Towards The Future

As house music prepares for its thirtieth birthday, international house trailblazers Erick Morillo, Danny Tenaglia and Masters at Work wear esteemed badges for 20 years in the industry. But it is Roger Sanchez who emerges in 2011 not only with an overwhelming 20-year career, but the ‘Release Yourself’ brand - and its annual odyssey to Ibiza - reaching a ten-year pinnacle.

The S Man’s celebration is one he is keen to share with his fans across the world, announcing a special global anniversary tour of the Release Yourself series throughout 2011. As his Australian tour kicks off, Roger says to expect “sexy house, lots of energy, and music that gets people to throw their hands in the air!”

While facing this milestone, Roger declares that he finds himself falling in love with house music all over again. “House is the sexiest club music out there,” he maintains. “I always change the look and vibe of ‘Release Yourself’ every year, but the core idea remains to give the very best club experience at every event and to immerse the clubber into another world. People still want to enjoy the best night out possible. House music, in all its forms, still rocks around the world! The 10th Anniversary is a reflection of my continuing love affair with house music and its explosive effect on my dancefloor.”

While the S Man maintains the brand’s influence has had an explosive effect on dancefloors worldwide, this influence must also extend to podcasts, airwaves and sound systems across the globe. Primarily the vehicle for Roger’s musical creations, the Release Yourself model was innovative for clubbing when it first emerged in 2002. Above all, there was a distinctive symmetry in its origins where the lyrics from one of his tracks supplied the winning blueprint.

In 1996, on the Deconstruction Label under his Transatlantic Soul alias and featuring the vocal talents of Tonya Wynne, Sanchez presented the track ‘Release Yo Self’. With lyrics promoting musical liberation, the Release Yourself concept would manifest into a CD mix series, land Sanchez an annual Ibiza residency and be broadcast in both English and Spanish as a radio show before naturally progressing into the digital age with a podcast featuring over two million listeners.

“I do allow it to grow organically,” Roger says. “RY,” he divulges, “was born out of my frustration with the lack of club nights at the time that were dedicated to the music and where people could release themselves on the dancefloor. Then, as now, I have always striven to give my dancefloor 100 percent of what drives me - music!”

Roger’s path in music has been immensely rich and varied. With immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic, the wild rhythm of the Dominican ‘merengue’ was already in his blood. The merengue hit the US during the 1980s, featuring tempos from 120 to 160 BPMs and includes the Dominican drum tambora, bass, accordion and brass instruments set to lively melodies and Latin rhythms.

Born in the diversely, ethnic neighbourhood of Queens, New York, Roger flourished within a melting pot of rock, funk, soul, disco and Latin during the 1970s. It was around 1981 as graffiti, breakdancing, rapping and hip hop were hitting the streets that Roger was inspired by a local DJ.

Entering a climate harbouring David Mancuso, Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles, Derrick May and the edgy vibe of New York’s Paradise Garage, Roger would jump behind the decks, facing a world on the edge of a musical breakthrough. He learnt to play drums alongside the turntables, honing those rhythmic skills to a fine point. He continued with his music while graduating from New York’s City’s High School of Art and Design to prepare for an architectural degree. Surprisingly however, he was encouraged by his father to drop out and pursue his DJing aspirations. 1989 saw him moving through the New York club circuit while he focussed his love for building structures into mixing and writing music.

His father’s advice was a winner. The Strictly Rhythm label contacted Roger about production, and in 1990, his first hit, ‘Luv Dancin’, was released under his Underground Solution alias. A mass of albums, compilations, singles and remixes from Michael Jackson’s ‘Dangerous’ to the Grammy-award winning ‘Hella Good’ by No Doubt, churned out from his studio around a hectic gig schedule for the next five years. Roger would sample parts from American rock legends Toto’s 1982 ballad ‘I Won’t Hold You Back’ to release ‘Another Chance’ in 2001 on First Contact, his first production album with a major label; the result was incredible, with international success landing at The S Man’s feet. The following year, the first compilation of Release Yourself was synchronised with an Ibiza performance at KU, setting the scene for the Release Yourself brand over the next decade.

Since 1998, when Headfunk first welcomed Roger Sanchez to Brisbane, the trips down under have grown in frequency, with Queensland now regularly featuring on his annual gig calendar. During his Australian tour, Sanchez will playing be five-hour sets, something that goes against the grain of the modern club DJ, where two-hour sets are seemingly set in stone. In preparation, Roger says: “I listen to tons of music and I tend to organise my set by what time I'll be playing, rather than what the biggest hits are. I tend to incorporate different sounds.”

As a self-proclaimed ‘tech head’, Roger embraces different sounds, technology and equipment to produce his shows. Accounts from his recent Las Vegas gig report Roger using an iPad application to activate visuals and sound effects from behind the DJ booth. In the studio, Roger composes much of his music using Logic, Macs and Protools, while he plays many of the instruments, supplying back-up vocals as well as keys and beats, then inviting vocalists and other musicians onboard for the remaining parts. He uses the time in his studio to delve into his inner-most thoughts and his time in the booth to see if his tracks translate to the dancefloor, where he is likewise inspired by the crowds to write further. It forms a symmetrical never-ending loop.

“The places I have travelled – from South America, Ibiza, Japan to Europe - tend to give me a vibe and a sound,” he declares. “Checking out different scenes gives me other approaches to my sound for Release Yourself, allowing me to develop.” While he has achieved so much, Roger acknowledges there is “loads” more for him to do. “I want to score a film,” he reveals, “and I still want to produce many different types of artists.”

While he looks at the years behind him wearing his customary dark shades as bling adorns his ears, neck and sometimes even his headphones, Roger Sanchez can only be satisfied with a flawless design. An electronic pioneer responsible for shaping a contemporary musical field, there is only one direction Roger Sanchez can traverse – the same one he has all along: towards the future.

Catch Roger Sanchez at Electric Playground on Friday, January 28.