With his new single ‘Burn So Deep’ currently riding high in the Traxsource Top 10, and an upcoming set at Space Ibiza for Glitterbox on Friday 4th September, here we caught up with Sandy for a quick chat.

Thanks for talking to us Sandy. You’ve got a Kings Of Tomorrow appearance coming up for Glitterbox in a couple of weeks... is there a big difference between a Sandy Rivera VS a Kings Of Tomorrow set?

Kings Of Tomorrow sets tend to be rarer. I guess I never really pushed that moniker as much before, at least in terms of pushing Kings Of Tomorrow sets. With Glitterbox and the sound it stands for, those gigs really allow me and anyone else to dig deep into the crates and play a set they perhaps aren’t able to at other nights. Kings Of Tomorrow was always somehow tied into my name and never separated. This is a great time for real House music and the soulful, Disco aspect of it all is more relevant these days. A Kings Of Tomorrow set would dive into some proper classics, something I could not really do before and really get into the Disco side of things. It's not far from what Kings Of Tomorrow is known for as you can hear with the new ‘Burn So Deep’ single.

Strong vocal tracks seem to be harder and harder to come by these days… do you think a lot of producers just don’t know how to work with them properly? What advice would you give to someone who wants to produce a killer vocal record?

If your set up is based on just a laptop, then you’re not set up for recording vocals. You’re not getting any practice at getting a good recording or dealing with artists who will sing for you. Lots of people send tunes out and wait for vocal to come back. That works sometimes. But if you want to be able to bring out the good qualities in a singer and help develop a song, then you need the singer in front of you. Then it becomes a real session where you are able to zone in for the best and help guide the vocalist in if necessary.

On the recording side of it, you can pick certain styles to record it. It becomes a real effort and at times very stressful, but that’s the best part of making the music. You can't get that original song all the time if you don't get involved in the writing. At the same time some vocalists are really good and don't need to be in the room with you. On that note, you better find some really good singers, writers and people who can come up with a hook. When April and I are in the studio, we work hard, we have a great vibe together and that comes out in the tunes.

Tell us about how your new track ‘Burn So Deep’ came about?

I always try a few different ideas, but I am always very specific in where I want the track to go. ‘Burn So Deep’ came out of a very specific idea. We had the lyrics and we just needed the perfect music to allow the vocal to flourish. With that in mind, we tried a Disco version in a different key to the original track, so re-recorded the vocals to the Disco mix and added a new hook. Once we had the final vocals done, I moved into doing the ‘Classic Soulful Mix’ and that became the package we released on Traxsource. We worked really hard on it, but the actual original version won’t be released as the two version we did just worked.

How do you decide what vocalists to feature on your records?

Most vocalists on all my past records I knew and have been in the room with them to write and record. Now we’re finishing some songs with singers I have not really met yet and I’m getting songs done where I am not there, though I much prefer to record the vocalist and be part of the session. It’s the only part of music that seems real to me. To only get sent the vocals as digital files is still hard for me to deal with.

What are your thoughts on the current House music scene?

A lot of the current stuff I really dig. There’s a big throwback to the 90’s scene going on which is cool when it’s done right; respect and knowledge. But so much has changed; fake seems to be the new cool. Ghost producers are now a must have for certain people who can’t actually make music and have a busy touring schedule. It really sucks how the audience love someone for the records they don’t make, but I guess that’s just the music business scene these days.

Buy your tickets for Glitterbox at Space Ibiza and be ready to the Kings Of Tomorrow set on Friday 4th September, it will be stunning!