| DJ Sets ::Erick Morillo
N0. 51 RATED DJ IN THE WORLD ON THE
DJ LIST
There is very little, in the world of
entertainment, that the talented Erick Morillo has not turned
his hand to. He is a platinum selling artist and has topped
the charts worldwide as the producer behind Reel 2 Reel’s
hit “I Like To Move It”. He has been responsible
for a bewildering array of dance-floor tracks, under pseudonyms
that include Minister De La Funk, The Dronez (a project alongside
Harry ‘Choo Choo’ Romero and Jose Nunez, which
won the trio the “Remixer of the Year” Award in
2001), RAW, Smooth Touch, RBM, Deep Soul, Club Ultimate and
Li’l Mo Ying Yang amongst others
He has remixed everyone from Whitney Houston to Basement
Jaxx, from the Sneaker Pimps to Macy Gray. He runs the legendary
Subliminal Records empire and has collaborated with the likes
of Puff Daddy, Boy George and the Audio Bullys.
As a high profile DJ, Erick is currently one of the most
in-demand and instantly recognisable in the world. From the
climb-the-walls success of his weekly ‘Sessions’
parties in New York, to hosting events like the annual road-blocking
Subliminal Sessions parties in Miami for the Winter Music
Conference, to his coveted residency at Ministry of Sound
(one of the few US DJs to ever hold one) and of course his
now legendary Subliminal Sessions parties at Pacha, Ibiza.
His prolific DJing schedule has seen him crisscrossing the
globe playing up to a whopping 30 gigs a month, along the
way scooping up endless awards such as “Best International
DJ 2002” and “Best House DJ 1999 / 2001”.
He has also become a familiar television personality through
his appearances on MTV UK and as host of MTV Ibiza two years
in a row whilst starring in a seven part series for the major
UK TV station, Channel 4, which followed him around the world
to the biggest parties and was aired to millions of viewers.
Raised in Colombia, then New Jersey, Erick was weaned on
a musical diet of Latin rhythms, reggae and hip hop. He started
DJing at the age of 11 and after securing himself DJ sets
at several local gigs decided to take a studio engineering
course at the local Centre of Media Arts.
He was soon inducted into the house fraternity through his
friend Marc Anthony (the Salsa King), whilst he was working
with the now legendary Louie Vega and Kenny “Dope”
Gonzalez on “Ride On The Rhythm”. “Louie’s
kinda watched out for me since the beginning, he never really
told me how I should do things, he’s just always been
supportive”.
After somehow scraping together enough equipment to build
his own studio, the young Morillo tentatively started approaching
labels such as Nervous and Strictly Rhythm with his fledgling
productions. This eventually paid off when Strictly picked
up on a track called “The New Anthem”, under the
moniker Reel 2 Reel. Erick quickly followed this release with
the classic “I Like To Move It”, which went platinum
in Holland, gold in the UK, Germany, France and Belgium and
opened the doors for Erick’s first taste of touring
in Europe.
Flush with success but determined to keep his head and music
firmly in the underground (“It’s where I come
from, where I always go back to”) he notched up a pair
of Billboard #1’s with Smooth Touch’s “In
My House” and his sublime collaboration with buddy Louie
Vega, Li’l Mo’Ying Yang’s “Reach”.
In 1997, after spending almost a year of meticulously planning
everything from logos to packaging, Morillo took it that one
step further and launched Subliminal Records with his production
partners Harry Romero and Jose Nunez. Guided by Morillo’s
ear and studio presence, and bolstered by his equally able
team mates, the Subliminal brand has gone on to become synonymous
with a funky, soulful sound that’s as underground as
it is party-ready. “I wanted people to be able to go
into a store, buy a Subliminal track and know that they’ve
got a quality record.”
In 2004 Erick released his first artist album worldwide,
entitled “My World” it featured heavyweight collaborations
from the likes of Puff Daddy, DJ Rap, Audio Bullys, Terra
Deva and even a reunion with the Mad Stuntman. The first single
taken from the album was “Break Down The Doors”
featuring the Audio Bullys and with its success came Erick’s
debut music video, featuring himself, the Audio Bullys and
a cameo by supermodel Naomi Campbell.
2007 has been the year in which Subliminal Sessions 11 has
been released marking the 10th anniversary of the now world
renowned, cutting edge label - Subliminal Records. With over
100 releases under its belt, ranging from full-on radio smashes
like Who Da Funk’s ‘Shiny Disco Balls’ to
underground classics like Ministers de la Funk’s ‘Believe’
to the indispensable Subliminal Sessions compilations, the
label’s catalogue has truly become an industry heavyweight.
Yet this is not all, as sitting alongside this are the label’s
imprints Sondos, Subliminal Soul, Bambossa and SUBUSA which
cater for everything from tough, tribal beats to rock-house
cocktails.
2007’s Ten Years of Subliminal has been celebrated
with a new weekly party which ran for ten weeks over the summer
at Le Palais in Cannes. Alongside this was Erick’s Wednesday
night Subliminal Sessions party at Pacha Ibiza, his all-night
sets at Ministry of Sound in London, Pacha in Barcelona and
Fabrik in Madrid and his parties at Pacha NYC where Erick
is not only resident but also one of the club’s share-holders.
Add to this already hectic schedule dates that see him playing
gigs in Rotterdam, Birmingham and Las Vegas in a single weekend,
touring Australia, hosting a tent at Creamfields UK, headlining
the Ultra Music Festival at The Winter Music Conference, deputising
for Pete Tong on his Friday Night show on BBC Radio 1, playing
five festivals including Global Gathering both in the UK and
in the Ukraine and to top it all, finding yourself a favorite
of a certain pair of princes and playing at the Concert for
Diana after-party at London’s Wembley Arena. And this
is only what he's done so far.
The end of the year will see Erick tour Colombia and Brazil,
play dates across the USA, head over to Dubai and headlining
a huge warehouse rave somewhere under the streets of Manchester.
2008 will be welcomed in his trademark workaholic style; playing
not one, but two different clubs, in two different countries
on New Years Eve; Sensation in Dussledorf followed by Outland
in Rotterdam.
And 2008 Well, who can tell just yet, but if the past few
years are anything to go by, it’s sure to be an action
packed, glamorous, crazy, party adventure.
N0. 51 RATED DJ IN THE WORLD ON 
