I first heard of Sabo a couple of years back when digging through the crates at the local vinly store. He has released some very high quality, dance-floor oriented, party remixes. I wanted to catch up with him to learn more about what makes this guy tick…

How long have you been DJing? Producing?

S: Djing for 12 years, producing for 4.

Who are some of your early influences musically and dj-wise?

S: Growing up my parents would listen to lots of jazz and bossa nova. When I was 8 yrs old I saw Breakin’ and went and bought the soundtrack on vinyl the next day. That got me into rap and hip hop. At 15, I went to Spain for an exchange program and thats where I got introduced to techno, house and latinas. This lead me to go to lots of warehouse raves when I got back to the States where DJs like Frank Ryde, Dale Charles, Mark Farina, Dante, Dan, Pete Moss and Onionz used to kill it. My friends and I were all just starting to DJ and diggin for records, so we’d push each other a lot and they definetely influenced me too.

Describe your musical sound to those that might not have heard of you.

S: It all depends on the gig and the crowd, but the main idea for me has always been to make people dance and smile, and hopefully, I can do that to music that’s new to them and not radio top 40. I like mixing reggae, latin, brazilian and afro-beat with hip hop, disco, miami bass, house, techno and funk. So I guess basically funky music to make you feel good.

Do you DJ full time?

S: Yeah 3-4 nights a week, traveling here and there, plus I work 2 days a week at the NY Turntable Lab store

What is your strategy when it comes to gigging in a city like New York with so much competition?

S: I’m not competing with most of the DJs in NY because I don’t play top 40. I just do my thing and try not to hate on others or get worried about what the other guy is doing. I spend a lot of time seeking out new tracks that other people aren’t playing yet, so I can be the first to play them. In my own mind I feel like I’m “breaking” new tracks, like old school cats used to do on the radio.

How do you lug your gear around in the city?

S: I still play vinyl records mostly, so I got one of those wheelie bags and take a lot of cabs.

Tell us a little more about Turntables on the Hudson.

S: Turntables on the Hudson (TOTH) was started by Nickodemus and Mariano and has been going strong for 9 years. The music has a very worldly influence, as does the very diverse mixed crowd that comes. Almost always there is live percussion with the DJ - usually Nappy G, who absolutely destroys it on timbales and congas. Whenever possible they do it in an outdoor venue. When I first came to NY I found out about this party and was going every week. I’d hear Nick and Mariano playing a lot of the same records I had just bought that week at the record store, so I knew I had to DJ there. After about a year of going every Friday night, I gave Nick a dub downtempo mixtape I had made and he asked me to open for them one night. Little by little I got to DJ more with them and now I’m lucky enough to do a guest set every month or so. I’ve had countless EPIC nights at TOTH parties and without question some of my most memorable sets. It’s hands down the best party in the city and I’m so thankful to have become a part of it.

You’ve been on the come up with your label Sol Selectas. Give us some background on the label and it’s releases.

S: I put the first Sol*Selectas out in August of 2005. It was 2 party break type tracks I made with Zeb. I only pressed 500 copies and stamped the Sol*Selectas logo, by hand, on every copy. I sent a bunch of copies to DJs I liked and they all wrote back with solid feedback. In 2 months all 500 copies sold out, so I knew heads were gonna start checking for it. Since then I’ve put out 4 releases, all of which are DJ-friendly remixes with the dancefloor rocking the #1 priority. The next release EP 05 is the first one that’s legitimate, so I actually put my name on this one. It’s a collection of remixes I did for Kokolo Afrobeat Orchestra, Balkan Beat Box, and Pacha Massive, along with Zeb and Uriel. Its gonna be vinyl only and very limited. The future releases are in the works, but I’m open to hear new stuff from anyone. I feel like there’s too many good remixes and songs being made that never get heard and deserve a quality vinyl pressing. If anyone out there has some dope shit they are sitting on, please send it my way and let’s get it heard!

Which city is your favorite and why? New York, Miami or Barcelona?

S: I’ve only ever visited Miami and Barcelona so it’s hard to compare to NYC where I’ve lived for 8 years. New York is the shit. It’s just very hard to relax here and we have no beach. One of the best parts about living in NY is that when you go somewhere else you can say “no I’m not American, I’m from NYC” and people get it and still respect you straight away. Miami is great to visit, party, get a tan, eat some amazing cuban food and then break out. I couldn’t live there year round though, too small and too much trance. Barcelona is just in whole other league. Its got everything: beach, hotties, amazing food, insane nightlife and sick skatespots. The only catch is is hard to gig a lot in Barcelona. My friends from Spain call it the “Barcelona DJ Mafia”. If you’re not playing electro and down with the promoters, its gonna be rough to make a living there. Then again, everyone is on that same page, so fuck it - move to Barcelona and live life like you never thought was possible.

In Texas our clubs close at 2am. In New York and Miami it’s 4am right? Barcelona clubs seem to never close. What time to folks generally show up in New York, Miami and Barcelona? When are clubs at their highest energy level in these various cities?

S: In NYC 12-3am is peak time. Barcelona clubs are empty until at least 3am and then its just insanity. I’ve been to clubs in Barcelona at 9am the following day that were still going strong, but the people were basically chewing their own faces off at that point and the music just gets harder and harder. I have a friend in Barcelona who played an after hours and he told me people started throwing tomatoes and drinks at him cause he was playing too slow. Fucking nuts. In Miami, I’m not really sure because I’ve only ever been there during WMC, but it seems to go much later than NYC. But again, getting scarier and scarier the earlier it gets.

In your opinion, what are the best clubs to hit up in these 3 cities?

S: In NYC, I like Cielo and APT during weeknights cause they have good DJs and proper sound systems. Outdoor venues for Turntables on the Hudson, I like the Frying Pan and WaterTaxi Beach. There’s also this really fun bar in Brooklyn I play at once a month called Bembe. As for Miami I like Opium Garden, Pawn Shop and Buck 50. In Barcelona the only one I can remember the name of that I liked is 13 in the Plaza Royal.

What are your thoughts on digital DJ software such as Torq, Serato and Final Scratch?

S: I’m so on the fence about this one, but here’s the pro’s and con’s that come to mind. It’s a tool to play music, and there are lots of guys that kill it using Serato, but it kinda scares me. I’ve already had recurring nightmares about using it and it crashes in the middle of a gig, but I’ll probably cave in eventually. I’d love to get it for weddings and corporate gigs, where you need every genre of music ever known to man, just in case the bride’s cousin’s sisters uncle wants to hear that one song. But I like vinyl records. They sound better - no question, but admittedly most clubs have such a shitty system that it doesn’t matter. Fuck it, run 96Kps all nite off Limewire! Most people would never know the difference. As far as people always bitching about carrying the records, I don’t mind carrying them, it keeps me fit. Most of the guys I know who went Serato, have been stacking on the pounds. I like flipping thru my record bag in the heat of the moment, looking for that one track, because it’s not in any order or BPM’d or Genre-fied. I like hearing a whole song sometimes, not just the first 30 seconds. I like packing a solid bag with only bombs, no filler tracks. I like the artwork on a bigger scale and finding that one record you’ve been looking for for 5 years in a random store in Paris. And finally, I spend all day on my computer making beats, so the last thing i wanna do at a gig is stare at my playlists. I keep seeing all these pics in magazines of superstar Djs and it looks like they are checking their email, not even looking at the crowd. Might as well have a jukebox up there…

What’s your favorite piece of hardware? Software?

S: Hardware I’d say the Rane 56 mixer and the older Technics 1200 headphones. For software I guess i’d say Reason and Logic. Most of the tracks I’ve made were done on those.

What’s been your worst DJ experience?

S: Definitely having some dude puke into my record bag once at a restaraunt gig. It was so gnarly, you can’t imagine. I spent 20 minutes wiping puke off my records, but did manage to convince all his friends to give me cash for a new bag.

Your best?

S: So many to mention….DubClub in Vienna, Santanera in Mexico recently with Nickodemus, anywhere in Spain, PS 1 Warm Up, Turntable on the Hudson many many times, Bembe monthly…

Give us a top 10 of what you are playing right now.

• Gotan Project “Mi Confesion” (Edu K Drop the Bass remix)
• Koop “Drum Rhythm A ” (Christian Prommer mix)
• Mr. V “Put Your Drink Down” (Bob Sinclair mix)
• Os Malandros “Para Na Wey”
• Balkan Beat Box “Digital Monkey” (Sabo & Uriel’s Baile Jump Mix)
• The Dynamics “Music”
• The Fania Allstars “The Click” (Kashmere Bros If Music Remix)
• Toco “Guarapiranga” (Gerardo Frisina remix)
• DJ Disse “Walk on the Wildside”
• Sabo and Uriel “Feel Like Dancin”

What are you up to these days? Got anything new coming out?

S: Sol Selectas EP 05 should be out by October, I got another 4 song EP I’m doing with my friend Uriel that should come out on my label too, before the end of the year. And I got an entire album I did with Zeb, that hopefully will be coming out by 2008. I’m really excited about that one as its got everything from disco to downtempo to house to dub, and we spent almost 2 years making it. I’m working on new mix CDs as well, with Solproof #3 and Deep Sunday Dub #2 hopefully coming out before the end of the year.

Where can people hear you and learn more about you?

S: http://www.myspace.com/djsabo and http://www.solselectas.com

Do you have any nuggets of advice to drop on us?

S: Always play the music YOU love. If you are into it, the crowd will follow.

If you could summarize yourself with a single word, what would it be?

S: Alegria

Be sure and treat yourself to some of Sabo’s tasty treats…