Ministry of Sound Classical

It’s funny how certain artists who are largely tied to certain underground scenes can, from time to time, cross over into the mainstream, even if only temporarily, and then disappear back to where they’ve always been best loved; that’s certainly the case with Roger Sanchez, a house DJ from Queens, New York who has been one of the genuine titans of the house genre ever since first emerging in 1994. The reverence with which fans of that style treat him has never really waned in the two decades since, but he has made a couple of breakthroughs in to the mainstream, first with his 2001 hit single ‘Another Chance’, which went to number one in the UK, and then with his first Grammy win in 2003, for Best Remixed Recording on his rejigged version of No Doubt’s ‘Hella Good’. Whilst that hasn’t quite translated into widespread commercial success, he remains a popular figure within his own genre, having performed residencies in the world capital of clubbing, Ibiza, every summer since 2000, performing sets that blend house with electronica to stirring effect. He also hosts a weekly radio show, Release Yourself, that has up to fifteen million listeners worldwide - it’s no wonder, then, that he so often travels the world and packs out rooms wherever he goes.

DJ and singer Sonique is a survivor – and I’m not talking about her victory over breast cancer a few years ago, though of course that is an incredible, moving story in itself. I’m talking about her turbulent career in the music industry; a career of staggering highs and down-in-the-dirt lows. But though she might not be a major player in terms of female singers these days, she remains a formidable DJ, and I felt super lucky to catch an all-too-rare set at Dalston Superstore last year (19th April 2013).
The North Londoner of Trinidadian descent was a staple part of the UK dance music scene at the turn of the millennium, thanks to her ubiquitous smash hit "It Feels So Good" from her Universal Music affiliated debut album, 'Hear My Cry,' which reached platinum status here in the UK. However, after the hoo-ha surrounding "It Feels So Good" died down, her pop career started to disintegrate, with her and Universal going separate ways. But what is pop’s loss is the clubber’s gain, and Sonqie has in recent years gone back to her DJ roots.
At Dalston Superstore, her mixing was not only on point, but featured flourishes of genuine creativity, the likes of which are usually non-existent in former chart botherers, who tend to go through the motions. Of course she dropped in snippets of her trance-laden break beat glory years, but she incorporated surprising meanders through disco house and melodic techno. A thoroughly enjoyable set, which proved – at least in my eyes – that Sonique is far from irrelevant; far from washed up. In fact, the underdog status always suited her best anyway – club-land is where she belongs.