Inside Undr The Radr: Roger Sanchez on Culture, Identity and Signing ‘Fiera’

Miami has always moved differently. Beyond the postcards and neon-washed beachfront lies a city pulsing with Latin culture, hustle, and sound, a breeding ground for a new generation of producers reshaping American dance music from the inside out. 

It’s from this Miami that DJ/producers Leyva and Eric V emerged with ‘Fiera,’ a tech-house weapon that caught the ear of house legend Roger Sanchez and landed on his label Undr The Radr late last year.

For Sanchez, whose career has spanned more than three decades and multiple eras of dance, the track hit instantly. “When Kristen and I received the instrumental from Leyva and Eric, the horns instantly caught my attention,” he recalls. “The beats and bass perfectly framed the horn hook and I thought, ‘this could be a dancefloor monster.’”

Two years in the making, ‘Fiera’ grew out of a mentorship dynamic, with Leyva helping guide Eric V’s production chops until the record found its identity. Sanchez embraces that kind of slow-burn creative process. “I think that it can take time to truly find your sound and no time is wasted when experimenting,” he explains. “Leyva and Eric have really upped their game over the last few years and this track is a great example of their work.”

Once the instrumental was locked, the pair tapped Cuban-American vocalist Kristen Knight to finish the story. Knight’s lyric, “Ella es una fiera de la Saguesera,” is a nod to the Southwest neighbourhoods that shaped her. Her intent was personal: “Fiera is inspired by my experience as a woman growing in Miami, dancing alone in a city that’s raw, powerful, and always changing,” Knight says. “Miami turned me into the fiera I am today, and this song is for all my fellow fieras.”

Undr The Radr has built a reputation for spotlighting authentic club music before it breaks and Sanchez hears ‘Fiera’ as aligned perfectly with the label’s direction. “I feel ‘Fiera’ is very current with the sound of Undr The Radr,” he says. “Underground beats and elements combining with very creative vocals. I especially lean into Latin vocals mixed with tech and house.”

Sanchez has long championed the merging of regional culture into house music and sees that movement accelerating. “I love that there are different elements and new producers and artists merging local sounds into house,” he says. “Especially the Latin and Afro sounds.”

That cultural lens isn’t just aesthetic, it’s narrative as well. “Absolutely narrative and identity matter,” Sanchez says. “As artists establish their own unique approach musically, their culture and environment really comes into play in their art. Kristen has been diving into her Latin roots with ‘Fiera’ and definitely brought the spice of Miami into it.”

With decades behind the decks and years spent running labels, Sanchez sees instinct and experience not as opposing forces but as intertwined. “I think they go hand in hand,” he explains. “My experience on what works on the dance floor informs my instinct when I'm listening to new music, especially a possible signing for my labels.”

That same pragmatism extends to advice for emerging producers. “Always put your best tracks forward when submitting to UTR,” he says. “Be consistent and persistent. If something isn't right for us, please keep sending music as we may find something that resonates in a future submission. Also, always keep the dance floor in mind for UTR.”

To Sanchez, the city that shaped ‘Fiera’ is in the midst of its own creative moment. “I feel that Miami producers have a wealth of influences to draw from,” he says. “The influx of top-notch production spaces and local support is truly making inroads in our scene.”

 That influence shows up on the floor. When Sanchez debuted the track at shows, the crowd response was immediate: “I know when something connects by the energy of the room and responses,” he says. “When the first drop of the horns hits, I've gotten people cheering and responding to it from the first time I played it out, especially in Latin markets and when the beats come back in, the dance floor goes off!”

The next chapter of the record arrives on February 13, when Roger Garcia delivers the first official remix. Sanchez is fully behind it: “Roger Garcia takes ‘Fiera’ into Tribal Latin House territory with his killer remix. I love the elements he has added that brings out the Latin saborrrrr on this banger!”

Despite his legacy status, Sanchez is future-facing in his inspirations. “I'm inspired by unconventional approaches to a familiar framework of house music,” he says. “New sounds, unexpected vocal treatments and warmth in bass and chord elements as well as stripped back, percussive approaches. The unfamiliar, beautifully melded with elements I recognize, continues to inspire me to move my own sound forward.”

With records like ‘Fiera,’ that future increasingly speaks Miami, confident, hybridized, and built for the dance floor.

Read the full interview with Roger Sanchez at The Night Bazaar HERE.