ERICK MORILLO Biography
PRODUCER / DJ / REMIXER


A jack of all and master of many could be Erick Morillo’s motto. As a producer, he has churned out tracks under a bewildering array of pseudonyms (Ministers De la Funk, Pianoheadz, RAW, Smooth Touch, RBM, Deep Soul, Club Ultimate and Li’l Mo Ying Yang to name but some). As a DJ, he has played the world over from his base in Jersey, to Ibiza, Greece and beyond. Then there’s his coveted residency at Ministry of Sound, the first American to secure this spot since Tony Humphries back in 1992; and, for whom, he has released 2 compilation CD’s. For good measures he’s also remixed Whitney Houston, Crystal Waters, Jocelyn Brown, Basement Jaxx, Madison Avenue, Enrique Inglesias, and so many more. And then, of course, there’s a small matter of one of the biggest selling dance acts of all time. Reel 2 Real. Yep, Erick Morillo is a busy guy.

Born in New York and raised in Colombia and Union City, New Jersey. Morillo has been a DJ since the age of twelve, entranced by the turntable trickery of the masters. Shortly after, Morillo got his first break whilst spinning at Shanghai Reds in nearby Weehawken, when reggae don El General happened to hear a re-edit Morillo had done of Nardo Ranks “Burrup”. So impressed was General with the spunky Latino in the booth, that he invited him to contribute a track to his next album. “To be honest,” recalls Erick, “up until that point I never saw myself as a producer. I’d done re-edits and that was that. “Muevelo,” the product of the pair’s liaison, wound up attaining platinum and being named Billboard’s Latin Single of the year in 1992 (Morillo won the same award in 1997 with “Muevela La Cadera” Reel 2 Real featuring Proyecto Uno).

Morillo was introduced to the house fraternity through his friend Marc Anthony (the Salsa King), then working with Louie Vega and Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez on a future anthem: “Ride On The Rhythm”. “Louie’s kind of watched out for me since the beginning. He never told me how I should do anything, but he’s just been so supportive. The only thing he ever said to me was, “Erick focus more on vocals.”

The studio Erick had begged, stolen or borrowed to build (and that loan from his grandmother didn’t harm the cause either) started churning out the house tracks. Until one day he turned up at Strictly Rhythm, the hottest label in New York with something called “The New Anthem” by an act called Reel 2 Reel. Pizzaro, newly ensconced as A&R at Strictly, snapped it up (she also gave him his nickname “More” because he always delivered enough mixes to fill a triple album). With “I Like To Move It”, Reel 2 Reel went ballistic. Growing by stealth on the underground, “I Like To Move It” wound up in pop charts across Europe and Asia (and the sales in the US weren’t to be sniffed at either). It was finally certified platinum in Holland, and gold in the UK, Germany, France, Belgium and Australia. It also gave him the chance to travel to Europe for the first time.

Flush from the 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 hit big with a pair of Billboard #1’s in the shape of Smooth Touch’s “In My House” and his sublime collaboration with buddy Louie Vega, Li’l Mo’ Ying Yang’s “Reach”. “Actually, we’d been out together for the evening,” says Erick, “we’d had some glasses of wine and we came down to the studio about midnight and just went for it.

In 1997, after many months gestation, Subliminal crashed on to the scene with the club smash by Constipated Monkeys, a twisted slice of filtered disco-funk. Morillo’s view of what a label should be is precise down to the smallest detail. “We spent eight months getting everything right. Getting the logo right, getting the design just so. We didn’t want to look like any other US label, that’s why we went for the picture jackets. I want the label to be known for the quality music, so you can go into the store, buy a Subliminal record and know that you’ve got a quality record.”

The quality has been reinforced by a slew of club hits, including Octahvia’s “In My Life”, Da Mob featuring Jocelyn Brown’s “Fun”, Pete Heller’s Big Love, and Ministers De la Funk featuring Jocelyn Brown “Believe” - each one a distinct take that reflects Morillo’s vision, neither New York garage, nor European progressive, but incorporating elements of both. And, on top of his Ministry residency, he won Best House DJ award at the 1998 Ibiza DJ award, as well as being nominated for Best International DJ in the Muzik awards 1998, 1999 and 2000 and winning best independent label for 2 years running at the 2000 Muzik awards. Donning numerous magazine covers in Europe, Erick’s popularity increased as MTV made use of his natural presenting skills as he stood in for various presenters and hosted specials in Miami, the Ibiza Festival in 1999 & 2000.

Musically, Morillo embarked on yet another journey. Joined by label mates, Jose Nunez and Harry ‘Choo Choo’ Romero, the trio formed “The Dronez” and produced some of the most cutting edge remixes for artists such as Whitney Houston, Jocelyn Brown, Diana Ross, DJ Rap, The Sneaker Pimps, Basement Jaxx, and Mystic 3. In between producing, remixing, running an ever-expanding label (he has recently created a home for deeper and darker sounds on Subliminal offshoot “Sondos”, and the self-explanatory “Subliminal Soul”) and DJing all over the world, he can also be found in the studio working on a new album penciled in for an late 2002 release.

Following the red hot reception of his “Subliminal Sessions Vol. 1 and 3”, Erick’s next compilation “Subliminal Sessions 5” in the series is set for June 30, 2003 release. As well as Subliminal Sessions residencies in the US and UK, this summer sees Erick continuing his Wednesday‘s at Pacha Ibiza, which garnered the award for Best Ibiza Party at this year’s Muzik Awards. Already a familiar television personality with appearances on MTV UK and host of UK’s 2001 Dancestar Awards, in production is Erick’s seven part series that follows him around the world to the biggest parties and will air throughout the year to millions of viewers on Channel 4.

Erick is currently in the studio working on his debut album due out on Subliminal Records late 2003.