Taking a new turn from West Coast festivals, the Los Angeles based producer Morillo is headlining his first Bass Tribe Baltimore show at the Dark Room on Saturday. He may be used to the tour life as the drummer for the R&B band Rhye, but at this intimate Baltimore warehouse, the narrow, art-filled walls sets the perfect scene for his deep dub beats. Miami-native Zach Morillo’s sets from Symbiosis, Shambhala and Burning Man are always like an experimental celestial journey through his unique mixes of Eastern, tribal, and trap influences. Capturing deep basslines and trippy Egyptian beats, he moved styles from hip hop to dubstep to glitch at his last Mantra tour with Troyboi and Ekali.
Since then, we caught up with Morillo before he plays in Baltimore to share where his passion stems from in the bass scene.
What’s your style of music and how did you come to identify with your unique sound?
My style is more on the sample-based hip-hop side of things. I get inspired by real instruments and musicians rather than synthesis and sound design. Putting big 808’s underneath unique sounding organic instruments or vocals is where I tend to go for when making beats.
Your latest Hieroglyphs EP with Play Me Records is worldly, deep and tribal, but you’re also a drummer with funky beats. Do you have roots with old school hip hop and other genres that influence you?
I have a huge range of musical influences from growing up, but there are a few genres that really inspired me as a young dude playing and making music. Reggae, hip-hop, funk and jazz really were my main squeezes. I considered myself a reggae music encyclopedia at one point, and once I began to discover how producers blended all of these styles together is really when I began knowing what style of music I wanted to make myself.
We loved your sets from Symbiosis, Lightning in a Bottle, and Camp Question Mark at Burning Man. How are your festival adventures and where are your favorite memories?
Last year was a great year for me and it feels like every festival set I do tops the last. My favorite highlights by far is playing a sunset set at Lightning in a Bottle and my late night set at Symbiosis. Dropping bass for a crowd full of fresh LIB attendees on the first day of the festival, during the most beautiful golden hour was for sure my favorite set I had ever played up until that time. But that late night Symbiosis set topped it. The dance floor basically went from a 3 am nap time vibe to a 4 am full on packed twerk fest. It was amazing, and I felt super inspired after that knowing my music could crush it that hard.
Who are the bass producers that you’re jamming to lately?
Lately my favorites have been Shlump, Clap Clap, Sam Gellaitry, Troyboi, and AZTEK. These dudes all have been bringing the fresh sounds that I inspire the hell out of me.
You traveled the world with your band Rhye, so how did you feel after finishing the U.S. Mantra tour with Troyboi and Ekali?
The Mantra Tour was amazing. Troy, Ekali, and the whole crew were so incredibly supportive and super fun. I learned so much from that tour. It helped me hone in on the tracks that I love playing live and having that opportunity to play my music every night for crowds of people who had never heard of me before was really helpful in deciding which songs were strongest for a live setting. I basically went from playing a mixed set of originals and other artist’s music to an all-original set that went off super hard. It felt great!
Lastly, are you juggling any other side projects musically?
Aside from producing and DJing, I play drums. I have been touring around the world with an amazing band called Rhye for the past few years. We play a really sexy chilled-out RnB vibe. I also recently began rehearsing with a super talented EDM producer, ‘Grabbitz’. We began putting together his live show, which will basically be a high energy trap-bass-dubstep show with live drums, guitar, and vocals. It should be pretty bananas.
Morillo is returning to the Pagoda Bar at Lightning in the Bottle and also playing for the first time at Boogaloo Art Car and Music in California on April 28-30.
Tickets to the Bass Tribe Baltimore show on Saturday can be purchased here.
Connect with MORiLLO:
https://www.facebook.com/morillosound
https://twitter.com/morillomusic
https://www.instagram.com/morillomusic
https://soundcloud.com/morillomusic
Photo Credit: © MORiLLO Facebook 2017
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