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He Still Moves It - Erick Morillo goes Back To Basics!
Superman Erick ‘Mono brow’ Morillo and his sexy ‘Subliminal Sessions’ are back for another scorching 2003 season in Ibiza. With unbelievable house parties each Wednesday at Pacha for the third year running and commencing June 18th, opening night sets the pace with resident Erick Morillo and label mate Harry 'Choo Choo' Romero spinning plus special live guest (Sir) Robert Owens taking it back! Morillo has taken the winter off to do his debut artist album, but is now looking at a busy DJ schedule ahead. Erick and his Subliminal/Sondos/Subusa/Subliminal Soul music producing squads continue to dominate dance floors and airwaves worldwide.
So in the run up to all this summer fun, Lisa Loco snatched some valuable time from the incredibly prolific DJ/producer and record label entrepreneur Morillo to see what’s cooking, Subliminal style this summer as he span in Leeds one more time at Dave Beer's legendary Back To Basics club night…
Lisa Loco: Your DJ schedule looks formidable, you must have thought of syndicated interviews?
Erick Morillo: "Yeah well we looked into that, but then there’s always this one magazine that wants that elusive exclusive one on one you know the type! I think we’re trying for the radio stations maybe just giving out the one interview, but in print that doesn’t always work…"
LL: What’s an interesting question to be asked?
EM: "I guess ‘do I see DJing as an art form?’ maybe…"
LL: That’s a good one, I imagine you’re a food artist (cook) too huh?
"EM: "I do cook a lot of Spanish food, beans, dates and fish I love. I also cook Italian food, for me good food is so important. The best things in life are obviously love, money, sex and great food! That’s really my thing, a pleasure in life, going out to restaurants and trying new food / and or cooking it at home…"
LL: What are your thoughts on the global DJ circuit/economy at present?
EM: "I know a lot of clubs are going through it at the moment, but I only see it as the fat getting trimmed away from the industry. I honestly think that for a long time people were kinda’ taking advantage of the scene, everyone was a DJ/producer/promoter for a while. Now I think the bubble’s burst, it’s like sieving, sand will flow through allowing the stones to shine! I think it’s a necessary and good thing for the industry. People say club land is dying but I don’t believe that’s true, cream will always rise to the top! The dance scene got raped and hurt but now I think stars will shine and others will fall by the wayside!"
LL: You already knew P Diddy before Miami & love the hip - house merger?
EM: "I met him a few years back and then he came to a big gig I did at Space, Ibiza two years ago. He was really taken aback by the effect house music had on the crowd, his previous experience of such a reaction to dance music was seeing hard trance played by DJ’s in Miami clubs. So since then we’ve had a bond, it’s interesting to see what he’s doing with putting this dance album together. I think that especially in America we need people like him to break dance music through because it’s not gonna come up from the underground. MTV and US radio stations won’t support house because they don’t see it as a major ‘money-maker’ for them. So people (or so-called names) like P Diddy can only help the dance music cause and educate people about ‘clubbing’ culture and the music played by DJ’s be it techno and trance or garage and house!"
LL: Do you think Ibiza is passé or is the best yet to come?
EM: "Hell no! I think people who say that are too old and don’t even go anymore. For all the young kids going there for the first time it will be an amazing experience, but I know from the programs I’ve seen in the UK, like ‘Ibiza Uncovered’ that it’s sometimes portrayed as a place with lager louts throwing up everywhere! Well it’s not all like that - Ibiza is awesome! You have the best clubs in the world and the best (and most informed) clubbers in the world - it’s club culture at its very best and then you have the beautiful beaches and the serenity of the island. I love to spend my summer’s there, using it as a base for my residency every Wednesday at Pacha! I’m also doing Space so I feel like the luckiest guy in the world, playing the closing and birthday parties of the best day club in the world! Those who say Ibiza is over just don’t have a clue, I know it gets a little too packed sometimes over there but that’s just what happens when something gets popular - but speaking as a DJ it’s still the best place in the world to play!"
LL: How is the ‘What Goes Around’ label going?
EM: "It’s going real well with only one release so far and another just out now on promo. It’s really cool to have this grouping of myself, Dave Beer, Paul Woolford & Yousef working out, Paul is so talented as a producer and has material out under a range of guises! We have two releases in the pipeline, one is Yousef’s record called ‘Action’. Wooly and Yousef have this totally different sound to what I do so it’s a different outlet and view for me!"
LL: What do you enjoy when you’re not working?
EM: "Hey I’m a workaholic! I got to where I am by the way I am, that’s what I do. I don’t know how to relax and even when I’m relaxing my brains thinking about strategies and ideas of how to accomplish my goals, so that’s how it is. This year is going to be my busiest year for DJing, flying every other day and doing gigs, sometimes doing three countries in a day! I’m really going for it right now because who knows if this amazing opportunity will last, I’m getting paid to do what I love so for me it’s ideal. It also lets me promote my current projects like the compilation and residencies - but overall I can’t relax! Sometimes I go out to dinner or take a little vacation like I did two years ago in Hawaii… It was a great week, but you know having a cell phone is an addiction! But I don’t wanna relax because I’m young still, right now is about accomplishing what I want to achieve".
LL: So when do you think you’ll ‘self actualise’ or sit back and chill?
EM: "Maybe in a couple of years… I’ve reached the DJ goals I wanted for myself and now the new thing is re-establishing myself as an artist. The artist album is due out probably January 2004, it’s already finished but we’re gonna work a few singles off that soon, I’m real excited. There are some terrific collaboration works on there and that’s the next thing for me as well - to go out on tour with a live band. Who knows where I’ll go next, I still got that acting bug inside me too, so we’ll see! But 2003 is the one for my DJing, after this I’ll start to slow down on it to maybe two gigs a month and so on I don’t wanna be DJing into my 40’s, I think you miss out on ‘home’ stuff, I would like to start a family in the future…"
LL: What are your big Ibiza tunes this year?
EM: "Hey we got a whole bunch of them. Personally I believe Romero is gonna shine this summer, as we’ve got Harry’s album and especially the cut he did with Robert Owens, ‘I Go Back’ which is doing the business, with mixes coming up from Josh Wink and Todd Terry. Oh and there’s another sick track with Shawnee Taylor, ‘Be The One’ which we’re promoting this summer! Then E Funk’s ‘Crazy’ is one too… I’ll be playing every Wednesday at Pacha so come hear them for yourself!"
LL: Tell us about your latest mix album, Sessions 5?
EM: "I wanted to play some classics as when I spin live the kids come up and ask me ‘what’s this and when’s it out?’ about tracks that are ten years old. Last night was the first time for years I’ve played ‘I Like To Move It’ and the crowd went off! On the compilation I wanted to give an insight into my own past, educate the scene’s youngsters and remind the older house heads where we all came from…It’s released July!"
For further information see www.SubliminalRecords.com.
Our extended thanks to Erick Morillo and the lovely Lisa Loco for this interview, to find out more about what Lisa's up to check out www.LisaLoco.co.uk - to quote the lady herself 'Sweet!'.
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