We caught up with electronic music powerhouse Sasha Carassi who unveiled his latest offering Memoria EP on 5 July, via Adam Beyer’s label Truesoul. The staggering two-track EP fervently illustrates why Sasha has remained a pioneer in the industry for decades. The Italian producer, DJ and composer has crafted an expansive and impactful career since emerging onto the scene at just 15-years-old. The Napoli-based artist has had releases on Harthouse, Drumcode Records, FLASH and Sleaze to name just a few. Last year alone, Sasha toured the US and Canada, played at Zamna Festival in Mexico, Amnesia in Ibiza, Kappa FuturFestival in Italy, as well as his own party OWN at Umoya Natural Experience in Italy. Sasha is highly respected and admired within the electronic music industry. Not only for his work ethic, knowledge or masterful skills, but also for his ability to take risks with his sound and artistry.
Read our interview with Sasha below:
Tell us about you, how long have you been producing music? What inspired you to start?
I started to put the records on the decks at my cousins’ home. They had a big vinyl collection and I was really fascinated. During adolescence I attended art school and during that period! became a proper clubber, who every weekend moved to different cities of Italy and Europe. When I was 16, I started as a resident DJ at Dinamik Area, the most famous club in my area. I started to produce music in my bedroom in the second half of the 90’s and to release on different labels. I was influenced by everything I listened to on the production side but the DJ, who I certainly looked to with a big admiration when I was an adolescent, was Claudio Coccoluto.
The music industry is super competitive these days, was there a moment in your life that you wanted to give up on music? How did you manage to stay focused and achieve what you want?
Every career has its ups and downs, but the downs aren’t a reason to give up. I have always done my best to learn from the mistakes and to improve myself. I like changing, so the news Is always a challenge for me, love experimenting and trying things that I’ve never tried before and this Is evident In my musical productions, always in progress, obviously not forgetting where I come from and never losing my identity. So, I’m on the side of the progress, but paying attention to not be pervaded by it.
How would you describe your creative processes? Who writes the lyrics to the songs? Are the music and lyrics written in conjunction, or separately?
My creative process is never the same, I have no schemes: sometimes I start from a sample or a sound or something I hear in a movie, other times I start from a melody I have in my head and from these elements I start to jam, blending them in a mixing as good as possible. The lyrics are written by the singer with whom I collaborate, sometimes I do some simple measures to the lyrics to make it fit better with the music and not always I follow the same process with all the singers. It could happen I send a track and the singers is inspired by it or we can work together.
Where did the inspiration come from?
My inspirations come in every moment. Everything inspires me, mainly my vinyl collections. I haven’t never had a well-defined plan, but I certainly give importance to my roots, which include funk, soul, rock, house, techno and breakbeat, trying to mix and balance the different influences.
What’s next for you?
I would like to archive a very important goal in the recording industry. Let’s see!
