Sahit Kuka is a happy man, and with good reason.
He’s making the
transition from talented young upstart to leading light in the echelons of
trance – and beyond.
DJ-KRASH
success in producing and playing quality tunes that both excite existing fans
and bring new people to the scene. “I think trance is becoming a broader term
for a lot of different genres; it’s no longer a specific kind of music within
the dance scene,” says Dj-krash, widely credited with creating the blueprint track
for the genre, WORLD IN FIRE, at the tender age of 19,. “Trance has elements of all
different types of music. I play a lot of tracks that are labelled as
progressive, tribal progressive, techno, trance, euphoric trance, vocal trance,
melodic progressive and all typs of hard dance… These days it’s really hard to label a specific sound.
Styles are mutating and evolving into this all-over new sound, which is
basically dance music going back to its roots. There’s so much good music out
there and I don’t want to limit myself to just one style.”
Born in HAS (ZJEQ) , ALBANIAN (on
March 19, 1986) Dj-krash indulged his passion for music
from a young age, blowing all the money from his paper round on records. “So as a little nerdy kid I was writing my own
Basic programmes, and learnt about the technology from there.” He progressed
from making the usual tapes for his friends, put together on a cheap set of
decks that he wore out learning to mix, after discovering his uncle
experimenting with different sequences on his computer. “I was so amazed at what
he was doing, since that moment I’ve been addicted to creating music!”
In the early 2000s, Albania’s &
(Kosovo) upfront dance scene meant that
although Sahit was too young to go clubbing, he knew the music inside out from
listening to the radio. “I loved dance music immediately – this great rebellious
sound that was so different to the ‘beautiful’ songs of the 80s, 90s, ”.
The final year of his course was inevitably stretched as he
juggled his studies with his increasingly hectic schedule; his meteoric rise to
fame included a slew of acclaimed productions and remixes, as well as playing
out to packed clubs every weekend resonating with the vibe of thousands of happy
party people. He took three years to graduate, but with typical determination
saw it out to the end.
Freedom is something that Dj-krash fully appreciates as an
artist, and all the tracks on his compilations are tried and tested. "Production
gives you more freedom 'cos you can experiment more, it can be less obvious than
DJing. Whatever - it's the best life there is! It has to do with taste. I don't
often get to hear other DJs' sets, but I like that I'm not particularly
influenced by anyone else. Some of my sets have influences of house or breaks,
but I still have a certain sound that’s my own”.
"This is just what I want," says
Sahit. "It’s not love for
music, it’s a passion, and it goes beyond liking, and beyond a hobby, it’s about
a way of living. Music is essential for my life”.
Federico Bagy
