WHO: Roger Sanchez
WHEN: 22nd Feb 2001
INTERVIEWED BY: Darren | getanightlife

Following a storming night at Bar Bluu where Roger Sanchez rocked the foundations, getanightlife's Darren managed to take 5 with the House legend just prior to him being whisked off to Bugged Out in Liverpool.

Sanchez needs no introduction, especially to those captivated by his mastery on the 1s and 2s, but for those unaware of his presence the DJ from New York has been a massively influential figure in the world of dance for the past decade Roger's moved from Strictly Rhythm to Narcotic and now on to R-Senal, leaving many dancefloors in awe of his power to make you move, with funky, dubby, soulful, uplifting choons!!! Here's what he had to say...

What inspired you to become a DJ?

I started out as a break dancer when a friend of mine in Queens was a DJ. I would go along to his nights and check him out quite a lot. I loved what he did and decided I wanted to control the crowd.

So what was your first night on the decks?

It was a house party my mate held. He was playing his set but saw a girl he liked and wanted to chat to. He asked if I wanted to take over and I did even though I didn't know what to do.

So was it a success?

(Prolonged pause)……….The records were great but the mixes were horrible!!!!

In your early days you studied architecture…..surely you must regret the career path you finally followed?

Oh yeah….every day I sit there with my head in my hands, wearing a tie with a pen in my hand! ABSOLUTELY NOT! Studying architecture has been very useful and gave me a sense of construction and space. I designed my apartment with the help of another architect and also my console.

getanightlife spoke with Danny Rampling and he suggested people might be surprised by the sounds on your new album. Can you shed any light on this?

That's interesting. I'm actually re-doing some tracks at the moment and getting back to an old school sound. It's a lot closer to me and people will recognise it as being me, it's all about a progression of sound..

You've talked before about producing a Hip-Hop album….still something which is in the pipeline?

It's still possible yeah. I think later in the year I'll do a chill out album and that may have some hip-hop.

Is the residency in Ibiza sorted out yet?

If you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago I'd have probably said yes but now I'd say I'm keeping my options open.

So what do you make of Ibiza? How much bigger can it get?

Well it's definitely gonna get bigger, whether it gets better is another matter. The Americans are discovering Ibiza now so it is gonna be crowded this summer without a doubt.

If you had to think of the best thing about being a DJ what would it be?

The best things has gotta be having the opportunity to play music you love.

And the biggest extravagance being a DJ has afforded you?

Being able to fly Concorde before they were grounded was definitely pretty special.

You've played in Portsmouth a few times and are back again later in the year, you must like it here?

Oh yeah, there's definitely a good vibe about the place. I'll be back.

Okay then….look into your crystal ball and predict who's gonna be big in music in the future?

Sandy Rivera & Jose Burgos, Simon who did Free At Last, and Mr G. Look out for them.

Interview by Darren | getanightlife