’If you’ve been to a club anytime since the 2001 release of Kings of Tomorrow ‘Finally’ then you are no doubt already familiar with the work of Sandy Rivera. Whether producing as part of Kings of Tomorrow or flying solo Rivera’s releases have found their way onto labels like Defected, Subliminal and Strictly Rhythm. More recently though Sandy has been summoned for his DJ skills to mix the latest in the “Renaissance - The Masters Series”.
In celebration of this new disc Sandy is headed to ageHa and HigherFrequency dutifully chatted him via the Internet to find out what makes him tick.
> Interview & Introduction : Nick Lawrence(HigherFrequency)
HigherFrequency (HRFQ) : You’ll be heading to Japan to promote your new mix CD “Renaissance ? Sandy Rivera - The Masters Series part 8”, do you consider yourself a master of the dance music scene?
Sandy Rivera : Yes I do, not to be self absorbed or anything like that, but I have made music that has helped our music evolve, and I am pretty good DJ in all aspects, since I do play various amounts of music, but what really makes me a master is that I keep the productions coming.
HRFQ : How does a mix CD like this differ from your DJ
set which people will hear when they come to see you play at ageHa in
Tokyo?
Sandy Rivera : Not much, but it depends on which CD you like, CD1 is more soulful house music and CD 2 is more progressive for the peak of a set, but a CD is made with specific songs and there are plenty of songs I love to play in my set's that I would not put on a CD. I have played ageHa twice before and loved it, I would play a long set and do my best to make it a journey.
HRFQ : Later this year your new album “The Night” will
be released. What can you tell us about this project?
Sandy Rivera : A lot, do you have a few pages ;) The Night is more of a follow up to my last album "Trouble", it has something for everyone and my sound has evolved since then. Lollipop which is also on my album has been picked up by Ministry Of Sound and is getting national radio play here in the U.K. at the moment, but what makes this interesting is that a am the artist doing the vocal thing on it. [Layla] I worked on this new album for just a year and like I normally do - I use vocalists that are un-known- I like to give people a chance. It's turned out really well, lots of songs and some deep underground tracks too.
HRFQ : You’ll be including your own remix of 'Finally' on the album and over the years you must’ve heard it a million times because it is an extremely popular track. Have you ever grown tired of it or is it still a song that you love?
Sandy Rivera : I still and will always love it, how can you get tired of a song like that. The original still gives me goose bumps. My new mix hits the spot.
HRFQ : Recently you performed as Blackwiz at Turnmills in London. Can you tell us a little bit about Blackwiz? Do you sing vocals?
Sandy Rivera : Blackwiz is my record label, where i can i put out my own music whenever I want and help other people at same time, its now a massive label and I like it that way, I just want to put music out there for people to hear. We have stopped the parties at Turnmills since then.
HRFQ : What prompted you to move from London from New York?
Sandy Rivera : I became separated from my wife which then allowed me to move along with my life and London seemed to be the best place for me and it turned out to be great. London is an amazing city and for music it is just buzzing with talent all around. I also enjoy the shorter flights for my gig's. If you wanna catch up with me and hear all the new stuff I got coming up then visit my new site www.sandyrivera.dj in March, I have my own on-line store made to reach those people who find it hard get my music.
End of the interview
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