Thanksgiving may mean turkey and stuffing for some, but for the crowd that is converging on Miami Beach this coming weekend, they’ll be looking to hit the dance floor to the sounds of some of the biggest DJs in the world.
From Danny Verde to Liza Rodriguez to Tom Stephan, the URGE roster is packed with names that are sure to bring the heat to the dance floors throughout the weekend. I caught up with one of the producers behind the magical URGE Miami Festival weekend, Luis Morera, to chat about the DJ’s spinning, why URGE Miami is a circuit festival like no other, and how attending events like this let people know “we are here to stay”!
Michael Cook: URGE Miami Festival is about to come to Miami once again for Thanksgiving weekend and looks spectacular. Tell me about what you have planned this year for the URGE attendees.
Luis Morera: The weekend consists of six events, the events vary from day to night and there is one closing event that is an after hours; it is the perfect way to close the whole weekend. It consists of electronic music, but we have a variety of artists at different venues around town.
MC: The best part of URGE is that while the circuit vibe is definitely there throughout the weekend, there is definitely a variety of artists being showcased.
LM: Absolutely. This year, we’ve decided to mix it up a little bit. We’ve brought in a DJ, she’s American her name is Alexis Tucci. Her style is disco house, the new trend that is in right now with Gen Z. It is funny how it is going back to the classics! She’s bringing that element of classics, but that element to disco and the little touch of tech house to it as well. The headliner to the entire festival is Roger Sanchez, who is a Grammy-Award winner! We are very happy to have him and Roger is also going to bring some of the anthems and the hits that made him famous in the early 2000s.
MC: Roger Sanchez;’s sound is very anthemic, and you have brought in people like Eddie Martinez and Rick Braile, where some are familiar names and others are newer names to the audiences. It truly offers something for everyone.
LM: There is also a DJ producer that is very hot in the market, Mor Avrahami from Israel. His sound is very current, he has that Offer Nissim kind of vibe. A lot of vocals, very whimsical yet very dancey.
MC: You also have included both Joe Gauthreaux and Dan Slater, both of which you could put simply anywhere and they would be spectacular.
LM: Absolutely. They are both very versatile producers, you can put them daytime or nighttime and they do amazing.
MC: It’s important that we continue to support our community in all areas, and that includes the State of Florida that has been very polarizing politically. I still feel it's crucial that you continue to do events in Florida, don’t you think?
LM: For me, we have gone through many obstacles as a community through the years, and I think this is another one. For us, we need to be unified and be stronger and show them that we are here to stay. No matter what you impose, we are still here and our presence will be visible. It’s terrible what our governor is doing, but the city of Miami Beach is very LGBTQIA friendly, they don’t stand at all with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ policies. We have to keep going.
MC: URGE is important because circuit events have gone on for decades, but you are one of the parties that is truly evolving the brand beyond the entire “pots and pans” sound, while other events may not be doing that. Is that something you did by design?
LM: Absolutely. We are very particular when it comes to booking our DJ’s because like you said, the hardcore sound that is after five or ten minutes banging in your ears doesn’t resonate with us; not anymore. I don’t think it resonates with the crowd, either. Something I have noticed is this, I always take a moment and stand in the corner at one of my events and pay attention to what is going on the dance floor. I notice that the only way people can keep up with that type of music is to do more “things”. There is no way your brains and your body can adjust to that sound for that long a time.
Of course, after they are under that influence at a certain level, they may start doing things that could be a little crazy. For that reason, we are very particular about the DJs we work with. There are certain events and certain cities that do like that sound, and I respect it. We always have a conversation where we tell them that we have a specific way of doing events, but here we don’t want to hear that pots and pans sound all the time.
MC: What is your own origin story of how you started producing events?
LM: I am one of the partners in Score nightclub. It’s myself, Hilton Wolman and Billy Kemp. Billy and I had Score, and we became very close with Hilton, so we decided to partner up and create a brand together, and we created URGE.
MC: Was the new venture everything you expected and more?
LM: You know, there are some events that require more work than others. I have to say when we had the nightclub, it was a little bit easier in terms of marketing because we had the venue to see as a billboard for our events. Now that there is no venue, we have to find other sources and right now social media is so big.
To be honest, we have been doing it for so long, we are kind of used to it. Every venue that we go into the do an event, we end up doing management stuff and I end up saying to myself “this isn’t even my club, and I'm taking care of bartenders making sure they’re counting the money properly, etc”!
MC: When someone attends one of your events, what is the feeling you want them to have when they are there at the moment experiencing what you’ve put together?
LM: I want them to feel like they are part of it. I want their emotions to be part of the party. Our party, our events, I have always paid attention to the customer and to make sure they are really feeling it. I don’t just pay attention to a stage, I like when it attacks all the senses. Ultimately, we are doing this for them to make sure that they have a good time, and we want to make sure that they keep coming back!
For more information on URGE Miami Thanksgiving Festival check out their website urgemiami.com.
