Superstar Sanchez steps up his game

DJ Erick Morillo is part of the line-up for Thirst 2005 at the Grand Circle, St James in Auckland.

Oh no. The perfectly preened goatee is not pencil-thin like I'd imagined. It's more like the thickness of a vivid marker than a makeup pencil. It's disappointing.

But at least Roger Sanchez, in true superstar DJ style, is wearing his sunnies inside.

And at least he arrived today. I turned up at the Carlton Hotel in Auckland the day before and he didn't show. Roger the dodger was at the gym apparently.

He's a busy man. And, did I mention, one of the world's highest paid DJs - rumours have it that Sanchez can demand between $40,000 and $60,000 a night.

Sanchez and Miami-based DJ Erick Morillo are in Auckland to headline the New Zealand final of Thirst 2005 tonight at the Grand Circle in the St James complex.

And we are privileged. "Most places can't afford to have Roger and I on the same bill," is what Morillo cheekily told the Herald last week.

Thirst is a global competition for aspiring DJs. The four regional winners, made up of Scott Lelo (Auckland), Daimon Schwalger (Wellington), Tristan Roake (Christchurch) and Clint Hepi (Queenstown), will battle it out in tonight's final for a spot at the Asia Pacific final in Tokyo on May 4.

After the final, Sanchez plays at midnight, followed by Morillo.

Sanchez started DJing when he was 13 and through his work with Strictly Rhythm Records in the late 80s and early 90s, remixes for Michael Jackson and Soul II Soul, and a series of mix albums, made a name for himself as the world's top house DJ. He released a solo album, First Contact, four years ago and the follow-up is out later this year.

Now, the 38-year-old is "upgrading" and he's playing with a band. "What I'm doing now is trying to step up the game that I've been doing for quite a while and add something new to it. DJs have to evolve. Since I started out, technology has changed, making it far more creative in terms of what you can do with technology to enhance a show."

His band, singer Lisa Pure, singer/rapper GTO, and bass and guitar player Freak, will also play on his new album.

"We gelled far more easily than I expected. For me, I'm a producer so I'm more like a creative driving force, so I pull in different artists to collaborate and what I'm also featuring is what I do as a DJ, because I never wanted to lose sight of that, that's where I come from. And the hunger for music keeps it fresh."

His early musical influences growing up in Queens, New York, included everything from Grandmaster Flash to Sade, to 80s bands like Depeche Mode and Duran Duran. When he started DJing he played hip-hop, funk and soul, but when house music started coming out of Chicago and New York in the mid-80s, he got into that.

But what comes through most strongly in his music now is his Latino heritage - especially the percussive sounds and sexy rhythms. Which is why it comes as no surprise that many photos of Sanchez show him draped by gorgeous women.

"It tends to be that way for Latinos, we are very much about celebrating life and having a party - the rhythms reflect that - and it's about sensuality, too. So my music tends to be sensual in the way that it makes people move.

"You have to be able to pick the temperature of the crowd. Read the vibe of what's going on in the room. The entertainment part comes when you can play music that emotionally touches them and brings them to a certain place - you become a guide, especially on longer sets."

He's seen the dance music scene go from the underground, to its jubilant heyday in the 90s, to now, where he believes it has established a global influence.

"For instance," he says, "if you look at hip-hop, people dress a certain way and speak a certain way, and dance music has similar elements. So it's become more global and as a result has been influenced by rock, hip-hop and reggae, and conversely, dance music has influenced everything else.

"Now, the DJ scene is massive. When I first started out the DJ was the guy you stuck underneath the stairway, paid $50 to, and played music that we all liked and he can shut up. It has transformed into what has become equivalent of an icon, or a rock star."

Despite the dance scene being less high-profile than it was in the 90s, it is still big business. Early on in his career, Sanchez made a point of understanding the business side of things which meant getting to grips with contractual obligations, royalties and running a company.

But, he says, his advice for aspiring DJs is to work on your skills and your passion first.

"I think the more you know about business, the more you can control the trajectory of your career.

"But at the end of the day it really is about having fun, being original, being knowledgeable musically, and technically you've got to practice. Plus, try to inject a lot of your own personality into the performance - everything down to what you wear and how you do things. That's all an aspect of the overall performance and you've got to try and sharpen that."

He did miss one thing though. You've got to go to the gym.

Performance

*Who: Roger Sanchez
*What: Thirst 2005, Grand Circle, St James. Featuring the New Zealand grand final of the Thirst 2005 DJ competition. Plus, Roger Sanchez and Miami-based DJ Erick Morillo.
*When: Tonight