BIOGRAPHY - SANDY RIVERA

Sandy Rivera is the driving force behind the respected DJ outfit Kings Of Tomorrow. He is one of Defected's shining stars and has produced records that we have danced to a thousand times. He is responsible for delivering such gems as 'Finally' and 'Changes' which are highly regarded as instant classics. He is a DJ who personality is as big as his hair and his productions. This is a rare chance to get up close and personal to this ace DJ. You can see him exclusively at the Defected In The House Tour at L'america on 15th Nov.

INTERVIEW - SANDY RIVERA

King of Tomorrow and Defected all-star, Mr. Sandy Rivera is headlining our arena at the massive South West Four Festival on Sunday 27th August and we are very glad to have him back! His gorgeous blend of funked-up basslines, classy vocals and deeper cuts are the perfect soundtrack for a hot summer’s day, and as he says in this interview, he’s fully prepared to “fuck it up!”

Your music obviously displays many influences from the past – from salsoul and disco to rock and many more. Who first introduced to music, and what are your strongest musical memories from growing up?

For me it was more like the ‘70s and the ‘80s were the strongest ‘cos y’know...it’s when you had all the disco and the funk, and the ‘80s had the whole slightly electronic phase...like Madonna. You had a whole bunch of groups comeout between the ‘70s and the ‘80s that still get radio play like there was no tomorrow. Those were my kiddy years, my teenage years...I just absorbed all that.

So did you discover all this music yourself or did someone else get you onto it?

My mom and my dad y’know....being born in Spanish Harlem, obviously that’s what you’re gonna get hit with! You won’t be hearing country music out there, you know what I mean?

Can you remember the first time you went clubbing?

Yeah I do. The first time I went clubbing....it was always like...little home parties and stuff like that and then like birthday parties in halls and things like that, and they were kind of like clubs....but the very first time I remember was a place called [?] with Louie Vega playing, way back when freestyle was really big and Todd Terry was just kinda coming up...in the late kinda middle ‘80s, like ’87 / ’88. It was just amazing, y’know? It just felt like home. And next thing you know I’m looking at the speakers then going “I’m shocked at this stuff coming out”....

Do clubs still excite you in this day and age or has it become more business than pleasure?

I mean everything’s become more business but the music’s still sits inside y’know? I still appreciate somebody else’s record just as much as my own. I still go ga-ga-goo-goo over other people’s records....and it’ll be different stuff you know, like Coldplay, they’ll make a nice song that’ll just send a tingle down my back and I’ll be like “woah”. You know, Snow Patrol....people like Jose Gonzalez, Zero 7....Rebirth, all those people. And even like house records like, their’s this minimal record right now by Loco Dice that really hits the spot. I mean played it at Global Gathering like second to last record, a really minimal record, but there was quite a few thousand people there and they all went off to it. And then you know, I still love all the vocals...everything.

You’ve been producing since 1992. Aside from your big hits, which of your productions hold special memories for you and why?

You know, they all do. Because in the beginning when you’re starting off small, even the smallest things are really big to you, and then you kind of build on that but you still have that memory. Like when I put out my first record, it was just a few hundred pieces, and I remember one store wanting the whole thing, and I was just ecstatic over that. I was just excited, and then went on the second record and got excited for that and it just kept building. But there was a point where....I hit a mark...where I had “Don’t Stop” and “Finally” and “I Can’t Stop” and the Everything But The Girl thing all kind of hitting at the same time. Anywhere I would go, I would probably hear 5 or 6 of my records in the club...and that would just be a crazy feeling, ‘cos you know, if you work hard at something you just kind of get it, y’know? Did I answer that right??

Yeah! How do you feel about your last Kings of Tomorrow album in retrospect?

That was a cool project that did well overall with all the singles. Good club tracks, good listening songs...overall it’s an original album...not much more you can say about that. I just loved it – it was a big stepping point in my career, sort of showing people that I can produce...that I can continue producing after having had so many other records like “Finally” and “Young Hearts...” and “I Can’t Stop”, there could have been a breaking point where I could have gone sour and disappeared. But I definitely can’t disappear – I actually love the music too much. Even if I had a few million dollars...which I ‘m not saying if I have yet...but let’s just say if I had 50 million ha ha....then it would be no different. I would still be doing the music nonetheless. I would still sit down with a new vocalist and feel their vibe...

What are you cooking up in the studio at the amount? I hear you are down in Defected’s basement right now working away...

Yeah yeah I’m here. I’m getting ready for doing a new album, and then I got my boy’s album...and they’re both coming out on Blackwiz, so it’s really cool. I mean, I haven’t dropped a lot of singles this year, ‘cos I figured I didn’t wanna drop just singles, and drop them and drop them... I wanted a focal point to everything. So I’ve only dropped one record, and we’ve got two albums soaking up in the studio, getting ready to smack it up towards the end of the year.

How has your label Blackwiz been doing? What was the idea behind the label?

It’s gonna do a lot better when all these releases come out. Before it was just like – pick up someone’s record, drop it, pick up someone’s record, drop it...and try to meet a quota y’know. Upstairs they were saying “you need a record every month”...and you just can’t pick up people’s records and drop them all the time. I personally think it hurts the industry that way anyway. So I’d rather have a focal point, some kind of album, some kind of image behind it...a little bit of everything y’know?

With all this talk of vinyl dying and the bottom falling out of the label market, have you found it difficult to operate the label successfully?

Yes I mean sales-wise, it’s totally different, and if you don’t have a “name” and the record’s not smacking in clubs, it’s just not going anywhere...that’s just it. I mean it’s kind of always been like that, but even new people were able to creep a little bit and make some decent money just out of putting something out – that whole part of it just bottomed out. But if you make a nice big record, people are still gonna license it and go crazy, ‘cos you’re gonna still have people doing mix compilations. The only thing is – you wanna be one of those records on those mix compilations...and other countries to license it and drop your song. So that competition has never changed and I don’t think it ever change. So 12 inches, yeah they do sell less, but now downloading’s kind of kicking up, but the profit with downloading is a bit different from actually selling a 12 inch so you have to sell more downloads to make up...for the loss, y’know? But at some point it will all even out.

Well yeah, it definitely seems the download market is well underway, ‘cos when it started it wasn’t really the big thing but now...

Yeah and all those free downloading sites...I know some company just won a...I think it was in Australia...where somebody was downloading things and had to pay a big fine of like a billion dollars...do you know who it was?

Kazaa I think?

Kazaa yeah yeah...it’s about time. They are looking to get all the other people, so I think in a few more years, it will be all about downloading. I think you’ll still get your CD singles, and people will still want covers and an image to go with it so....but I’m not too sure about vinyl...I don’t know but I know you still get these rare records, and you get them on vinyl. And the whole vinyl process still sounds better....I hope it never totally disappears.

You are playing at South West Four on August 27th, a festival that is taking place in Wales for the first time after rocking London for 2 years in a row. What have been some of your wilder festival experiences?

Wildest ones....that would have been a long time ago in my....slightly hey-day single days....I can’t say anything now in case I end up single! But when I was...it was pretty much in Portugal. It was just mad you know....30,000 people on a beach in....what was that town that makes all the wine...they kind of get all crazy....

Have you played much in Wales before?

Yeah always, at L’America. It’s crazy over there, it’s mental...so I like doing it. I’ve done other festivals down that way, it’s always good. People get off their heads really early there don’t they?!

Yeah I think the Welsh and the Scottish and the Irish are a bit crazier than us English ‘cos they don’t get as many big events, I think when they do...

When they do it’s just full on! But as long as their bringing the same attitude, I’m bringing the same attitude...you know, good music...let’s just fuck it up!

Interview by Benz