With over 20 years experience behind the decks, and countless productions and remixes under his belt, Roger Sanchez the ‘S Man’ will be returning to Australia in late December for another New Years tour. A firm favourite of local audiences, Sanchez is a decidedly hard man to track down. Tim Hardaker snatched a few minutes of Sanchez’s time direct from his studio in New York where he’s working on his new album, the follow up to his 2001’s debut ‘First Contact’.

Roger Sanchez grew up in Queens, New York. During the 80s Sanchez made a name for himself as an accomplished breakdancer, even going so far as to score a cameo role in the seminal films ‘Breakdance’ and ‘Krush Groove’. In spite of this success Sanchez took some timely advice from his father and moved into music, eventually settling on DJing and producing his own unique brand of house music, “For me it has always been a love of the vibe of house music. I was introduced to house music when it first started coming over from Chicago, and then it was just another form of music that was big in the clubs, then after going to The Loft and Paradise Garage the vibe there – it just really got me hooked on it early on. House for me is also still evolving, and that keeps me still very focused and into it.” Since releasing his first tracks over a decade ago Sanchez has grown into one of the globe’s most admired and revered DJs, “It seems like all of my time is spent traveling!”, he sighed. “I’m trying to stay home as much as possible to get my new album done, but it’s proving to be a little bit difficult! I set up a studio in Ibiza and I have one here in New York, so between the two I’m trying to find the time to finish my album.”

Like many DJs who also release their own music, Sanchez is able to draw on the dancefloor for ideas, “I think when I’m producing the vibe I’m going for is often a memory from being in booth and watching the dancefloor. Being in clubs really takes my music to the next level, it keeps it constant and fresh.” As a result Sanchez’s discography is imposing to say the least, he himself even finding it hard to single out his favourites, “Ahh, I hate this question because they’re all like children to me! What’s your favourite kid?”, he laughed. “I think for me some of my favourite remixes have been Jamiroquai, Incognito, and also a lot of the more underground stuff I do for my own label. Definitely the more soulful oriented tracks.” Celebrated for his remixing skills, Sanchez has taken a step back lately choosing instead to focus his attention on his, as yet, untitled second album, “I haven’t been doing as many remixes lately. I’ve been involved more in my own production work, so it’s kind of like if I feel a vibe musically with a track then I will do something, if not then I have to leave it alone.”

Over the past few northern summers Sanchez has setup camp each year in Ibiza, with his Monday night party Release Yourself proving to be one of the island’s most popular clubsnights. Sanchez also made the wise decision to establish a studio on the island and use it as his base to travel around Europe for DJing commitments, “Ibiza this year was amazing! Release Yourself I think has just gotten stronger every year. The quality of the people there is amazing. In Ibiza I was only playing my party, but I was touring every weekend, it was pretty intense because I was doing three and sometimes four days a week outside my party. So some weeks I was playing five days!”

Even though he spends so much time away from his home in New York Sanchez is able to look at it from a somewhat optimistic perspective, “I think me having the chance to travel really has influenced my sound. I’ve assimilated different cultures and different sounds from around the world into my own vibe. When I first started out I was very New York based, very jazzy and hip-hop oriented. And that still remains a big influence on my music, but there are different elements in play now as well. I get Asian music from my travels there, Latin influences from Spain, British punk leaning from being in the UK. All of those influences affect me.” And with reports filtering through to Australia exposing the current state of the US club scene, Sanchez was only too happy to offer his opinion, “It’s far more underground than it is in Europe, and I think that has a major influence and makes a big difference with what’s going on. I don’t think that there’s ‘no scene’, it’s just a lot more underground. I’ve been touring a lot here in the US the past few months and I’ve been seeing it. Cities like Denver in Colorado, who would’ve thought there’d be house music in cow poke country? But it’s there, the scene is growing across the States.”

This coming New Years period marks Sanchez’s second in a row for Australian audiences, with the DJ enjoying himself so much last year he’s decided to return for a repeat performance, “I love Australia! It’s my favourite time of the year to be down there at summer, everyone is in a party mood! I think that musically the Australian crowds are also really knowledgeable. More than just knowing all the tunes, they know the sound and the vibe. They’re very much a party crowd, and I love that.” Sanchez has the utmost respect for local crowds, revealing that in the past he’s found Australian parties some of the most rewarding, “Because of the internet and magazines and what not the Australian crowds seem really into the scene, and are very aware of who is doing what. But I mean one week you’re listening to me, or to Tiesto, or to Carl Cox, it’s different but you’re open to all of it, which I really appreciate.”

Be sure to catch Roger Sanchez on his Australian tour:

Wed 31.12, Melbourne – Together (BUY TICKETS)
Wed 31.12, Adelaide – Ultimate Utopia
Thu 01.01, Sydney – Field Day (SOLD OUT)
Sat 03.01, Gold Coast – Summafieldayze (BUY TICKETS)
Sun 11.01, Perth – Summadayze (BUY TICKETS)