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.
myspace/ericmorillo
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