Gwill Morris was recognised by Mixmag as one of the “stars of 2001”. Since then his career as a DJ/Producer has never looked so solid. A qualified doctor, (he studied with James Holden) he takes a surgical approach to his productions under the names of Main Element and Ogenki Clinic. Tracks such as “First Light” have been acclaimed as being “the best progressive house tune ever” by Mixmag and his vocal track of “Take Me Down” was Sasha’s “tune of Miami”. As a DJ, Gwill plays a wide variety of music, switching styles at the drop of a hat, without forgetting that he is playing to a crowd who want to dance. Melodic, funky, twisted and deep, there is never a dull moment. Gwill is in Australia at the moment to play a few sets, catch up with some friends and get in the studio with the likes of Luke Chable.
How would you describe your sound as a producer?
Melodic. My style varies from progressive to breaks and the occasional techno production but I always write melody. That’s where the music is, the production and style is just the detail. I’m not interested in tracks that aren’t melodic.
You have said that the Northern Exposure 1 CD was your first real influence. How much of that influence still stands and has there been a sound that has captured your imagination as much as Digweed and Sasha did back then?
Its difficult to say whether there has been any such influence since then, at the time my musical influence was very narrow and the NE 1 CD represented a whole new way of thinking about Djing and production. Since then I have taken on board much wider influence. People who have greatly influenced me since then are some of the great producers and innovators such as Aphex Twin, William Orbit, and Richie Hawtin.
When you play in Australia you always seem to get a good reaction from the crowd. Your girlfriend is from Melbourne and you have produced some tracks with Luke Chable and Infusion. What do you think it is about you and Australia that mixes so well?
The Australian scene is much more vibrant than the UK at the moment, and much more open minded than the USA. Playing in Australia allows me to play how I like, varying my style as the mood takes me, so I can play breaks or techno in the middle of the set if it seems right. When I played some techno in the middle of my set in New York recently it cleared the floor in less than a minute – they are not very receptive to something a bit different. In England a lot of clubbers are more interested in looking at each others trainers, they are all a bit too cool.
As a qualified doctor, can you draw any comparisons between mixing and creating dance music and healing the human body?
Now that’s a new question! I used to say that medicine was a bit like clubbing because you spend all your time wandering around talking crap to people you don’t know. To state the obvious DJing really isn’t brain surgery, some people are amazing and innovative DJs – such as Phil K – but at the end of the day if you stuff a mix up its not going to be the end of someone’s life!
Studio albums are being released more often by dance producers these days. Do you have any plans to release an album and if so, what could we expect?
I have had plans to release a studio album for ages but never seem to get around to it! It depends how the next few months go. Before it would be worth it I want to release a few more singles to raise my profile further. An album is so much work that it really has to be the right time to justify all that effort. There hasn’t been much out from me for a while due to behind the scenes troubles – but I’ve got a few new singles coming out soon: ‘time’ is out in November on Skyline records – keep an eye on my website for updates (www.gwillmorris.com).
When you work with another producer, do you focus on certain aspects of the track which you are more adept at or is it a case of getting your hands dirty with everything?
No, we just go mad and see what happens.
You are playing a versus set with Luke Chable on Friday 18th at Escape in Melbourne, have you worked on what you will be playing or are you just going to tear it up on the night?
It will be eclectic not by design but because we are disorganised and unprofessional.
Gwill plays this Friday 18th July in Melbourne @ Seven, and in Sydney on 26th July at Sweetchilli @ The Dendy. Check ITM whatson for more details.
