Nightlife

The Weekly Interview: Erick Morillo, ready to make his debut at XS

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Erick Morillo has played just about every club in Las Vegas in the last two decades, but his first gig at XS is November 14.

It was July, just getting into the deep end of summer, and I decided to go dayclub hopping on a Friday. I actually made it to three different Vegas pool clubs, each of them drenched with fiery sun, throbbing with loud music and painted with smiling, nearly naked people. I hit Encore Beach Club first, where Diplo was headlining, and it was smash-packed—the ridiculously huge party it always is. I didn’t want to leave, but I had promised myself I’d take in some different vibes that day, so I rolled to SLS’ Foxtail Pool Club—a much smaller party. Not so many people. Very little dancing, a lot more floating and chilling. But oh my god, the groove. It was thick and hypnotic, deep and primal. It was fast and slow at the same time; it was moving but taking its sweet time. As I observed from the bar and sipped icy vodka with a lot of lime, I couldn’t help but wish for this music at the other party. That would have been something.

The DJ that day was Erick Morillo, a house music hero who’s been making dancefloors move for nearly 25 years. I caught up with him this week—he was in LA taking a break from a studio session—to talk about his first gig at Encore’s XS this weekend, playing Vegas then and now, rediscovering his love for music and a lot more.

You’ve played just about everywhere in Las Vegas so it’s hard to believe this is your first time at XS. I’ve been going there for a long time. I remember the first time I went, the DJ booth was like a little hole. I thought it was a service space for the bar backs to put drinks when people were done. I said to Jesse [Waits], “What the f*ck is this? Is this how you treat DJs?” I told him he had to create a real stage, and then when he did, he said it was the best thing he ever did.

But I’m really looking forward to playing there because it’s a place where, regardless of who’s playing, it’s always packed. It is the experience. When you build such a great culture of people going there, you just know it’s going to be a good night every time. People know when they’re in Vegas they gotta stop by XS, it doesn’t matter who’s there.

How many years have you been playing Vegas? Oh man … I don’t want to show my age! (laughs) I think the first time was ’94, at the Luxor.

When I saw you this summer at Foxtail—right after I was at Encore Beach Club—I realized there’s a lot more variety in the Vegas club scene than it gets credit for. Oh yeah. About seven or eight years ago, I started doing Tao, the main room, on Saturday, then I did Sunday, and the first time I did Memorial Day Weekend there, it was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. That room was known for hip-hop and this was one of the first times it was doing dance music like this. At 5 in the morning, still packed. At 6 in the morning, still packed. Then the sun started coming up, and this light started bleeding in around the DJ booth, and all the managers and bar backs went running to pull blinds down because it was getting too light in there. I played until 11 in the morning. And that became the thing to do on Sundays and it was a staple for about five years, then in the sixth year EDM blew the f*ck up. David Guetta was somewhere, Tiësto was somewhere else, Marquee opened up.

Erick Morillo performs at Tao in The Venetian on Sept. 5, 2010.

Erick Morillo performs at Tao in The Venetian on Sept. 5, 2010.

But what you’re saying is true and I know that that exists and I was hoping that’s how it would be at SLS. I know people are looking for that experience. At the moment, it’s a whole systematic problem that goes beyond Vegas, because of all the payola on the radio. The only thing most people know, the masses, is the stuff that gets all the hype. Major labels don’t want to take chances on cooler, indie kind of things. People only know, unfortunately, what they’re being spoon-fed.

And yet you’ve played Vegas pretty steady over the years. Does that hype and those expectations affect you and what you do? The DJs with a lot of hype are not necessarily the best DJs at creating a vibe. I’ve always been about the party and about the vibe. When I connect, I don’t care if there are two people in front of me or 70,000. If they’re going crazy, I’m going crazy. I’m all about the deep-blue sexy. I want to get the girls singing and get everybody moving like we used to in the jungle! (laughs)

Your SLS residency is done. Could XS be your new home in Las Vegas? I’m looking for a new home right now and searching out the right people to work with. Wherever it is, as long as I have a room full of people ready to have a good time, I will take them there and I will keep them up late.

What led you to the recent relaunch of your Subliminal Records imprint? I started this label in ’97 and it was a very big success, a big staple of dance music, and then about 3 years ago I had some things to deal with … I started doing drugs and kind of lost myself, went to rehab, stepped away from the industry for a bit, and that’s why I wasn’t releasing music. Now I’m sober and I’m back doing my thing, and it was just time to come back to what we used to do. It was about just finding my passion again, for music and DJing, because I just lost my way a little bit. Now I feel right back to where I was in my 20s and I’m really excited. The first four releases have done well and there’s more coming in the next month and year. My hope is to bring house music back to where it was.

I have to ask you about “I Like To Move It,” which was a huge hit for you in ’93 or ’94 as Reel 2 Real. What’s it like knowing that a whole new generation of people are obsessed with that song because of the animated Madagascar movies? And are people’s minds blown when they make the connection between you and that song? Absolutely. I don’t ever talk about myself, so a lot of times someone will tell someone else, “Don’t you know he’s the guy that made that song?” And it’s always, “No way!”

But that record means so much me, not just because it made money. It opened my eyes. Because of it I was exposed to England and Europe and the world of DJ culture we know today. I would have never flown to England to do Top of the Pops, perform live on TV, and then go see David Morales perform and people looking up at the DJ booth like he was God. I was like, “What’s going on? Is this a church or something? I want to do this!” And then Dreamworks put it in not only the first movie but all the movies, and every animated movie has songs but that one just clicked. It was the right song for the right movie, and became this massive thing, and now there really is a whole new generation of kids singing that song and driving their parents crazy. It’s a great honor and an incredible thing I got to be a part of. I really feel blessed in life, to still be here 24 years later after I started making music, living this life. It’s unbelievable, and I have a much deeper respect for what I do and for my career after having gone through what I did. I’ve really realized how lucky and blessed I am and how much I love music.

Erick Morillo November 14, 10:30 p.m., $30+ men, $20+ women. XS, 702-770-0097.

Tags: Nightlife, Music
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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

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