All things creative. DJ'ing as Aleksandr Sly & SLYYAMS. Visual Artist & occasional independent cura
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Sascha Yamash*ta is a Japanese-Canadian DJ & visual artist, now based in Toronto. DJ’ing under a new name of the SMOOTHSTRANGER, Sascha started off as The Sly Virus and has been humble regular behind the decks since 2001. Playing across BC at many special events, night clubs (w/residences) & music festivals (4 consecutive years at Festivus, Electric Love Music Festival and ValhallaFest) the SMOOTH
STRANGER today is your late nite DJ, driving you through an audio landscape of electro, indie dance, synth & vaporwave and eclectic house sounds of future past. Tune-in monthly and listen to his podcast Midnight Drive wherever podcasts are available. Before relocating to Toronto Sascha was also active in the Vancouver arts community therefore he was a top choice to DJ many of the city’s premier art parties, such as internationally recognized artist Takashi Murakami’s Birthday Bash alongside Mix Master Mike, opening for experimental Artpop group Trippple Nippples (Tokyo), the Vancouver Art Gallery’s monthly late-night Fuze party, the Polygon Gallery’s opening gala & Emily Carr University’s grad parties. As a visual artist Sascha Yamash*ta has shown widely across BC and has been represented at The Back Gallery Project (now Monica Reyes Gallery), Gallery 1.6, and most recently the Robert Lynds Gallery, all located in Vancouver BC. While his artworks subject matter may be challenging or confrontational to some, he is well-regarded by his peers and critics alike. From 2008 until the the gallery closed its doors in 2013 Sascha ran Gallery Atsui (later re-named Fukai) as its owner and primary director and full-time curator. During the galleries five year run, it hosted over 50 shows, exhibiting the work of over 250 artists. An exhibition space that catered to unrepresented and under exposed contemporary artists usually with ties to the East Vancouver arts community where the gallery was located.
09/06/2023
Been waiting a minute for this one! Looking forward to being back in BC and throwing down some choons mfor everyone!
🎵 Artist Spotlight: Smooth Stranger 🎵
Smooth Stranger is a new dj persona from a veteran in the BC scene.
Born out of the misty darkness, with the desire to play music that harkens back to earlier days, when the parties were illegal and the vibe was so electric it was palpable!
Experience the fullness of time as the Smooth Stranger mixes through sub-genres, deep through an audio landscape of electro, indie-dance, synth-wave and house sounds of future past. Now calling the GTA (Greater Toronto
area) home, catch a rare BC set from from this veteran behind the decks.
You can also join him monthly for his podcast ‘Midnight drive’ which drops the
first Friday of every month at midnight.
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All creative projects from Sascha Yamash*ta.
Sascha Yamash*ta attended Emily Carr University of Art & Design (now Emily Carr University), graduating in 2000 with a degree in drawing & printmaking. Post graduation, he continued to work for many commercial art galleries and volunteered at artist-run centres. While in university and after, he maintained a strong showing career partaking in many benchmark exhibitions for the Vancouver arts community.
In 2008, along with friends Alex Grewal and Todd Nickel, started Gallery Atsui, a personally funded, exhibition space catering to unrepresented and under-exposed contemporary artists. Gallery Atsui served the Vancouver arts community for two years, whereupon Sascha Yamash*ta continued the journey alone as the Owner and Director of the aptly renamed Gallery Fukai. After five extremely successful years, Yamash*ta felt he had accomplished every goal he had set out to with the Gallery Astui/Fukai project. The gallery closed its doors in 2013. During the galleries five year run, it hosted over 50 shows, exhibiting the work of over 250 artists.
Sascha Yamash*ta has returned his focus to his art production and DJ’ing careers. He currently lives on Bowen Island, BC and has shown extensively throughout the province and across North America. While his subject matter may be challenging or confrontational to some, he is well-regarded by his peers and critics alike.
Sascha Yamash*ta’s work has previously has been represented at The Back Gallery Project, Gallery 1.6, and most recently Robert Lynds Gallery, all located in Vancouver.
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Often described as clever while behind the decks, The Sly Virus has built a reputation on the west coast with his infectious style best described as ‘deep disco’. Seventeen plus years of performance experience, fuelled by a lifetime’s insatiable appetite for musical stimulation, drives his often extended DJ sets. His selection of dance floor friendly, disco shaded house tracks, blended together with long mixes define his unique style, never failing to deliver.
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Aleksandr Sly focuses his musical choices in deep, melodic and ethereal electronic music to give his audiences a sophisticated and emotional experience on the dance floor.
Drawing inspiration from the undeniable emotional impact of music in film and television, he meticulously curates his DJ sets and through long mixes and impeccable blends he shapes an impactful aural experience that transcends the listener into the beyond.
