Sandra Collins This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. eye - Karmic chameleon - 01.23.03

   www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_01 - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/23/2003   Last Visited: 1/23/2003

   SANDRA COLLINS
   
   ...
   With her name synonymous with every major dance movement across the U.S., it's fitting that Collins would morph techno and electro, albeit a bit late in the game. The self-described genre-chameleon DJ is shedding the "Trance Goddess" moniker that's blanketed most of her career, forging her current sound in reaction to the popular '80s flashback.
   
   ...
   Raised by Las Vegas show-biz parents -- her godfather was Milton Berle -- Collins is no stranger to the limelight.
   ...
   Amid all the gigs, Collins was pushing her production, debuting in 1998 with "Ode to Our / Red" (Fragrant), winning the Global DJ Award for Best Trance DJ. Her club classic "Flutterby" (Hook Recordings) led to licensing deals for Nick Warren's Global Underground 011 and John Digweed's Bedrock. By 2000, she had reached a milestone in her career with her Tranceport 3 mixed compilation on Kinetic Records. But if there were a downside to her superstar success, it'd be Collins being forever labeled a trance DJ.
   
   "If you listen to me, that's not what I play," Collins says on the phone, as she settles into her new L.A. pad after a short stint in Orlando, Florida. "Before trance was big I didn't mind the name being thrown around, but I didn't expect it to be stuck to my side forever. I play electronic dance music. The trance part just comes from everyone who hasn't heard me play."
   
   It wasn't until Collins mixed a harder, progressive set for Cream's compilation series in 2001 (the first American DJ and first female DJ to do so) that she found herself accepted on the same level as progressive leaders in the global scene. But as of late, aside from shaking the trance typecast, Collins is trying to keep the ground from shaking beneath her as obvious signs of struggle in the dance-music scene call for serious changes. On the closing of the legendary 10-year-old superclub, her chatty self becomes clipped.
   
   "It's really scary because it's happening everywhere. It's like, how do you fix this?" Collins asks, almost demanding an answer. "I just want the scene to survive beyond this point. Everyone needs to be more responsible -- mainly those who are only in it for today and gone tomorrow. It's my livelihood and I want it to last. But people are confined to their own city and don't realize it's slowing down. I just want to pass this phase we're going through."
   
   ...
   In the meantime, the show-biz bug finally got the better of Collins, and she recently accepted an acting gig in a forthcoming film project. The "chameleon" is branching out so that she can return to DJing with something new and colourful.
   
   "I'm always searching for something progressive because I get bored quickly," she says. "I'll play a song a few times and then I'm over it. But a sound sticks longer than a record. Only thing is, I'm stuck in a sound barrier. Sometimes I'll be searching and I find one record that does it for me. But then I have to find more like it. So I'm chasing that sound that maybe only one person is creating.