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Erick Morillo would not mind himself being described as an ambitious jet setting entrepreneur, an international DJ and producer who loves what he does. He lives the rock and roll lifestyle, surrounded by hot girls, fast cars and international parties. He also is proud of 'that one record', the record that everyone wants to show that they have made it and oh boy does he have that record. But this success comes at a price, his life is also steeped in hard work; he is a self confessed workaholic who has sacrificed a great deal to get where he wanted to be, putting his own private life on the back burner. He has had a career that has spanned the best part of 20 years where he has carefully trodden the line between commercial success and underground credibility. He is one of those rare artists that has managed to obtain the best of both worlds. Erick took some time out of his almost jammed up schedule to tell us about what he's up to and about his new Strictly Morillo compilation on Strictly Rhythm...

Q: Kicking things off, with such a busy schedule, where do you spend most of your time now?

Erick Morillo: It really depends. I would say I spend most of my time on a plane. 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.

Q: In Miami and in New York, who would you say were your most bling friends, as in celebrities, anybody of interest?

Erick Morillo: 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 its models, or its celebrities, everybody is always coming into town. I kind of live a dream type lifestyle because its 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.

Q: So really, it's like a rock and roll lifestyle?

Erick Morillo: It is. But rock and roll is old skool, that's the nineties. It's a house lifestyle really.

Q: Well what I would like to find out is how you perceive your actual lifestyle. Is it about fast cars and private jets... Is it really like that or are you really just a regular guy?

Erick Morillo: My lifestyle... well I'm a very lucky person. As I said, I'm living what they say is the dream. I started DJ'ing 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.

Q: Coming on to house music. House has been around for over 20 years now. Do you think it is pulling in new blood, do you think that there are young kids being captivated by it and coming through?

Erick Morillo: 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, 16, when trance was the biggest thing. They 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 it minimal. And its all come together, whether its trance, house, minimal, its 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 played there two weeks ago. I did 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 3 Pacha's which is phenomenal. I definitely see it growing and I think that it will only get bigger and bigger.

Q: Do you think it is more of a universal global sound now?

Erick Morillo: Absolutely, even in America its not commercial, its not on radio, its not on MTV but the clubs are more packed than ever, its not just the big cities anymore. Now it's your Ohio's, your Denver's, places that are not necessarily cosmopolitan. Big cities have big clubs pulling in over 2000 people every night so it's really taken off.

Q: You've talked about doing a gig in South America in front of 65000 strong... What does that feel like?

Erick Morillo: That was probably the second biggest crowd that I have played to. The biggest crowd I ever played to was actually in England. It was at the Leeds Love Parade. They did it in a park and there were 75000 people in front of that stage and that was pretty amazing. The rush that you get from playing in front of a massive crowd like that, especially when its going off, when you connect, its kind of like having an orgasm. At first it's very nerve racking, you're nervous with butterflies in your stomach, but once you get out and connect with the crowd it's absolutely phenomenal. It's a high, I played Argentina three weeks ago in front of 40000 people and the energy was amazing. Everybody was jumping up and down going crazy, I was walking on air for the next two days. It was an incredible high and the adrenalin that you get is absolutely unbelievable.

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Q: What would be the first record that you would play in front of a crowd like that?

Erick Morillo: That particular night I played a new remix of Calabria, it's really edgy, very techy, it drops out and all of a sudden that horn comes out and the place just went absolutely ballistic. And from right there I was like ok, I got 'em, lets go! Truly when I play I always like to start with a big record, not an obvious record, something that is going to catch them and get them right away. Once you have them then you can play with them. It's kind of like sex.

Q: I can only imagine... To basically sum it up, you own a record label, you are an international DJ and you have numerous other business interests. How did you get where you are, was it luck or hard work?

Erick Morillo: I think it is a combination of both, it's definitely hard work though, and I have been a workaholic since I was 21. Since 'I like to move it' and the success that that record had, and not having a manager and not having an agent, I take that on upon myself and manage the group and the band and make 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. I always believe that 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 DJ's 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 very key role in why I am still at the top after 17 years of DJing. Not many people can say that. Many DJ's 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.

Q: So that's the secret of your success... Rock The Crowd?

Erick Morillo: For me as a DJ I have always walked the fine line between what is commercial and what's underground. Just like when I make music, when 'I like to move it' first came out everybody was playing it, every DJ no matter how underground, they were playing it. Granted once it took off and your grandmother knew the song that wasn't cool anymore. For me it's possible to go back and forth from the commercial to the credible without being cheesy and keeping your credibility. That's the secret of my success.

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Q: How do you feel about "I Like To Move It" today?

Erick Morillo: I can't believe it's still going, 17, 18 years down the line. It's in the Madagascar movie, McDonalds just picked it up for a national campaign in the US, Chrysler just picked it up for a national campaign, and it's just going and going. It's generated so much income in the last two years that I am flabbergasted. It's one of those records that you say in the music industry 'you need one record and if you have one record you have it made - it's that record'. For me it has opened so many doors, it has introduced me to the DJ culture in the UK, it brought me here and got me to play at the Ministry of Sound. I am a very lucky person to have created such a masterpiece as you will. So every time I think about it, it makes me tingle.

Q: Yea, it must be an awesome feeling to get something like that. Moving onto Strictly Rhythm. What were some of your memories from that time?

Erick Morillo: Strictly was the first label that introduced test pressings and vinyl promos. There was no such thing as that before Strictly Rhythm. It was the only label that back in the day you didn't need to listen to the record, you went into the store and saw Strictly had a new record - and you would take it. People like Louie Vega came through there, Todd Terry, Kenny dope. It was the label if you were into house music to be on.
For me, it was the first label I wanted to be a part of when I started making house 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, 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 a new. Strictly was how I wanted my label to be...

Q: Did Subliminal come out of the Strictly Rhythm?

Erick Morillo: Absolutely, Mark Finkelstein who is the owner of Strictly Rhythm is my business mentor. I would literally go into his office and sit there for four hours at a time while he is taking care of business and just watch. I was this 21 year old kid; all this success, "I like to move it" was taking over. I couldn't get a manager as all the big managers were like 'you're a one hit wonder' and all the little managers were like... "what do I need you for?" He was my mentor and Strictly Rhythm was the label to be. Mark Finkelstein pushed me to starting a label. I was like what do I need a label for?
But at one point I was managing different DJ's, DJ Sneak, Junior Sanchez, Harry Romero, Jose Nunez, so I thought maybe it was time. So I became engulfed in a model that followed a Strictly Rhythm way of doing business.
I think we achieved what we wanted with Subliminal, we didn't create disco filtered house, but we certainly took it to the next level to where it was called 'The Subliminal Sound'. It was like we created our own genre of music within what we were doing, the filtered disco thing, sneak was more known for that but we kind of took it and started putting vocals on top of it. Once we grew to that level, everyone started to give us records and we were doing 4 records a month, and for us that were a lot of records. To this day we have the Subliminal logo and the Subliminal brand that still attracts people to our events. It's one of the brands that people recognize in dance music.

Q: Now moving onto your new Strictly Compilation, you've selected the tracks, you've mixed it, what's it sounding like?

Erick Morillo: It's very sexy, I am really happy with the selection of tracks. 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, its like house, mixed with trance, mixed with minimal, it has a little bit of everything. It's my favorite compilation I have done - since probably Subliminal Sessions 9.

Q: Is it a mixture of upfront tracks as well as Classics?

Erick Morillo: There are about 4 exclusives, there is a love dancing rework that is an exclusive, Harry Choo Choo Romero did a remix of Deep Inside - Hardrive that is another exclusive, 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 CD's 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 its allot of upfront tracks, so its kind of not what Strictly was, but where Strictly is going.

Q: Yea, it is an awesome compilation. So any chance of another Morillo album?

Erick Morillo: Not yet, I think the industry is a little uncertain at the minute. I think the way forward in Dance music today is putting out singles. Albums are difficult to put on because punters do not know artists or vocalists, they only know DJs. And to commit to 6 months, 8 months or a year to finish an album is huge considering the state of the music industry. So for me, it's more about EP's and singles, and that's where it's at.

Q: Are there any particular projects that you are working on at the moment?

Erick Morillo: Absolutely, I'm mean I have a single coming out with Deborah Cooper which is called 'I Get Lifted', and that's coming out right after music conference. It's a record I produced with Harry Romero and Jose Nunez. Then I also have a record with Duane Harden called 'I Feel Love', that's out around the same time. I also have a record out with Richard Grey. There are a lot of projects on the go, if anyone wants to know what's going visit my website or my Facebook page, only if you're a hot girl, only joking! No I'm not!

Q: Haha, well can't wait to hear what you've got planned. You've done a lot but i've got to ask, where is there to go from here?

Erick Morillo: I'm a workaholic, setting new goals for myself, I am even taking acting lessons now. I am also pushing the record label and the publishing label as far as I can take them. It's in me to work, not sleeping some nights.