On May 25, during the first day of Ibiza’s 2016 installment of its International Music Summit conference series, Pete Tong sat down with veteran house DJ Erick Morillo to discuss his career and thoughts about the current state of the industry. During the interview, Morillo opened up about his past addictions to ketamine and alcohol, and how they led him to his own personal rock bottom.
He mentioned that at one point, he would visit hospitals after being unable to urinate and wake up to pieces of his arm having been cut off to prevent the spread of ketamine-induced infections. He lost the love of his life, was arrested three times and nearly lost his arm, he said.
"You were the first guy to have a private jet with your name on the side" – @petetong to @ErickMorillo #IMSIbiza #ibiza2016
— Ralph Moore (@RalphusMoorus) May 26, 2016
What was your lowest point? "I let a lot of promoters and people down. I got married and divorced and didn't DJ for a year and a half."
— Ralph Moore (@RalphusMoorus) May 26, 2016
"When all these young DJs were all of a sudden blowing up and eclipsing me – my ego couldn’t take it." @ErickMorillo opens up at #IMSIbiza.
— International Music Summit (@IMSibiza) May 26, 2016
“My ego couldn’t take that I wasn’t the top dog anymore. That’s when things started to unravel.” @ErickMorillo on addiction #IMSIbiza
— Int’l Music Summit (@IMSibiza) May 26, 2016
“Then I started making music and playing music I didn’t love. That’s when things started to get really bad.” @ErickMorillo #IMSIbiza
— Int’l Music Summit (@IMSibiza) May 26, 2016
“The first rehab, I went for someone else. Second rehab, I went for court. The third, I finally went for myself.” @ErickMorillo #IMSIbiza
— Int’l Music Summit (@IMSibiza) May 26, 2016
"I’m not going to sit here + tell people not to, but it put me in a reality that wasn’t real." @ErickMorillo on ketamine addiction #IMSIbiza
— International Music Summit (@IMSibiza) May 26, 2016
Watch a clip of the conversation below.
Erick Morillo also released a new track today, which you can listen to below:
