Sandra Collins
By Alex Teitz
Sandra Collins is a world renowned DJ specializing in trance music. Her music is filled with beats, rhythms, vocals and spins that transport the dancer. Collins is the daughter of a show business family, but beginning in 1987, emerged in the DJ scene. Her recently released CD, Tranceport 3 continues Paul Oakenfold’s Tranceport 1, and Dave Ralph’s Tranceport 2.
FEMMUSIC: How did you get started DJ-ing?
SC: It was all the way back in 1980 (in old voice fading out)…1987 and I had a boyfriend at the time that had turntables and I don’t know, I guess I’ve always loved music and soon as he would leave the house, I’d get on the (turn) tables. After a couple of years I realized this what I’m supposed to be doing.
FEMMUSIC: You do both producing and mixing. What challenges does that cause?
SC: Taking time off of DJ-ing to learn the studio. It’s a tedious process. That’s pretty much the challenge is actually learning it because I’ve been DJ-ing for like eleven years. It took me that long to feel very comfortable with it. It’s gonna take a lot of time, and a lot of time off from DJ-ing to actually learn the studio.
FEMMUSIC: What was the biggest challenge making Tranceport 3 ?
SC: Making my long story short.
FEMMUSIC: How so?
SC: I can’t play in seventy-four minutes. It’s really hard. I usually play two to three hours and I had to create a point in which you got what I wanted to say in seventy-four minutes.
FEMMUSIC: What were you trying to say?
SC: Hmmm. Well just have a beginning and an end to create some kind of a finished feeling when you’re finished listening to it.
FEMMUSIC: What was the best experience making Tranceport 3 ?
SC: Being able to work with my boyfriend Scott as the engineer because it made it a lot more comfortable. It took a long time. Took a couple of weeks and being comfortable with my engineer I guess. And just the excitement of being able to do it. Follow up on Paul Oakenfold and Dave Ralph.
FEMMUSIC: Why do you do trance versus other styles?
SC: I don’t choose trance. I’m considered a trance DJ but if you really listen to what I play it’s a variety and I don’t really choose a style of music. I just feel it and if I like it….Some of the songs that I play are hardhouse. Some of the songs I play are techno. Some of the songs I play are funky. They all have an underlying melodic…not always melodic but you know, like a harder edge. Kind of a twisted kind of sound to it and it just makes me feel good, I guess. You know. And everyone has things they were brought up around and problems are fixed by either prozac, or drugs or mine is music, and it makes me feel good.
FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry, have you been discriminated against?
CC: No. Not that I know of. Call me egotistical, but not that I know of. (laughing) Not that I can see. I don’t pay attention to that. People treat you the way you treat yourself and I just acted if I was anybody. I don’t think I’m any less talented and I was chosen to do things because I’m a female and I proved myself, you know….I don’t think I would take on something that I don’t I was ready for just because I was a woman. I don’t think I haven’t had the chance to do things because I’m a woman cause I’m doing good a lot.
FEMMUSIC: What would you like to see changed most about the music industry?
SC: (long pause) That’s a hard one. I can think of some of things like things really be done for the right reasons. People reviewing things with the right attitude cause they’re a lot of people out there that have a job to review a record but they’re not really, really not the right person to do it. They’re just a friend of the magazine editor, or the magazine owner, whatever…You know what I’m saying? They’re not really the right person for the job. A lot of people get things because they’re the friend of the friend, you know…I want to see the real talented people, the real good music out there and if a song is shit; why give it a shit review? Why even give it a chance to have a name in a magazine or just leave it it alone. There’s a lot of bullshit out there. People make you, they love you and then they hate you because you’re making a lot of money. There’s a lot of things. (Pause)
You get too busy to hang out anymore. People take that wrong and all of the sudden you’re not a good DJ anymore because you’re not hanging out anymore.
FEMMUSIC: Or hanging out at the right places?
SC: Well after parties where you used to have time to just hang out and party with your friends. You have like five gigs in three days or something and you can’t do that anymore and they take it wrong like “You think you’re too good” or something. You’re exhausted and you can either die or survive….They take it wrong. They take it like , “Oh she thinks, or he thinks they’re too good to hang out anymore”, you know. A lot of my friends on the West Coast are a little bummed that I moved to the East Coast but it was for business purposes and I get shit from them every time I go over there. They understand, but you know what I’m saying?