Since their two-bus, two-truck, 20-crew arena-tour in 2002, Sasha & Digweed have yet to follow up with a structured tour together on our side of the pond. But now, six years after Delta Heavy made seismic waves, the dynamic DJ duo has returned for a different kind of tour. Between the WMC and Coachella bookends, the “Spring Club Tour 2008” hit clubs and small theaters (rather than 6,000-person arenas) throughout the US, with the pair sheering down their crew and traversing the country in a single bus. There’s even a blog-era journalist embedded, à la modern-day Almost Famous.
Both jocks also have releases due out on Ultra this spring – The em Fire Collection, a compilation of remixes off of Sasha’s emFire imprint (May 6); and Transitions Vol.4, the final album in John Digweed’s Transitions series (June).
We caught up with the Brits as their WMC hangovers cleared and their intense trek across our country was under way.
Clubplanet: The last time around, when you were doing the Delta Heavy tour, what were you envisioning for the future after that?
Sasha: I don’t know really. We had been working towards that for a very long time, and it was the realization of a dream really. So I guess we didn’t think about what was next.
John Digweed: I think we were both probably thinking along the same lines: focus on that one event at that time and then see what happens afterwards. And it took a little while to sink in how much of an impact that tour had on people. We did reach over 70,000 people. There were a lot of great nights created on that tour.
CP: Tell us a little bit about this tour right now.
Sasha: The Delta Heavy tour was really a different animal; it was billed as an arena tour. We carried such huge production on the road with us, and actually out of 30 dates we only ended up playing six or seven arenas; most were smaller theaters and clubs, 1,500 to 3,000 people. And they were the venues where we had the most fun. So this tour we decided we wanted to focus in on those venues where our music worked the best. On the midweek shows we’re doing smaller venues, like a 750-capacity club in Boston. And the production is streamlined. On the last tour we had two tour buses, two trucks, 20-man crew—it was pretty over the top, to be honest. For this tour we’ve got a really tight ship: one bus with a trailer, and nine people.
CP: And since the last tour you’ve both grown and changed and developed as artists, when you play together now is the combined sound different?
John Digweed: Not really. We still do a number of shows together throughout the year, so it’s not like we haven’t played together for six years. We’re always keeping a close eye on what each other is doing musically, so it’s not that hard to get back into the groove.
CP: Was there any significance to scheduling the tour between WMC and Coachella?
Sasha: It’s the same time that we toured when we did Delta Heavy, but I actually think it’s the best time of the year to tour. Winter Music Conference is kind of a kickoff for the summer, and it’s always the best time of the year music-wise. I must have been bombarded with 200 tracks in the five days leading up to and during the Conference. And they’re two amazing events, Winter Music Conference and Coachella, so to sandwich the tour between them just makes sense.
CP: Of those tracks you were bombarded with, did anything stand out?
Sasha: Yes, but I can’t tell you off the top of my head. My head’s still spinning from processing all of that music, to be honest.
CP: How do your sounds complement each other now?
John Digweed: We’ve never really been that drastically apart anyway. Once we have two or three shows we’ll sort out which direction each of us is going to play in. And the fact that one starts the show one night and one starts the next gives us the chance to mix it up, and make the vibe different each night.
CP: How much planning do you do as far as who does what and record/track selection?
John Digweed: There’s no planning like that. That’s the way it’s always been. If you try and plan, it never works out the way you want it to. And I think there’s no DJing event that you should plan for anyway, because you’re supposed to be feeding off the crowd. You don’t want to finish a tour with just playing the same thing every night. Each show is different: some are later than others, some are bigger venues, some are smaller ones. And that’s the key: changing your sound according to each night.
CP: We always respect DJs being able to react on the fly. So can you tell us about your impromptu set at the AM Only party in Miami? Did you just decide to hop on?
John Digweed: No. We had the boat party that afternoon and [since] I hadn’t been back to the hotel, I still had my CDs with me. I’d been to like three other parties and I just popped in [to Karu] to just have a look around. Green Velvet was playing and I hadn’t seen him DJ before. I was really enjoying what he was doing, and his time slot was just coming to the end and the next DJ wasn’t ready to come on, he hadn’t shown up. And they said to me, do you want to play? Green Velvet’s finishing, and there’s no one else to go on. So there was basically a couple thousand people going nuts in the room, and I just jumped in and played for them. But I didn’t get to play for that long—I was kind of hoping that the DJ that was on after me was going to show up even later. It was a really good party.
CP: It was. And both of you are releasing an album on Ultra. Why on Ultra?
Sasha: Well it’s just a business decision, I guess. They’re a great label we’ve got a history with them as well, we go a long with back with Patrick [Moxie]. And [The emFire Collection] that I’m putting out is just a remix EP, not an album. It’s a remix-y piece of my first four releases off my em-Fire imprint. It’s the first physical release; up until now it’s just been downloads.I’m actually getting ready to release an album with Global Underground in June which will be the follow up to my Involver record.
CP: What’s the new album going to be like?
Sasha: It’s sounding great, very up and very summery, [for its] release in June. I’m really pleased with it. I’ve got tracks from M83, Telefon Tel Aviv, and the Engineers. There’s some fantastic music on there.
CP: And since I’m from New York, and I think the last time I saw you together in New York was at Twilo.
Sasha: Wow, that’s a long time ago.
John Digweed: Time flies when you’re having a good time, that’s for sure.
CP: So is there anything in particular you look forward to when you play together in New York?
Sasha: Well it’s always great. I’ve been spending a lot of time in New York, I recorded my album there, I have a lot of friends there; it’s kind of my second hometown after London really. So it definitely feels like a home gig for me. It’s always great to do New York, b