Junior Sanchez

New York house pioneer Junior Sanchez first gained notice through a dense, rhythm-driven style that fuses new wave with disco and funk. Active as a producer, remixer, DJ, and label executive, he issued his earliest tracks in the mid-1990s while still in his teens and soon partnered with prominent dance figures including Armand van Helden and Harry "Choo Choo" Romero. Although his reworkings of hits by Madonna, Shakira, and Katy Perry reached wide audiences, his own material largely remained within underground circuits. Well into his career, he delivered his first full-length album, Under the Influence, in 2017, an homage to his formative inspirations, and has kept releasing singles on imprints such as Crosstown Rebels, Defected, and Planet E, including 2023’s “Art O Fact.”

Born Eugenio Sanchez, Jr. in 1977 and raised in Newark, New Jersey’s Ironbound district, a tight working-class enclave, he developed an early passion for music. Shaped by the initial output of Todd Terry, Carl Craig, Masters at Work, Murk, and David Morales, he began DJing at age 11, spinning his siblings’ cast-off records on a pair of vintage stereo setups. By 15 he was appearing in several of New York’s premier clubs; continued on-the-job refinement quickly made him one of the scene’s most in-demand selectors. He next turned to production, crafting a distinctive funky, filter-laden aesthetic that drew equally from ’80s new wave, post-punk, and synth pop and from house’s foundational sources in disco, funk, soul, and R&B.

His debut solo EP, Da Bionic Trax, arrived on Strictly Rhythm in 1996, inaugurating a consistent run of club-oriented releases. Maintaining a rigorous schedule, he also recorded as Da Northface Killa and IMIURU (“I Am I, You Are You”), joined forces with fellow house artists such as Armand van Helden, Harry “Choo Choo” Romero, DJ Sneak, and Roger Sanchez, served as an A&R executive at Rufftrack Records, operated the Cube, Brobot, and Kultur labels, and supplied remixes for Madonna, Jamiroquai, Gorillaz, Shakira, and Placebo. Long outspoken against the commercialization of dance music and an advocate for artistic autonomy, he finally issued his debut album, Under the Influence, in 2017, saluting the house originators who had guided his youth.

During 2018 he placed singles and EPs on Relief (“Funky Spaceship,” with Gene Farris) and Defected (Built EP) while teaming with Saul Williams on The Change EP and with Todd Terry on “Figure of Jazz.” The following year yielded club tracks “Keep on Reachin” and “Without Your Love” plus Blueprint EP. Further EPs Da Kultur (with Demuir) and Inspire (with Ant LaRock) surfaced in 2020. In 2021 he issued Divergent, again with Todd Terry, and Nobody Bring U Down. “Be With U 2.0,” updating a prior collaboration with Dajae, followed in 2022. “Hit It,” featuring NEZ, appeared on Defected in 2023, and Carl Craig’s Planet E released “Art O Fact.”