Interview: Sandy Rivera talks Defected in the House

After a hiatus of nearly five years 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 a disc 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…

Introduce yourself and tell me what you’re doing today?

Hi, this is Sandy Rivera from Kings of Tomorrow I’m doing a photo shoot for my 2011 photos. It’s been a wicked shoot and everyone’s been great: stylist, hair and make up. 

Let’s talk about ‘Finally’. It’s a classic amongst classics. I’d like to find out about your feelings for the record today and what it feels like to play it out? Do people still request it?

Yes people constantly request it, it's never going to die. It’s a beautiful song, it's touched a lot of people; people still sing it back and request it. I’m happy to be a part of it.

It can be said you’re a veteran of the scene, in the nicest possible way! How have you seen the dance music scene change over the years?

For me it has obviously changed drastically, I mean technology has changed so much. I started on vinyl; now you can download music, keep it on a computer and play it out. Technology has made things easier for new producers. Instead of a couple of hundred producers there’s now a couple of hundred thousand producers. Now everyone wants to make records. On the flip side, it makes travelling a bit easier, the sound quality is getting better as people are starting to use the technology better, so its all good.

You once said your life is an endless journey. Tell us 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, quite tiring but good.

You’ve been working a lot recently with songwriter and DJ Rae, tell me about her creativity and 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, 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.

Also recently you’ve been working with an artist called April, tell me how you meet her?

April is interesting. 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, I eventually caught her around the block. The very next day she was in the studio and we made the song you are about to hear called 'Take me Back'. So the moral of the story is; if you are a singer and are riding your bike, sing along!

Born and brought up in New York, you’ve recently relocated to Eastern Europe. Tell me about that.

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 6 years travelling a lot, so I'm kind of used to dealing with lots of things.

Let’s talk about your sounds and 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 every day, especially with so many new sounds around. From chillout to rock, I like everything. I get influences from everything, so I just keep adding on to 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, that's more soulful but at the end of the night becomes more techy.

It’s been about five 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 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, and 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 Madeson from Poland. I’ve got a whole bunch of songs that we're going to release through the year that Defected are going to put out. You’re going to hear it on the Brazilian comp, we’ve got the new ‘Finally’ remixes and ‘Hide U’ which is out and doing well. They’ll keep coming in.

Sandy Rivera news, events and info

Interview by: Toni Tambourine

Listen to tracks from the album here: