From a humble start spinning hard industrial techno in the Phoenix Arizona club scene, to headlining humongous events, Sandra Collins’ name has become synonymous with every major American dance music scene and movement, beginning with her early days playing Frankie Bones’ seminal STORM raves in Brooklyn.

Her residencies in Los Angeles are themselves a history of that city’s progressive dance music scene: She was resident DJ at L.A.’s Sketchpad from 1992-95, and shared a residency at L.A.’s Metropolis with Doc Martin and Taylor from 1995-98. Her popularity and reputation for bringing out the deeply emotional side of progressive house and trance earned her a spot on the Electric Highway tour with Crystal Method and Fluke. It also landed her, oddly enough, in a Coca-Cola commercial.

In 1997, Sandra released her debut mix CD, Lost In Time, on L.A. trance label Fragrant, which earned her both a nomination for “Best Electronic Artists” in the San Francisco BAMMIE awards, and being named “Best Trance DJ” in the 1998 Global DJ Awards. The next year, she made her production debut with the 12″ “Ode to Our”/”Red,” which earned press accolades as it sold out its first pressing in a single day. She followed that up with her now-classic “Flutterby” for Scotland’s Hook label, a single so genre-defining it has shown up on such seminal progressive house and trance compilations as Nick Warren’s Global Underground and John Digweed’s Bedrock. Her success led to her moving to New York in 1998, and soon she was spinning regularly at trance mega-club Twilo alongside Sasha and Digweed, Paul van Dyk and Carl Cox. She continued to play raves and clubs across the country, earning a residency at Crobar Chicago.