There is a timeline in which Roger Sanchez might have been an architect.
Growing up in New York, this was the career path Sanchez was pursuing until house music came knocking on his door. His decision to pivot to music proved prescient: it wasn’t long before Sanchez was commanding dancefloors across Europe, doing official remixes for titans of the era including Michael Jackson (“Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Dangerous”), Janet Jackson (“Love Will Never Do (Without You)”) and others like Jamiroquai, Daft Punk and No Doubt. His remix of the latter act’s “Hella Good” won him a Grammy for best remixed recording in 2003.
Meanwhile his own track “Another Chance” became a massive dance world hit upon its release in 2001, going No. 1 on the U.K. Singles chart. He clocked another No. 1 in 2006 with “Lost,” which reached the apex of Billboard‘s Dance Club Songs listing. Through it all, Sanchez has been a nightclub king, presiding over dance floors from New York to Miami to Ibiza, where he was the resident DJ at Pacha’s Flower Power party this season, and where he’s at when he joins Billboard over Zoom to talk about his life and career.
The reason for the chat is Spectrum, Refracted, a collection of remixes of his third studio album Spectrum, released in June, along with a new song. The six-track project features collaborations with Mel C, his wife Kristen Knight and an edit from fellow house maestro David Morales, all of it dripping with the house, disco and Latin flavors that have been Sanchez’s signatures over his three-decade career.
Here, Sanchez talks about time as the most valuable currency, Tom Hardy’s skills as a rapper and why he’s optimistic about dance music.
1. Where are you in the world right now, and what is the setting like?
I’m in my apartment in Ibiza. It’s kind of tail end of my summer tour, and right now I’m just working on some new music.
2. What’s the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?
The first piece of music that I bought for myself was a 12-inch vinyl of First Choice’s “Let No Man Put Asunder.”
3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid, and what do or did they think of what you do for a living now?
My father is an engineer. My mother raisined us. She also worked at a watch factory called Bulova for a period, but she basically spent a lot of time in the church. They separated when I was a lot younger.
Interestingly enough, my father was the one, as I was in college deciding whether I wanted to continue studying architecture or completely dive into music, who encouraged me to follow my heart and what was calling to me. That was a pivotal point for me to kind of just dive in. Before that, I think my mom thought it was the devil’s music, but she understood. My parents were always a bit concerned about nightlife, drugs, all the pitfalls of what the nightlife could be. But I have a very strong upbringing in terms of being responsible, and that’s carried through. My mom, unfortunately, is no longer with us, but my father is still around, and he’s very happy that I chose a path that made me happy.
4. What is the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?
Sneakers. I’m a big sneakerhead. I probably spent quite a lot of money buying some top-end Adidas and other exclusives. I was that guy buying Bathing Ape and stuff like that.
5. If you had to recommend one album for someone looking to get into dance music, what album would you give them?
I would go back to Kraftwerk’s Computer World. The reason I would start there is because that’s the kind of nexus for electronic music really taking off in a way that was very experimental — but you see the DNA of where we are today. It was such a groundbreaking album at the time. Nothing sounded like that.
6. What is the last song that you listened to?
I was just listening to Czarface’s Mad Technology, with Tom Hardy doing his hip-hop alter ego Frankie Pulitzer. I’m completely blown away by his lyrical skills. Czarface, just so you know, is a super group with Wu-Tang Clan members like Method Man. Busta Rhymes is on it. I’m an old-school hip-hop head, so this is like, boom-bap hip-hop Wu-Tang stuff, and you’re not gonna believe what Tom Hardy spits like.
7. You’re releasing a remix album of your album Spectrum, which came out earlier this year. How does this new set of tracks expand on the original?
I wanted to put out Spectrum Refracted because this summer, I’ve been playing my residency in Pacha called Flower Power. The vibe is definitely more classic and disco-flavored house, and I was adapting some of the album tracks into that vibe. Then I had some other remixes that friends of mine, like David Morales, remixed, because he loved the track I did with my wife Kristen Knight along Aaron Sevilla, so he’s done Latin house version of it. So there’s different takes on a couple album tracks and some new stuff I wanted to make sure saw the light of day.
8. How did you get Mel C on the album?
I was spending a lot of time in the U.K., and my management had reached out to Mel C’s management. We were discussing what a curveball would be, and I was like, “No one would expect me to do something with a Spice Girl.” The way I would do it is take it more underground, and she loved that idea. And Mel C’s a DJ herself. So I sent her the first version of the track, and she wrote a killer vocal. I wound up spending two years redoing it, because the first one had a sample I wasn’t able to clear, so then I just redid the production until I got to a place where I was like, “This feels more like a London underground vibe.” I think she enjoyed that aspect of something being more of a curveball.
9. You mentioned Flower Power, which has been happening for so long at Pacha. What makes that party special?
The original party was done in the ’90s by one of the partners of Pacha, and they were doing a throwback to ’60s and ’70s, and it was a very kind of hippie, bohemian style party. It was so much fun, and everybody used to get dressed up for it. Through the years, the company was sold a couple of times, and the party itself lost a bit of its direction, but the core party was very much based in a local Ibiza vibe. This year they asked me to be the main resident and really put my team together in terms of what the vibe should be.
So I said, “Let’s move it 30 years from where we’re at, so we’re in the ’90s house thing, and continue linking the visuals back to the bohemian kind of hippie feel.” It is very much about house music and unity. We had some amazing nights this summer.
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10. How do you stay grounded while living and working in Ibiza?
There’s another side to the island that gives the yin to the yang. The beaches. The mountainous areas. My wife and I like to go diving and snorkeling. We spend a lot of time in the nature side of the island. The nightlife is great, and it’s as wild as you want it to be, but the key is finding time to connect with nature and that beautiful side of the island.
11. You won a Grammy in 2003 for remixing No Doubt’s “Hella Good.” Did that win change your career in any way?
It’s not so much that it changed my career — it felt more like a recognition. I’ve had career-changing moments, like having a No. 1 record in the U.K., having big club underground records very early on, doing remixes that crossed over especially in Europe and in the U.K. The Grammy was more a recognition of the body of work. What it really did [was create more awareness] in America about what I was doing, because I was doing so much more in Europe. It opened the doors a bit wider in the States.
12. Are you satisfied with where dance music is at in the U.S.?
When I started out in New York, it was very underground, and it was very much about New York and Chicago. From there it jumped over to Europe, where it was absolutely massive, so for a great portion of my career, I was spending all my time in Europe. EDM really exploded in the States, which is really what drove dance music home, and now it’s broadened across the board. I’ve had some amazing support within the States. Obviously EDM was very big and a lot more commercial, and now house music has done a 360 back into the forefront, except now it’s bigger day in the States.
So, I’m very encouraged by the state dance music is in across the board, because it has become the biggest growing music scene in the world, and it really commands a lot of attention. It’s great that it’s grown as much as it has, and it’s got more to go.
13. What makes something a Roger Sanchez track? What are your signatures?
Definitely the percussive side of things, like Latin drums, Latin percussions, and a particular kind of groove that I lay down on my tracks. It has to be very driving, but with a bounce. There’s always a soulful element. It’s definitely gotta make you feel something.
14. You’ve been doing this for a long time. What it keeps it interesting to you?
I love the connection I have with the dancefloor and the people on it. For me, it’s always about that feeling I get from the crowd when there’s a moment that just connects everyone, and when it’s one of my own tracks that I kind of made for that moment and everything comes together, it’s a synchronicity between myself and the crowd that inspires me to keep it going. It’s a rush. I’m hooked on that.
15. What is the best musical performance you’ve seen recently?
Probably Bad Bunny, his Super Bowl performance. I just thought was incredibly creative and very, very rooted in the culture. Especially as a as a Latino artist, seeing that aspect come through and connect across so many different borders was amazing.
16. What is the proudest moment of your career so far?
Obviously getting a Grammy was a very proud moment for me. My record “Another Chance” going No. 1 in the U.K. and seeing how people responded to the video and the way it connected with that song. It’s been 25 years since that record came out, so it’s interesting how it’s still relevant today.
17. Was there a low point?
Oh, there’s definitely been low points. The low points in my career have all been lessons. A lot of them have been in understanding who to trust, who not to trust and taking accountability for things that happened, where it caused some not favorable thing. There’s been big challenges, but at the same time, I’ve learned something from each of them, so I feel like those moments were necessary for me to be who I am today.
18. What’s the best business decision you’ve ever made?
Being very involved in every aspect of my business, whereas there was a period when I just left management and the accountant to do their thing. The lesson I was taught is I that have to be very engaged in every aspect, not only the creative, but to understand the business of it and how that affects my long term position and my family. I have to be conscious of everything that’s happening and be able to access the information any time that I need to.
19. Who’s been your greatest mentor, and what’s the best advice they gave you?
My father would be my greatest mentor, and the best advice happened when my grades started slipping in college, because I was spending so much time DJing and being involved with music. He said, “You need to follow your heart and not be an architect just because you think it will make me happy. You need to do what makes you happy.” That was very pivotal in me being where I am today.
20. What’s one piece of advice you’d give your younger self?
I would tell anyone that wants to embark on any type of creative career: follow exactly what my father said. Follow your heart, and make sure you’re doing what you love, because the greatest currency you have is your time. It’s the one thing you do not get back. When you look back years from now at what your life has looked like, you’ll remember the moments you lived more than you remember what you made. So choose the thing that excites you and and drives you and choose moments where you’re going to really live.