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To the uninitiated, artists like Ana Sia are little more than glorified deejays -- individuals who, like their broadcast counterparts, stand on a stage and swap out CDs.

Those who follow the electronic music scene, however, know different. To them, a performer like Ana Sia is an alchemist, stirring a vast and mysterious cauldron of musical chemicals, taking a pinch of this and a dash of that to turn out audio gold that washes over the crowd like a tribal wave of undeniable sound.

Those are the people for whom she performs, the diminutive artist told The Daily Times this week. And because she got started as an electronic artist because of her love for the music as a fan, she's all the more intense when it comes to her work.

"I think most people have an idea of deejays from the radio or weddings or the prom; that's why I really shy away from the term," she said. "For me, there's an entire artistic performance going on. I'm not just deejaying track to track -- I'm weaving in a bunch of loops and layers, and I'm remixing things on the fly so that the audience is getting a completely new experience every time.

"I was a dancer first and foremost, so I'm a very heavily dance-influenced person, and when I'm performing, I want to create an experience that I would want to have on the dance floor. I'm such a beat-head; I like the idea that when it's one person, it's not so band-focused and there's a constant flow. There are no song breaks, and if it's just me, I hope the audience understands that there's a story being woven between this long run-on sentence of music."

A resident of San Francisco, Ana Sia found herself drawn to the possibilities that technological advancement gave to electronic performers. Old-school deejays would scratch vinyl LPs on turntables; these days, performers like Ana Sia carry with them an arsenal of electronic equipment that can be programmed with beats, breaks and all manner of sounds.

To supplement her computerized music, she also incorporates live elements into her performance -- drumming, sampling and more, that make her a one-man band. That, she said, is what drew her to electronic music more so than traditional rock 'n' roll.

"For me, digital technology brings me up to being more creative and more dynamic as an artist," she said. "I really thrive on the pressure. Pressure and competition with myself almost force me to be a better performer and artist. I really dig it -- I love feeling nervous and uncomfortable, because I could never evolve if things were easy."

On paper, her particular styles may sound like a foreign language to those whose weekends don't include regular trips to places like 90 Proof Nightclub in Knoxville's Old City, where Ana Sia performs tonight. West Coast future sound ... dubstep, glitch and her own blend of what she terms "global slut psy-hop" -- it all comes down to one thing, she said.

"It's a pretty diverse experience of a lot of different rhythms and genres and sub-genres and in-between -- just a wide range of what I like," she said of her live show. "I'm a lover of the low end, so there's a lot of bass and mixing in of stuff that pleases your head and your body."

And when the connection is made with a writhing, swaying throng of bodies inches from her equipment, turning and grinding and moving en masse to every change in rhythm and beat, the experience becomes primal -- a throwback to Native American war dances or Aboriginal spirit celebrations, when rhythmic pounding served a higher purpose to connect mind and body.

"You're out there dancing and breathing, dancing and breathing, and when you're doing that long of a meditation, you just don't know how to put it into words," she said. "You just know the show is incredible, and you may not know what's happening, but you feel that ancestral connection coming through the body. It's a total universal connection.

"That happens for me even on stage -- every time, without fail, especially when the crowd is really juiced. If that connection is happening, that give-and-take from the crowd, then you experience those special moments when it feels like you're levitating. I'm not seeing specific people or faces, even, and all of the sudden it's an hour-and-a-half later and I feel amazing."