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The eyes of the electronic music world converge on South Florida each March as Winter Music Conference and Ultra Music Festival take over Downtown Miami. On this week’s episode of Midweek Cafecito, New Times’ culture and music podcast, we speak with two figures whose histories with the conference — and the dance music scene at large — run deep.
First, music editor Flor Franceschetti interviews Junior Sanchez, a DJ and prolific remixer known for his work with Gorillaz, Madonna, and Shakira, among many, many others. He tells us about his proudest moment in music (remixing Gorillaz’s “Dare”) and the pain of parting with part of his vinyl collection. Here are some highlights:
On turning down remixes for artists he loves:
“I’ve been lucky enough to only work with artists I respect and admire. I’ve said no to a lot of projects…Certain things shouldn’t be remixed.”
On the remix he had to turn down:
“There was a request for me to do ‘Jóga.’ I’d always wanted to remix Björk. It was a passion of mine…For me to touch that song would be a dishonor for me. I don’t know how to reinterpret perfection.”
On Remixing Gorillaz’s “Dare”:
“The version I did was the actual version that was played in the United States as the commercial release.”
In the episode’s second interview, culture editor Celia Almeida chats with WeGroup’s David Ireland about WMC’s return, its future ambitions, and where the industry at large is headed next.
On his earliest WMC memories:
“I was so broke I couldn’t even get into WMC.”
On moving the conference to Downtown Miami:
“The struggle with [Miami] Beach for us was that it was kind of out of the way — the nightclubs on the Beach that used to be there just kind of started disappearing, so the whole culture that was driving WMC on the Beach started moving to the other side of the Causeway.”
On tackling AI at WMC:
“We try to stay away from it as, like, prompting to create music, but more about how you use it as a tool, because you can frame AI in a really negative way, and it’s a controversial topic.”
This episode was recorded at the Kimpton Epic Hotel in Downtown Miami during Winter Music Conference on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Grab a cafecito and watch it now on YouTube (below), or listen on the go with Spotify.
