Q&A: Sasha Rome Teams Up With Artemis Orion and Stripess for Breathy New Dance Track “Criminal”
MAKING PEOPLE DANCE IS A MAGICAL EXPERIENCE — and something indie-disco artist Sasha Rome loves to do. Being able to connect with a crowd through your music is one thing, but being able to control their movement is another. That is why Sasha Rome is attracted to music that compels people to move their bodies. As a former guitarist and vocalist, hip-hop beat producer, and lifelong indie dance lover, Sasha Rome has a deep admiration for all different genres of music and does not limit himself to one particular sound. He simply wants to make music that feels good and makes people dance.
Based in Brooklyn, Dan Sokolov is immersed in a diverse music scene that constantly challenges him to hear music differently and to pull inspiration from unpredictable places. With his disco grooves, indie influences, and incredible guitar skills, Sasha sounds like multiple artists in one — making his recent release all the more interesting. In his single, “Criminal,” Sasha collaborated with Artemis Orion and Stripess to create a sensual, hypnotic track that pulls you into a trance-like state and begs you to dance.
“Criminal” is bursting with life and is harmonically rich. The track takes you on a journey of love, turmoil, and dance. The moody lyrics blend perfectly with the instrumental, creating seductive energy — it is as if the vocals, beats, and instrumental effects riff off one another in real-time. The steady, simple drums guide the listener through energetic highs and lows, keeping them captivated and dancing throughout the whole track. The song ends with Sasha’s signature touch: a beautiful guitar riff that leaves the listener aching for more.
Luna sat down with Sasha Rome to discuss his latest single, his upcoming EP, and what it is like making music in a city like New York. Read below to hear more about this genre-bending musician and his love for making people dance.
LUNA: Congratulations on the release of “Criminal.” Can you tell me about the process of creating this collaborative single? How did you, Artemis Orion, and Stripess all merge your creative processes together to create this song?
SASHA ROME: I started the instrumental first, and I was just playing around on a couple of the synths that I have; I worked on making some quick chords that were influenced by an old-school house sound. I usually like to start with chords and some percussion, and from there I made the baseline based on the chords and just got the groove going. I added the B part, which is the verse after the chorus, and I just laid down some more chords with a different sound and got a little bit of a Kaytranada vibe going, which I really liked — he's a big influence on me. So I had this rough draft of the instrumental and then I sent that off to Stripess to see if he wanted to work on it, and then he really added a lot more groove to it. He chopped up those chords that I made, made it a little funkier, also funked up the baseline a bit. He got a little bit more groove in the drums and just really fleshed out what I had already had.
After that, I sent the instrumental to Artemis Orion and she really liked it. I told her it was from my EP, and she was really excited to work on it. I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't give her too much direction, I just said that the EP is kind of about the reopening after COVID, celebrating life after COVID. So she riffed off the title of the instrumental, which is “Criminal,” and she wrote about a love that's so strong and so all-encompassing — maybe almost to a toxic level — that it will almost make you become a criminal.
So I really liked what she came up with. She also produces, so she added all the harmonies as well and helped me mix some of the vocals, and I loved what she did. It really changed the vibe of it in a really cool way. I think it [her addition] was an interesting juxtaposition with the instrumental. Then after I got that, that was when I made the breakdown with my guitar in it, which is a signature thing for me with my music, adding my guitar and adding the third chorus and then just wrapped it up.
LUNA: What brought you to dance music?
SASHA ROME: My musical foundation started in high school. I've always been a big fan of music, but I was more into rock and indie music. I was in a band in high school and we had a little bit of a band scene where I'm from [in] Akron, Ohio. So we would all go to each other's shows and it was just a fun time. In college, I also had a band for about a year, and then I just kept up with guitar since then.
Then it was 2017 when I started producing, and it was honestly just a hobby. I knew a couple of friends that produced, I had a friend who was just starting out as a rapper, and he wanted some beats. So I was like, “Maybe I could try it.”I thought maybe it wouldn't be that hard — it's harder than I realized, but it is also a lot more fun. I listened to some electronic music and dance music before that, but that's when I really dove into it. Back then I was really into trap music, I got really into Flume, What So Not, and a lot of guys like that, and that's the kind of music I was making. I also had a different name, “Mir,” and I was making trap music for about until halfway through 2019. In 2019, I started doing shows, and I also was part of a collective and co-run this collective and label named Bonsai and started throwing my own shows in New York as part of the label.
Once I started throwing shows and DJing, I realized I liked to drop house music more because it just made people dance. I like trap music, but people were mostly headbanging to the trap songs and I wanted people to dance as much as when I dropped the house songs — people would create dance circles and go crazy in there. I love to see that, so I started making more house music and then really fell in love with that and decided to change my name to Sasha Rome at the beginning of 2020. After that, I just really leaned more into the dance music side of it. I think making people dance is just a really special thing.
LUNA: That's a unique journey from rock to trap to house music. Do you think that your love of making people dance has increased post-lockdown back in 2020?
SASHA ROME: Yeah, definitely. In New York, I definitely feel an energy in the clubs that I haven't felt before. Like, just in general, people are a lot more excited to go out and I see so many events sell out — people are just really excited to dance, to be out there. I like to be outside reconnecting with people, so I felt the same way. I liked New York a lot before the height of the pandemic but something after the pandemic made me just really fall in love with [NYC]. I fell in love with the scene here, the culture. I've just been having a lot more fun at the shows. My favorite [part of performing] is when the crowd is not really vibing and they're just kind of standing around — maybe there was an opener that wasn't the best or just the vibe isn't quite right yet, but then I really get the crowd going and get the whole crowd grooving. That's the best feeling.
LUNA: How would you describe the Brooklyn music scene to someone who is not familiar with it?
SASHA ROME: I think the interesting thing about Brooklyn and New York is that it's like countless different scenes. There are all these niche scenes, and then there's the bigger dance scene. Then like the really big electronic acts that play at Avant Gardiner, Brooklyn Mirage, these really big venues, but then there's also all of these different small venues that have the medium to small acts, and also underground acts that nobody has really heard of except the locals. So I think it's cool that it has that huge range of different-sized acts, and also all these venues that are willing to try out different experimental sounds — like Nowadays club is a good example, and there's Bossa Nova, which now is Paragon. So there are these underground venues that are really pushing the sound. So it's cool being at the forefront of that and seeing it all happen in real-time.
LUNA: Yeah, that's super awesome. Being saturated by so many different niches is probably also very stimulating for an artist.
SASHA ROME: Yeah, definitely. It's interesting because it can be hard to find your place in New York because there are so many different options and so many different scenes. But I think the key is just to dive in and see where you fit — just meet people, have fun, and things kind of work out on their own.
LUNA: How has your performance style changed over the past few years?
SASHA ROME: I think all the practice has definitely made me better. I think at the beginning of 2021, when I first was getting my first gigs again after the pandemic, I definitely felt rustier, maybe a little less confident in my sets — definitely less confident in my sets than I do now. Getting all this practice and playing in all these different venues over the last year has definitely taught me a lot. I've shifted a lot more into disco and classic house sounds.
LUNA: Do you have a favorite city to perform in? And if not, then do you have a favorite venue to perform at?
SASHA ROME: I haven't done too many shows outside in New York yet. I did do a show in Dallas, and San Francisco a few years ago too. So I'd have to say, New York is my favorite city to perform in. I have a lot of friends here that come to my shows and support, and it is just a great vibe. In terms of venue, I would say Elsewhere, just because it's a staple of the New York scene — I feel like they really do the best of both worlds where they'll put on the really big acts but then they'll also put on a lot of smaller people. So I respect that a lot. There are three stages, so you can whenever you're there. You can always change up the vibe. It's just a great crowd with great energy in a great venue. Elsewhere seems to care a lot about the underground.
LUNA: So in terms of your production, you have a very nostalgic flair to a lot of your music and have a clear appreciation for old-school music. Did you listen to any house music growing up? Or if not, did you listen to funk or old-school music that created house music?
SASHA ROME: Yeah, I did listen to a lot of where I feel like the roots of house music came from, like you said funk. My music-listening went through a lot of phases. So I had a funk phase in high school, where I listened to a lot of the old-school funk guys like Parliament, Funkadelic, and a lot of those older guys. Also in high school, I got into hip-hop, especially at the end of high school and into college. A lot of people in hip-hop also use funk samples in it too. I've always liked it. I've always liked music that has a groove and funky bass lines. Even in Indie music, I really like the [funk influence] because indie is very broad too. I've always liked the indie dance sort of stuff. So I think the influence has always been there — it is just about modernizing it and thinking, “How can I take this influence and put it in the club?”
LUNA: Yeah, totally. It sounds like you also have an appreciation for samples and sample-heavy music.
SASHA ROME: Yeah, definitely. I don't sample a lot myself, just because it's hard to clear these days. Obviously, I really respect people who sample and I think sampling has created some of the best music we've had — definitely in hip-hop and genres like that. I think it is really cool to take an old sample or an older part of history, modernize it, and turn it into something new.
LUNA: What kind of hip-hop did you listen to growing up?
SASHA ROME: I always liked hip-hop with good production — that's always a big thing for me. So I'm a big fan of Tyler the Creator. I also did get into Dr. Dre, Tupac and Snoop Dogg, and stuff like that growing up. There's a wide range. Really anyone that has good production behind their beats I've always been a fan of.
LUNA: Why Sasha Rome? Where did that name come from?
SASHA ROME: So I had my name Mir before, and I like that a lot because I have a Russian background. My parents are from Russia and I moved to the US when I was four, and Mir means both “world” and “peace” in Russian. So I like the meaning behind it, but a lot of people like that meaning because there were a lot of artists named Mir and found out. And also, on Spotify, if you search Mir, you'll find a bunch of Miranda's first. So I realized I needed something that was a little bit more unique to me, and so it took me a while to think of a new one.
My middle name is Alex, and a Russian nickname for that is Sasha. So I knew I wanted that from the get-go. I knew I wanted it to be a two-part name, so I was trying out all these different things. And honestly, Rome just really rolled off the tongue. Once I heard it, “Sasha Rome,” I knew it was unique; no one had used it. And I also like the symbolism — I've always liked Greek and Roman mythology. So I thought I could tie that into the visuals, and my logo is like a Coliseum. So I thought it was a cool way to tie that in. Also, one of my favorite producers ever is Danger Mouse, and his debut album was named “Rome.” So yeah, just a few other reasons. I knew that changing my name was gonna be a big effort, and it was — it took a lot. So I wanted to make sure that the second time I did it right and that I really thought about it.
LUNA: What does the future look like for Sasha Rome?
SASHA ROME: I'm really excited about this EP that's coming out. I think that's a big step — you know, my first full project outside of just singles. I'm working on a lot of other music right now with a lot of artists, and I'm not sure what form that'll take yet. I do want to make maybe another EP or two, and then maybe an album for next year. It's a little bit up in the air, but I definitely want to do more projects, and then also more remixes — hopefully some remixes for some bigger artists. We also have a release party here in New York on July 30. So I'm really excited about that. And hoping later this year to maybe go on a support tour with somebody to just do more shows around the country and not just keep it in New York. So hopefully next year I’ll keep [support] touring and then hopefully start doing it on my own.
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