The riddim prince of Buffalo

Dave Morris explains why the riddim scene gets him so rowdy

Dave Morris performing at the Savage Society Takeover at Ironworks Bar. Credit C.P. Abbott Photography.

Dave Morris looked down at a notification on his phone; a video from a friend. He saw a massive stage equipped with synchronized lights and screens displaying flashy visuals. Fire burst from cannons on stage and lasers radiated above the crowd. Thousands of fans headbanged and moshed to the beat… and the song playing was his.

“I literally cried,” he said.

Riddim DJ SweetTooth performed at the EDC Mexico music festival, playing a track produced by Jean Jawnson, Morris’ duo with Corey Trietley. SweetTooth told Morris to send him the song, but Morris never expected to hear it at a festival drawing over 500,000 attendees.

“I was just like, ‘Yo, this is not real life.’ It was the coolest thing, I cannot believe that happened,” Morris said.

Morris— and all DJs worth their salt— know how to curate the perfect set of songs— played from USB sticks on DJ controllers; queue those songs on the fly and match their beats; seamlessly transition between them using volume controls; emphasize different aspects of those tracks using sliders and knobs; and in special cases, load both songs at once and alternate between them on the beat, aka “doubling” the tracks.

In Morris’ case, some of the songs he plays are self-produced, which is typical for most serious DJs.

Riddim, an EDM sub-genre of dubstep, often employs heavy use of repetitive and minimalist sub-bass and triplet percussion arrangements. The genre’s community is tight-knit but dedicated, and Morris, who goes by the stage name “Mort,” is the Prince of Buffalo’s riddim scene.

He says the genre is misunderstood. People falsely associate it with the mainstream dubstep scene. But Morris is a fan of the old-school riddim sound at the genre’s roots.

“It invokes this feeling that nothing else can anymore of just rowdiness,” Morris said. ”I'm just instantly, no matter what mood I'm in, jumping around in a circle, gun-fingering [gesturing with fingers pointed like guns], and abusing people around me because it gets me going that much.”

Dave Morris performing with Jeff Wagner as part of the "SweetBois" duo. Credit Chris Rockwood.

Morris, a 27-year-old North Tonawanda native, grew up on Somerville Avenue and attended Kenmore East High School, graduating in 2013. He began DJing in 2015, wanting to contribute to his friends’ rap group by making hip-hop beats. But his interest shifted toward EDM after seeing dubstep artist Flux Pavilion at Buffalo’s Town Ballroom.

“It really blew my mind,” Morris said. “I was like, ‘I need to do this. Like 100%. I gotta figure this out.’”

Morris bought a DJ controller the next day and never looked back.

The aspiring DJ wasn’t a natural. He often questioned his capabilities. But one day he “snapped,” gaining confidence and promoting himself full force. Despite feeling clueless, Morris booked a surprising number of gigs.

For his first show, Morris opened at defunct Buffalo nightclub Surrender. Morris arrived for his 7 p.m. set with his controller in a briefcase. Despite only performing for “five or ten friends,” nerves wracked him.

But Morris prepared for weeks, killed it, and stepped off stage triumphant. He was thankful for the opportunity to open for DJs Hedex and BLACKLEY who now headline major events worldwide.

Like them, Morris knew he’d play bigger shows one day, and slowly but surely, made it happen. Shortly after his first performance, old-school riddim blessed his ears for the first time when he heard INFEKT’s Montreal “Bass Drive Wednesday” set.

“It was the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life. I was like, ‘That looks fucking amazing. That's it, that's what I got to figure out how to do,’” Morris said.

He finally found his sound, and burned with a desire to share old-school riddim with all who would listen.

Morris first discovered EDM through YouTube montages of Call of Duty and Runescape.

“I was like 15 then so my older friends were getting their licenses and they're all like, ‘Yo, I put subwoofers in my car, you got any sick dubstep songs that you could show me with like, heavy bass, so we can blow my fucking speakers out?’” Morris recalled. “I was always like, ‘Yeah, dude, give me the phone.’”

He had no idea at the time he would one day open for Shaquille O’Neal, basketball-player-turned-DJ under the name Diesel.

Dave Morris following his performance opening for Shaquille O'Neal at Buffalo Riverworks. Credit C.P. Abbott Photography.

Morris was previously offered an opening spot for MARAUDA, but it fell through. Promoter Mike Marshal approached him.

“He goes, ‘Hey, to make it up to you, want to open for Shaq?’ And I was like, ‘Come again? Me? Are you serious?’” Morris said.

On June 24, 2022, Morris performed before several major dubstep artists including DJ Diesel at Buffalo Riverworks.

His attitude performing on one of Buffalo’s biggest stages differed from his first performance at Surrender.

“I was already extremely confident. I was like, ‘It's about goddamn time I'm fucking playing a show like this,’” Morris said.

Another surreal moment came while Morris attended a performance by Subtronics, a world-renowned DJ. While performing, the power cut from his equipment, but the microphone still worked, so Subtronics played Morris’ song into it from his phone.

“I thought I was hearing my song through the mic and I was like, ‘I'm just fucked up right now. I'm hearing shit,” Morris recalled. “And then he was like, ‘Shout out Mort!’ and everybody around me was like, ‘Dude, what the fuck?’”

Morris looked back on other memorable nights, including a wild all-nighter in Philadelphia. Because of daylight savings time, his show ran even later than usual.

“They're nuts in Philly,” Morris said. “The sun was basically up and this warehouse was still jumping. It's 5:56 a.m.… it's fucking disgusting.”

Crazy rave nights aside, Morris values his community most of all.

“Getting to travel to play music is the funnest shit,” Morris said. “Traveling to another city, you're in the hands of kids that are just like you, and they're like, ‘We'll show you a good time.’... It's the friends that you make along that way, that's my favorite part. All my friends that I have from all over the place is forever because that's gonna outlast whatever I'm doing with this,” he said.

One Buffalo venue provided a space for the community to thrive: Dnipro Ukrainian Cultural Center.

“[Their events] were unregulated,” Morris said. “I guess there were people making sure there weren’t guns in there, that’s the most I could say for it.”

Morris described the “madness” of the edgy venue he frequented.

“A lot of nefarious things going on there, a lot of things going on in dark corners,” Morris said. “But I mean, that's what makes it fun, that's where the roots of raves are.”

Morris’ latest release under Mort, an EP entitled “PULP,” dropped April 14, but its creation began almost a year earlier. Morris finished two tracks, but his mind was taken off of producing when in April of 2022, his girlfriend died.

Morris entered a “giant slump,” unable to think straight, and his music suffered. He stopped making art for five months.

Eventually, Morris finished his EP.

“[The slump] was a hurdle that I was waiting to jump over for a long time but I did and now I feel great about it. No looking back,” he said.

For the future, Morris aims high. He wants to release music on a major label, get slots at premier EDM festivals and travel with a national tour.

He embraces the Riddim Prince of Buffalo title.

“No one's coming for me. I'll show anyone up. They do not have the USB I have,” Morris said.