Turning tables on their ears

Sasha might be one of dance music’s heavy hitters, having entertained clubgoers at such prestigious venues as Twilo in New York and Fabric in London and DJ’d to festival crowds that number in the tens of thousands.

But on this night, “I’m a little nervous,” Sasha acknowledges.

The North Wales DJ is standing at the controls an hour before he takes the stage at Avalon for the second Saturday of Fundacion, his six-month residency at the club. And there’s a reason for the jitters.

He is debuting MAVEN, a creation that may or may not revolutionize DJing, depending on whom you ask.

Combining a controller he designed himself, an Apple laptop, and Ableton software (software he has used in the studio for years, but he says wasn’t really intended for DJing), the electronic setup transports DJing beyond the realm of turntables and flying at the speed of light into the digital world.

“I’ve kind of gone 100% digital now,” he says with an almost embarrassed laugh.

The technology allows Sasha to manipulate previously recorded music on the fly -- essentially, his set is live production.

“I record all my vinyl and it goes into the computer,” explains the 35-year-old who was born Alexander Coe. “Once it’s in there it kind of becomes elastic. And when music becomes elastic you can do whatever you want with it. It allows you to dig up classics and beef up the drums of old records that might sound a little dated now by dropping new drums over the top of them.

“And you can do it spontaneously in the club, which is the exciting thing. If you have an idea for something you can just do it.”

Sasha concedes that there has been a split reaction in the DJ world about replacing the “wheels of steel” (turntables, to the layperson) with digital equipment. For him, it was the way to go. “It’s really given me a shot in the arm and it’s revitalized what I’m doing in the booth,” he says.

Fellow electronic artist Junkie XL, whose real name is Tom Holkenberg, was impressed. But he wonders whether this kind of technology is right for other DJs.

“What he did with the sound clips was that he created new vibes in existing tracks,” Holkenberg says. “But people that are out there in the crowd just want to have fun. It’s a night out. I’m seriously wondering for a lot of the DJs if it’s worth the effort to pre-program the sequencer, because it’s a lot of work.”

And this Saturday in January, it’s not the new technology that has the Avalon abuzz. Hollywood loves a big opening night, and fans are drawn to what is billed as the premiere of Fundacion.

At 10 p.m., as doors are about to open, a few hundred people have gathered at the entrance to the club as the 50 or so die-hard fans who bought the Fundacion season passes are treated to a backstage meeting with Sasha.

When the DJ makes his first appearance onstage at 11:30 to test his equipment, he is greeted by a roar from the crowd. Then, shortly after midnight, the banners and video screens that read “Fundacion” are changed to read “Sasha,” and fans press against the barricade to watch his every move as if he were a rock star. When he begins to dance onstage (manning the controls of MAVEN as opposed to turntables unquestionably enables him to move more freely), a chant of “Go” quickly emerges.

As the set progresses, the throng takes its own advice, shifting attention from the DJ to their dance moves. By 1:30 the place is, by Sasha’s description, “mental.”

“I definitely felt there was a real kind of energy created, maybe, by the fact that I was making a commitment to that club,” Sasha says. “It feels like by doing something regular like this it’s pulling a higher level of energy out of people.”

But the residency is more than a novelty to Sasha -- it’s a challenge. “It pushes you and helps you evolve as a DJ,” he says. “Going back to the same room every month the crowd is going to be demanding a different experience.”

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Steve Baltin can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.