Get ready for a big dose of New York's club scene right here in Shanghai. Starting tomorrow night at Club BonBon and running through June, scores of New York's finest DJs are in town flexin' some of that Big Apple flavor.
Junior Sanchez, who has remixed Madonna and Shakira, among many others, mans the decks tomorrow night, with a set of the sickest dirty electro mashups.
Sanchez' recent releases and remixes are guitar-laden workings that have a heavy dance and pop-punk beat. This is party music, no high-brow stuff here, just good and dirty dance floor doings.
The New York DJ/producer has been producing dance music for more than 10 years and has been spinning clubs and parties for nearly double that.
Touring with other members of S-Men Dj Sneak and Roger Sanchez (no relation) Junior draws a lot of inspiration from playing out and keeps a solid grasp on his roots, never taking the whole "superstar DJ" thing too seriously.
"I think kids are bored of DJs and they just want something a little bit more, and right now it's in a state of rebellion. People just want to have a good time, they don't really care who's DJing, what's going on, they just want good music.
It's not that serious. It's just dance music man, it's not like rocket science."
Good music is what it's all about with Sanchez a veteran of New York's club and nightlife scene.
His early collaborations with DJ Armand van Helden launched his dance music career in to the stratosphere culminating most recently in remixes of Madonna's single "Jump."
Early influences came from moving between Brazil and New Jersey and Sanchez, the youngest of a family of seven children was exposed to many different styles of music from his older siblings. He would listen to any and all music that his family played while growing up.
Music from all genres.
"I have never listened to just one type of music," he reminisced. "We all had our own character and style.
One brother was into Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode and another was into Revolting Co and Ministry. But my sister was into Boston, Fleetwood Mac and ELO.
"I learned to appreciate all kinds of music early on and began to see how they could all work together.
"
By 15, Sanchez had played at all of Peter Gatien's clubs and had a residency at Club USA in Times Square "playing house music and 80s for queens, it was amazing."
Sanchez eventually began organizing and promoting his own events and parties at New York clubbing landmarks Limelight and Shelter.
As part of the NASA Crew (along with DJs Jason Jinx and Odie) he was exposed to new, more experimental sounds.
"The New York underground enlightened me and expanded my understanding of house music, more minimal-based dance and techno."
More collaborations with top artists and labels such as Van Helden's AV8, Bjork's One Little Indian, Roger Sanchez' Narcotic and Eric Morillo's Subliminal led the DJ to eventually create his own label and produce his own debut full-length album: Junior Sanchez Presents The Bionic Traxx (1996).
More recently, Sanchez released the massive club cut "B with U" with Dajae.
He's also continued work with Jacques lu Cont (Rythmes Digitales) but the big news is his newly-launched CUBE Recordings. The early success of the label has not gone to his head. He keeps a steady head on the progress and development of the new business and also keeps his hands on the decks, never forgetting to have a good time DJing for the crowd.
"I just want to continue making good music, writing a lot more and working with a lot more bands. To me DJing is just fun, it's not serious, it's not the art form people think it is. I mean if you're Q-Bert or the Scratch Picklz or someone like that, then yes, that's an art form, that's their career.
"But when certain DJs just go out and play some records and that's all they do and think they're Quincy Jones by doing it, sorry but it's not reality. DJing is supposed to be fun, it's an expression of one's self to other people, it's playing music that you like to people that you think will appreciate the music that you like.
"It's supposed to be fun.
I have fun when I DJ, it's not dark it's not moody, it's happy. I want to see somebody smile and laugh."
For a sample of Sanchez visit the Website www.
myspace.com/juniorsanchez, or listen to a special streamed mix at www.urbanon.
com/jsanchez.m3u. You can also enter to win free tickets for tomorrow night at www.
urbanon.com/content/view/26/33.
Also heading to Shanghai as part of June's monthlong Escape from New York is Sammy Jo (Scissor Sisters DJ), Suss-One (Mariah Carey's DJ), Astro and Glyde (Dirty House) and Arthur Baker who wrote the blueprint for hip-hop production when he produced Afrika Bambaataa's Planet Rock.
Date: Friday, May 25
Address: 2-3/F Yunhai Tower, 1329-1331 Huaihai Road M.
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