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Published on 5/1/08
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Erick Morillo likes to laugh—a lot. Nearly every proclamation, every phrase he utters is punctuated by a hearty, genuine-sounding guffaw. And why shouldn’t he be chipper? As a DJ, producer, remixer and head honcho of the Subliminal label, the house-music superstar has got the golden touch. Bursting onto the scene under the name Reel 2 Reel with the massive (everywhere except the U.S.) 1993 hit “I Like to Move It,” Morillo quickly rose through the ranks of club-anthem jocks and has managed to maintain his footing on the top tier ever since. The international dance-music press refers to him as “the King of Ibiza,” he hobnobs with P. Diddy and Tommy Lee, he’s part owner of premier NYC megaclub Pacha—and on top of all that, Subliminal is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a big hoedown on Wednesday 21. What could possibly keep him from laughing?
Here’s what: mention that to some people in the biz, his dalliances with the likes of Diddy—with whom he’s released a number of tracks—could maybe, just possibly, be considered a sellout. “I think people who say you can’t do things like that are really closed-minded, and don’t really care about the industry,” Morillo nearly bellows. “This is the only business in the world where the minute you do something popular, people start saying bad things about you. What, do they want dance music to disappear? The only way the dance-music industry is going to survive is by attracting people who aren’t already into it, like hip-hop people or rock people. I’m trying to take things to the next level—without doing anything cheesy, hopefully. So yeah, that kind of stuff really bugs me.”
But talk of Subliminal, which specializes in a proudly rude and sometimes crude peak-time sound, and Pacha, a venue that thrives on precisely that sound, brings Morillo back to a happier place. “Just having a record label at all nowadays, considering the way the business is, is a miracle, let alone one that’s lasted this long,” he says. “And Pacha—well, ha ha, we’ve certainly outlasted the competition! [He’s referring to shuttered superclubs Crobar and Spirit.] That’s because we did things right from the beginning. One of our competitors made the mistake of locking down all the available DJs by offering them more money—more than they could afford—to play there and nowhere else. What kind of strategy is that? Ha ha! At Pacha, we figured if we did things right, DJs would want to play there, whatever the money situation was. The sound system is incredible, the lights are right, the room is great, the staff is good—little by little, DJs realized that this is the place.”
Lest one get the impression that Morillo, however personable he may seem, is nothing more than a hardheaded businessman, there’s his reputation as a bit of an international party boy to address. “A bit?!” he shouts. “I must not be doing my job then! But in reality, I don’t party all the time. I pick and choose my battles, and I never, ever let it affect my job. I’ve seen a lot of people just lose it—you’re surrounded by girls and drugs and all that stuff—but if you are smart, you can have fun and still do the work.”
And it is hard work to stay at the top as long as Morillo has—not that he minds. “Are you kidding me?” he asks. “They pay me to do what I love. What could be bad about that? Especially since I’m at the point where I can be really selective in the gigs that I take. I know where I’m gonna have fun, and I know where I’m not gonna have fun, and I would say around 95 percent of my gigs are where I’m gonna have fun,” he says. “The rest are for the money. Ha!”
Pacha: Ten Years of Subliminal is Wed 21.
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