After a near five year hiatus from the mix compilation format, King of Tomorrow and global jet-setter extraordinaire Sandy Rivera has been persuaded to take break from his international jaunts long enough to deliver one of the discs for Defected In The House Brazil ’11. Kicking off with a new, yet hauntingly timeless production of his own, the mix moves through slammin' tech house, soulful grooves and authentic Brazilian flavours over the course of its 70-odd minutes. Here we discuss the mix, the ever-evolving music scene and the benefits of chasing girls on bicycles…
Tell me what you’re doing today?
Today I’m doing a photo shoot for my 2011 photos. It’s been a wicked shoot so far and everyone’s been great; stylist, hair and make-up. We’ve been here just a few hours and I’m still made up.
As a veteran, how have you seen the dance music scene change over the years?
For me it has obviously changed drastically, I mean technology has changed it so much. I started on vinyl now you can download, keep it on a computer and play it out. Technology has made things easier for new producers so instead of a couple hundred producers there’s now a couple hundred thousand producers. Now everyone wants to make records. On the flip side, it makes travelling a bit easier and the sound quality is getting better as people are starting to use the technology better, so it’s all good.
A few years ago you said that your life is an endless journey. Tell me what you meant by that?
It’s kind of an endless journey because you’re in airports, you’re partying all night long, you catch a flight home and you’re still tipsy from the night before. Everything just becomes a long journey even when you’re back home you’re only back for a while then you’re back out on the road. It’s all good though; quite tiring but good.
You’ve been working a lot recently with songwriter and DJ Rae, tell me about what you admire about her?
Rae is a sweetheart, she’s a hard worker. We met a few years ago at Bora Bora Ibiza, I think I played too long and she didn’t get to play. After that she MySpaced me and two years later we finally caught up together and started working and got her voice to a certain place and now she’s rocking it. You’ve got to catch one of her shows.
You’ve also been working with a new artist called April… how did you meet her?
I was actually driving going home and she was riding a bike. As she was passing she was singing, and I could her singing as she cycled by my window. I told my girlfriend I’m going to go chase her and she let me out, and I eventually caught up with her around the block. The very next day she was in the studio and we made the song ‘Take Me Back’. So the moral of the story is if you are a singer and are riding you’re bike, make sure you sing along.
Born and brought up in New York, you’ve recently relocated to Eastern Europe…
Yes I live in Poland, it’s good I’m not as home as much so I can live anywhere in the world but I enjoy Poland. I live in a forest and take nice little walks. I was born and raised in New York, I did San Francisco for a year London for six years travelling a lot so I kind of used to dealing with lots of change.
Let’s talk about your productions over the last ten to fifteen years. How do you think your sound has changed over this time?
It keeps progressing with technology and the way I perceive music. I learn everyday especially with so many new sounds around, from chill out to rock, I like everything. So I get influences from everything and just keep using these influences in my production.
In terms of DJing what is your preferred style? Is it more vocal or tougher?
It depends on the crowd. If I play in Bulgaria where I often play it tends to be more progressive, not as many vocals and doesn’t have to be as commercial. But in other places like Estonia and Thailand where I am every two months and that becomes more soulful but at the end of the night becomes more techy.
It’s been about 5 years since you’ve done a proper mix compilation. What attracted you to do this new Brazil compilation?
Defected came around and asked me to do half the Brazilian compilation with DJ Meme. It’s good timing for it as I’ve got a lot of new songs which is perfect and we added a bunch of new things to it.
You’ve toured Brazil quite a few times, can you tell me about some of the experiences while DJing over there?
Brazil is amazing Sao Paulo is quite a bubbling city; I’ve been to Sao Paulo, Florianopolis, Burgos, Rio. Even in the middle of the country it’s always a good party. I’m amazed about the number of places they have, and the big clubs are quite big super clubs. The people are very nice and food is really good. It’s an amazing place to visit for a dance music fan.
What is about the Brazilian sound that has inspired you and have you put any of those flavours on the release?
I put in a song by D Rashid feat Lex called ‘Empress ‘O Verão’. It’s a Brazilian song, sung in Brazilian it’s got the whole Brazilian feel with the percussion. The whole CD has gone through a long journey and that song comes in at the end, which is cool.
Can you tell me about any projects or productions you’re working on?
I’ve got a whole bunch of projects as I mentioned with April, remixes of ‘Take Me Back’ from Virus Jay from Lithuania and Simon Mattson from Poland. I’ve got a whole bunch of songs that were going to release through the year that Defected are going to put out. You’re going to hear it on the Brazilian comp, and we’ve got the new ‘Finally’ remixes and ‘Hide U’ which is out and doing well. They’ll keep coming in.
Defected In The House Brazil '11 is out 31st January - click to listen & pre-order
