Whether you’re a diehard house fan or a mainstream music enthusiast, you’ve probably encountered the work of John Digweed. After all, his career spans four decades and has transcended the house music genre to influence pop culture from the ’90s to the present day.




English DJ, producer, label owner, and club promoter John Digweed began his career in music at the age of 15 in Hastings, England. In his early days, he saw quick success as the organizer of a series of successful club nights and raves at Hastings Pier. The parties featured high-profile guests such as Carl Cox and The Prodigy, making the young DJ’s taste and eye for talent apparent early on.




Digweed caught his big break seven years later in 1993 when he sent a mixtape to Geoff Oakes of Renaissance nightclub in Mansfield. Oakes was thoroughly impressed and extended an invite for Digweed to DJ at the British nightclub alongside his future collaborative partner DJ Sasha.




In 1994, the pair released Sasha & John Digweed’s Renaissance: The Mix Collection. The three-CD set gave listeners a taste of the intoxicating soundscape that Sasha & Digweed regularly delivered at Renaissance. The compilation also laid the foundation for DJ mixes to be supported by major marketing campaigns, from artwork commissions to heavily-funded promotions.




In an interview with Redbull, John described how groundbreaking the mix release was, saying, “Clubbers could now start to hear what the possibilities were for DJs outside of a club. It’s like, all right, you can transfer that experience onto a CD and still have it be as enjoyable as being in the club.” The release was a smash hit and is still considered one of the best DJ mixes of all time.




Sasha & Digweed gained popularity in the United States with the release of their Northern Exposure mix series from 1997-2000. They also became the first British DJs to hold a monthly residency at New York’s storied Twilo club. John described his success in New York, explaining, “I think Sasha and myself brought in a European sound, but with a New York influence.” During their legendary parties at Twilo, Digweed often played sets for over ten hours. He loved the crowd’s vibe, saying, “You’d have 4000 people in there going nuts, but they weren’t looking at us, and they weren’t all on their phones; they were just on the dance floor.”




In the late ’90s, Digweed was also busy collaborating and building his empire with fellow DJ and producer Nick Muir. Together, the two formed Bedrock, an onstage moniker for the pair and later the name of their production company and label. Bedrock landed in the UK. Top 30 with the track “For What You Dream Of,” featured in the iconic film Trainspotting. In 1999, Digweed premiered Bedrock Records with the release of the hit single “Heaven Scent.” He discussed his inspiration for the label with Forbes, saying, “I was being given so many tracks from DJs and producers who were asking me to pass them onto labels…so it really made sense for me to set up a label and find a home for like-minded DJs and producers.”




Throughout the 2000s, Digweed released an unbelievable amount of work, sometimes as many as three recorded mixes per year. From 2000 to 2011, the DJ began a weekly two-hour radio show called Transitions on the UK radio station KISS. Digweed continues to showcase his impeccable programming and ear for on-the-rise talent via the Transitions podcast, which now boasts over 900 episodes.




John Digweed also drew crowds in Brooklyn as a regular guest at Output until the club closed in 2019. He quickly fell in love with NYC, saying, “I always find the New York crowd brings the best out of me when I play. Output was a very special club.”




As a crowd favorite, he was invited to play the club’s closing night. Digweed played a historic set he felt was befitting of Output’s legacy. After listening to the recordings from the evening, Digweed decided to immortalize the party in album form. In 2019, he released Last Night At Output, an album mix containing six CDs worth of music from the evening. He has described the night as “one of his favorite NYC sets ever.”




Throughout his 40-year career, John Digweed helped popularize progressive house in the ’90s, and his prolific work essentially established the format of modern house music. His impact as a musician is undeniable, with DJ Mag voting him the World’s No 1 DJ in 2001 and appearing in the Top 100 DJs poll over a dozen times. On Saturday, Nov 26, 2022, fans can see John Digweed play again at Superior Ingredients, the evolution, and reimagination of Output. As for how John feels about returning to the city that never sleeps: “I always love coming back to New York. It’s a place that I feel is like a second home after so many years of playing there, and the crowd always gives me so much love.”





















John Digweed's Lasting Love for New York

The Cross in London had a formidable run, remaining open from 1993 to 2007. On Friday, September 9, the historic nightclub will celebrate its grand reopening at a different King’s Cross address.




Masterminding the reboot is Bill Reilly, the original club's founder, and his wife Gemma Reilly, the managing director. The six-floor venue will fill the space formerly occupied by Bill’s gastropub, The Driver. Dubbed, The Cross 2.0, it will include a lounge and restaurant in addition to a rooftop bar with recurring themes including velvet and exposed brick.




“When I suggested my idea of relaunching, at first Billy thought it was nuts,” Gemma told Camdenist. “But we discussed it over a couple of glasses of wine one weekend during lockdown, and by the Wednesday morning he said, ‘right, let’s do it.’”




The Cross has grown up," Gemma continued. "The new venue brings some of the heritage and nostalgia elements, in that it's still right here in King's Cross [and] the club was six arches and now its six floors, but we're also making sure that we're getting the best quality marble fittings and designer upholstery throughout.”




The first iteration of The Cross was known for booking progressive house DJs and for long-running promoter residencies. Renaissance, the event brand famous for launching the careers of Sasha & Digweed, took place at the club, and artists like Danny Rampling, Dave Seaman, Judge Jules, and Paul van Dyk performed there as well.




King’s Cross was also home to nightclubs like Bagley’s and The Key before developers gave the area a makeover. It is now occupied by offices for The Guardian, Google, and Central St. Martins, in addition to an arts center and conference hall called King’s Place.




Bookings at The Cross 2.0 will only be promoted in-house, according to Camdenist. No lineup has been announced for the grand reopening at the time of writing. More information is available on the nightclub’s official website.






Storied London Club The Cross to Reopen After 15 Years

Sasha once commanded such a strong presence in dance music that indulgent journalists suggested he might be the “son of god” on magazine covers. Nearly two decades later, his influence on the culture has earned him a relatively modest accolade: an honorary doctorate from Bangor University.




Sasha (real name Alexander Paul Coe) was born in the Welsh city of Bangor and first performed as a DJ and producer at the Bangor University Student Union. He did not need to complete any coursework to earn his doctorate in music from the university on Tuesday, July 5th. The progressive house mainstay was instead awarded the honor for his influence on electronic music culture over the years.




“It gives me great pleasure to present Bangor-born Sasha for this honor,” said Bangor University Vice-Chancellor Andrew Edwards. “Sasha has made an outstanding contribution to culture, language, music, and the arts through his creative work. An honorary doctor of music degree is well deserved.”




“I didn’t expect to go back to Bangor University to get a degree as it was where I did my first Student Union job and it has taken me around the world,” said Coe, who returned there for a performance in November 2021.




Coe cut his teeth playing acid house records after attending events at legendary Manchester venue The Haçienda in the late ’80s. By the mid-’90s, his and John Digweed’s names had grown virtually synonymous with the emerging progressive house sound for their back-to-back performances at Mansfield nightclub Renaissance. Sasha and Digweed achieved great success with compilation albums like Renaissance: The Mix Collection and Northern Exposure.




The two artists stopped performing together in 2002 — although they never formally announced that they had parting ways. They played back to back once again at Ultra Music Festival in 2010, and following a surprise set together in 2016 at Ministry of Sound, their paths have crossed far more often, including a return to Ultra Music Festival this year.




April saw Coe celebrate the tenth anniversary of his label Last Night On Earth with the release of ten new collaborations. Later in July, his travels will take him to Sunrise Festival in Kolobrzeg, Poland, and RADIUS in Chicago, US, for a back-to-back set with Digweed.

