident as well.
- Viva/Fundacion will open on July 21 and close September 15