He may be suave, he may be stylish, but the S-Man, Roger Sanchez, is all about quality underground house tunes and working hard at capturing and creating that all important vibe. He’s been DJing for over 18 years, and this once breakdancer-turn-deejay has escalated to become one of the worlds most sought after artists.
It’s a conference call, and Roger sounds like he’s been answering questions for hours (and he probably has), and to quote the man himself “it’s been mad”, but it comes with the territory and this high profile DJ is visiting our shores once again to play home nightclub in Sydney on Boxing Day and Melbourne on NYE. I ask the S-Man “wassup?”, musically of course.
InTheMix: You’ve been to Australia before, how have your gigs gone down?
Roger Sanchez: They were actually very good, I’ve always enjoyed playing in Australia, I think that the Australian scene has been growing quite a bit the past few years.
But what does he think of his home town? With stories of zero-tolerence policing on clubs, one hears that the scene there is dwindling. What is clubbing like in New York at the moment?
RS: It’s getting good again. For a while it was really dry here but the new clubs have opened up, I’m doing my residency once a month at Central Fly, there are a lot of new clubs opening in the city and it’s definitely happening here again and it’s underground.
ITM: You’re known for playing very long sets, and you’re going to play for 6 hours at home this Boxing Day…
RS: I love playing long sets, it gives me a chance to really get into it and take the crowd on a journey, and I come from the school of being able to play all night. I’m making more of an issue lately trying to play longer sets and making it a bit of an experience and you only get to do that when you spend some time playing.
Not only does Roger Sanchez believe in creating a stronger journey through longer sets, he doesn’t limit himself in the way he performs behind the DJ box.
RS: I play a lot of CDs, sax boxes, 3 turntables, I’m kinda expanding it now… you’d be surprised at how I structure my sets and what I bring that I want to play for 6 to 8 hours.
ITM That’s kind of rare for house music…
RS: I come from a very hip hop background in terms of the techniques of what I play, so I’ve kinda plugged that into house music as well. I try not to stick to just one thing, I try to make things interesting and put on more of a show.
ITM: What do you mean by more of a show?
RS: I’m starting to develop more of a show with a visual link with the music, the next tour will probably be like new visual’s, like CD and DVD technology to run while I’m running my music with visual loops, I’m getting more into that stage now…
ITM: So DJing is becoming more of a performance, more of a show?
RS: It’s more of an art form than anything, for lack of a better expression, more of developing a show and more of developing something that people can hold onto and give them more for their experience, for me I like to do long sets and take a more of an emotional approach to it. It’s not just like an hour long, I like six to eight hours if I can….
ITM: You’re a house DJ, but your sound is funk, techno and garage, you have such an eclectic sound…
RS: It’s the way I grew up, I listened to many different styles of music, everything from disco to hip hop, to funk and soul, and those are the things I like to include in my sets, cause my influences are latin and tribal.
Indeed Roger Sanchez comes from a background in NY where everyone was listening to music from hip hop to funk and latin, experiencing and experimenting with the different vibes each sound produced. The producers that caught his attention in those days were also varied, from Trevor Horne to Bob James, even the early stuff from Jazz Editions. Nowadays, there are many more producers and sounds that are capturing Roger’s attention…
RS: Now it’s a lot of different people, I like what Basement Jaxx does, Peace Division, a lot of chill out stuff as well. A lot of new producers that come out that I’m really listening to their stuff, you know…
ITM: Do you think then, calling you a house DJ is probably pigeonholing you?
RS: I think it is, but I think people need something to give them a basis for some I guess, my basis is house music but I kinda stretch beyond that.
The S-Man has a debut album called ‘Contact’ that he has been working on for quite a while now, I ask what the update is on its development…
RS: Well it’s funny cause I just finished the album last night. I finished it several months ago and sat with it and I wanted to make some changes to make it current, a lot more of what I’m playing outta where my head is at now as opposed to just where I’ve been musically over the years, so that’s something I’ve really taken a lot of time to think about. So I’ve done some more tracks, I’ve got two new tracks on the album and pulled a lot of tracks off, so I think the album is a lot tighter now… You’ll definitely be hearing a lot of this stuff from the album when I come out.
ITM: So when is the actual release date for this album?
RS: Should be about May… May, June, that area…
As well as this latest Album, Roger has been running a new record label called R-Senal…
RS: It’s going pretty well so far, it’s something I’ve been working on for a while, I started with Narcotic (record label) and then it developed with where I’m at with R-Senal right now, so I’m working on finding new artists and definitely making an artists orientated label.
Being an artist orientated label, R-Senal crosses all genres from house to drum ‘n’ bass, focusing on the artists work.
RS: I’m interested in lots of different vibes, I signed a new artist called Scum Frog and his stuff is a little bit, for lack of a better word, deeper, slightly more progressive without taking it into progressive house territory, but it’s definitely different, a lot darker than some of the other stuff, but I’m into different vibes…
ITM: Do you think with different music genres there are different vibes with the crowds who listen to them?
RS: I think so, but I think it’s all definitely blending into one now, people are opened to a lot more different styles of music, so I’m liking the different elements and the different crowds nowadays.
With Roger Sanchez’s R-Senal label, he’s developing something that is more than just about music. He is interested in creating parties and fashion, and with that trademark Kangol cap, sunglasses and suave fashion sense, the S-Man is proof of a real vibe that accompanies dance music.
RS: I’m also developing a fashion line next year, and then some point in time I may start parties but I’m not a promoter so it’ll be getting together with the right promoters. I’m starting my first R-senal tour next year in America then I’ll tour it to Europe.
ITM: How much of a marriage do you think fashion and dance music have?
RS: I think fashion and music in general has a pretty big marriage, and for me it’s just because I love fashion and different expressions of my personality. A lot of the stuff I’m doing with R-Senal is on the military side, you know the first designs on my label were done with Maharishi, and it’s kinda like a vibe that I have with different designers, things that I like, that’s the thing I’m really working on right now…
You can catch Roger Sanchez in the country on the following dates:
SPIRIT SOUNDBAR, PERTH, AUSTRALIA 24TH DECEMBER 2000
HOME, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 26TH DECEMBER 2000
ROYAL EXHIBITION CENTRE, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA 31ST DECEMBER 2000
TIVOLI THEATRE, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA 01ST JANUARY 2001
And look out for his debut Album ‘CONTACT’ in stores next year.
