DJ OF THE WEEK 4.5.10: ROGER SANCHEZ

Roger Sanchez is not only a highly skilled Superstar DJ, he makes being one look good; Roger Sanchez all but put the star in Superstar DJ. Since he blessed us with his first hit, Luv Dancing back in 1991 under the name Underground Solution, he has been blazing a path with hit after hit after hit, tearing up the scene with incredible DJ sets, and taking the term Superstar DJ to an entire new level.

Sanchez is a Grammy winner, 2003 Best Remixed Recording – No Doubt’s Hella Good and IDMA winner for Podcast of the year – Release Yourself, is a constant in DJ Magazines Top 100 DJ lists, and has lent his remixing services to some of the world’s biggest stars such as Michael and Janet Jackson, Depeche Mode, Daft Punk, and more. Currently, you can catch him spinning everywhere from New York to Miami and Ibiza, where he has a residency going back to 2000.

Born in Queens, New York to Dominican parents, Sanchez was all but born into music (if you know Dominican’s it’s a birthright), but he wasn’t content just being a listener, or a very good Merengue dancer, he wanted to create music and move the masses himself. Like many aspiring DJ’s, Sanchez was spinning at local gigs and working on his craft as a teenager, but he also had sense and thus stayed true to his studies and even went to college. However, it was music that really moved him, and it was his father that convinced him to put his studies on hold to pursue his DJ career. Yeah, you heard right, his father didn’t warn him he’d lose his inheritance if he followed his dream of spinning records, he actually pushed him to leave the Pratt Institute where Sanchez was pursuing an Architectural degree and hit the clubs. The club world has been in debt to the elder Sanchez ever since.

Not one to rest on his accomplishments, Sanchez is off to an incredible 2010. Aside from some singles he has in store, most notably “2gether”, he has something a little extra special planned for the party people of the world. To celebrate his 10-year residency in Ibiza, Sanchez’ latest project Release Yourself: The Beginning Of A New Era, is taking things to a completely new level, better yet, dimension. Sanchez is bringing Hollywood level productions to his sets with a full-blown 3D experience! As his official site claims, expect to see “eye-popping 3D visuals and heart pounding Sanchez beats”. Not much more info on this sure to be stupendous show, but somehow, it seems it’s just another day’s work in the life of Roger Sanchez. And to think, we have an old school Dominican elder in Queens to thank for all of this. Vaya pana, buen hecho!