Strictly Rhythm

STRICTLY MEETS... ERICK MORILLO

Strictly's Phil Cheeseman catches up with Erick Morillo in London as he recently touched down during production of the latest mix album. Here's the full low-down on his reunion with the label as we also find out where the original Strictly superstar's at right now.

If the world of club music is lacking in characters and mavericks, Erick Morillo is one of the few exceptions. One of the world's most in-demand house DJs, his energetic sets are marked out by a personal performance that edges into theatre. His rapacious enthusiasm and drive are legendary.

When a young Morillo arrived at Strictly Rhythm in the early 1990s, the label was already a force on the international club scene. Demos from both new and established producers landed hourly on A&R Gladys Pizarro's desk, jostling with new productions from an inner coterie who dominated the label's output. But Pizarro wasn't one to stick to the big names alone and she quickly spotted this pushy kid's potential, handing him the nickname 'More', both a play on his name and a droll recognition of his habit of presenting seemingly endless mixes of each new title.
Morillo was quick to repay the confidence. His prolific output spanned many alter egos and production partners but he didn't release a record on any other label until he founded his own Subliminal Records imprint in 1997. Of those early productions, it was the collaboration with Trinidadian toaster the Mad Stuntman that was to prove the most fruitful. Reel 2 Real's The New Anthem, a jokey skit about the mysterious 'funky budda' was quickly followed by Go On Move, a record that honed both the Stuntman's cartoon vocal style and a production sound that mixed New York beats with a European edge. The next record was the breakout: I Like To Move It, a huge international crossover hit that's enjoyed a recent renaissance thanks to its inclusion in the soundtrack to the film Madagascar.

But six chart singles and two albums later, Morillo found himself at a crossroads. The journey from the underground to the pop mainstream is usually a one-way ticket and for all but a tiny handful of dance acts, the ticket is short-dated. Sensing that his real passion was for clubs and Djing ahead of being a pop star he took the bold step of wrapping up Reel 2 Real and reinventing himself as a club DJ, a new direction that would take in his own imprint, Subliminal, and new production partners Harry Choo Choo Romero and Jose Nunez. Subliminal quickly became identified with a new style of house based on high-octane filtered disco grooves and Morillo had begun the trajectory to his contemporary status.

Now in 2009 the prodigal son is back where it all began for him; Strictly Rhythm. Launching into the mix with characteristic energy, Morillo joins the dots between the past, present and future, blending brand new mixes of Strictly benchmarks like Underground Solution's Luv Dancin' (Mike Dominico) and Hardrive's Deep Inside (Harry Choo Choo) with big tunes by Mark Knight & Funkagenda (The Man With The Red Face) and cutting edge club grooves by Chris Montana (Speed Of Life) and Leventina (Nightshift). After tearing it up over two sessions, we're then treated to Morillo's personal Strictly classics selection, a blend of the sweet vocals (South St Player's Who Keeps Changing Your Mind and Aly-us' Follow Me) and tough tracks (Lil Mo Yin Yang's Reach and Joint Venture's Masterblaster) that's been part of his thing from the beginning.



Now based mainly in Miami, Morillo is a member of an elite band of globetrotting DJs who traverse the world on a weekly basis.

'In the summer time I live in Ibiza, from the beginning of June to the end of September, then in the winter I go back and forth between New York and Miami, but Miami is my base' he explains.

'I'm lucky. I'm living what they say is the dream. I started DJing when I was 11, because I loved music, and then it turned into something that people actually pay me for. Now I travel around the world having reached a level of success where I can travel on private planes and own homes and really live the dream. I guess that's the best way to describe it. In Miami I hang out with a lot of different people. I'm not really a name dropper, I'll just say that I have quite the colorful cast of friends, especially in Miami. The good thing about Miami is that everyone is in Miami sooner or later, whether it's models or celebrities, everybody is always coming into town. It's late nights and there is always something going on. You know, pool parties at like 3 or 4 in the morning, then waking up and making music. I'm like a big little kid.'

As one of house music's third wavers, Morillo occupies a key position in the genre's trajectory; old enough to know the history but still surfing the ever-changing styles. How does he feel about the state of the house nation?

'I really think that house music is growing as a genre in the sense that all the kids that were listening to trance when they were 14, 15, and 16, when trance was the biggest thing, have now grown up and have jobs. You can't really listen to that music all the time so a lot of their musical tastes will grow and what they will grow into is usually either dance, or now what they are calling minimal. And it's all come together. whether it's trance, house, minimal, it's all come together and at the end of the day it is house music, using different elements of those styles, whatever you want to call it.

'Take a place like South America, I was at Creamfields Argentina, playing to 65,000 people, that's just amazing. And it just keeps growing every year. You take somewhere like Europe, or in England where dance music has been dominant since the late 80's early 90's and it hit the scene really early on. Everywhere else around the world it just seems to be growing and growing. Take Eastern Europe where they are just coming out of their, I don't want to say communism, but their very constrict lifestyles and they're accepting this music and are unbelievably in love with it. Places like South America, where it's coming through and a lot of clubs are coming through. In the last three years in Brazil they have opened three Pacha clubs which is phenomenal. I definitely see it growing and I think that it will only get bigger and bigger.

'Even in America it's not commercial, it's not on radio, it's not on MTV but the clubs are more packed than ever, it's not just the big cities anymore. Now it's your Ohios, your Denvers, places that are not necessarily cosmopolitan. Big cities have big clubs pulling in over 2000 people every night. It's really taken off.'

Despite the non-stop party lifestyle, Morillo has always had the reputation of being serious about his work to a fanatical degree. Aren't the two things contradictory?

'I've been a workaholic since I was 21! Since I Like To Move It and the success that record had, and not having a manager and not having an agent, I took it on myself and managed the group and the band and made decisions. It is sort of overwhelming. Taking on the DJing, travelling 52 weekends out of the year, leaving on Thursday night, coming back on Sunday night, Monday morning being in the office and running a business. It's definitely hard work.

'But my attitude has been always about rocking a party. Back when I started in '92, especially here in England it was about being cool and about playing the coolest, latest records. All the magazines were about the coolest DJs who played the latest records. For me that was not what it was about, for me it was about rocking the crowd and being consistently good at every club that I would play. I made sure that people would go 'Wow! What a party!' This played a key role in why I am still at the top after 17 years of DJing. Not many people can say that. Many DJs can say they have been around but they can't say that they are still at the top after this many years. A lot of DJs have come and gone, faded into the background. That's why I am playing main stages in big festivals, not just doing the dance tents.
Strictly Erick Morillo is the first time Erick has worked again with the label he started his career with since he left with Subliminal in the late 90's. What does he feel about the label and the first fruit of the reunion?

'Strictly was the only label that back in the day that you didn't need to listen to the record, you went into the store and saw Strictly had a new release and you would take it. People like Louie Vega came through there, Todd Terry, Kenny Dope. It was the label to be on if you were into house music. For me, it was the first label I wanted to be a part of when I started making music. Its image with the bricks and graffiti, it was about what house music was. Until Strictly came along there were many different labels especially from Chicago, but Strictly was the one label that pulled it all together for the masses around the world. Before that it was a very niche scene, New York, Chicago, Strictly Rhythm just pulled it all together. It is the model that I tried to recreate when I started my label. It was about creating an identity and winning over the hearts and the confidence of the DJ's, and the stores. So that whenever your record came into the store, people would say there is the new whatever. Strictly was how I wanted my label to be.

'I'm really happy with the selection of tracks on the mix. For me normally when I do a CD, the first CD is mostly vocally and housey, then the second CD gets tougher and darker, but now the music has come all together, it's like house mixed with trance mixed with minimal, it has a little bit of everything. It's my favourite compilation I have done.

'There are about 4 exclusives – there's a Luv Dancin' (Underground Solution) remix that is an exclusive, Harry Choo Choo Romero did a remix of Deep Inside (Hardrive) that's also an exclusive and there are some upfront tracks that will be released about the time of the compilation. There are some remakes of classics, a little bit of everything, really sexy, and I think that is the key. It's one of those CDs the girls are gonna love as well as the guys. I'm really happy with it and I think everyone will love it. For me it's the best Strictly compilation to date, hands down and I've heard them all. This is not a catalogue CD, the ones in the past have really focused on what Strictly was, this takes that and kind of remixes it, and then it's a lot of upfront tracks, so its kind of not what Strictly was, but where Strictly is going.

Welcome back.

Strictly... Erick Morillo
Released Monday 23 Febuary 2009
Album Formats: 3XCD / DOWNLOAD

Additional Formats: CD EP / 2 x 12''s available soon
Following the main album release, there will be an unmixed DJ-friendly CD EP / 2 x 12'' release of exclusive tracks from the album.

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