Vancouver-born and Colorado-based music producer, artist and DJ ill-esha has crafted a long-standing soundscape of electronic bass music throughout her career, continuously evolving her musical stylings and bridging gaps between hip-hop, dubstep, R&B and future bass music.
ill-esha is recognized as an extremely rare and diverse, burgeoning artist in the EDM scene, as her live set showcases her incredible talent to sing, DJ, and simultaneously rock her keytar.
She is one of few electronic artists to blossom throughout the progression of different musical trends while still focusing on her artistic vision and authenticity. Constantly evolving a dynamic stage show, ill-esha is a perfect example of electronic music’s transition towards live instrumentation and indie pop sensibility.
We sat down with ill-esha to discuss what has changed in the DJ/electronic community and how commercialism has blown up the “celebrity ego”.
What is one thing that you’re tired of in the DJ/EDM community? How do you think it could be cured?
“What initially drew me in about electronic music was both its inclusiveness and its lack of boundaries. Anyone was welcome and there were no limits to the sounds you could create or listen to and the type of people you could meet.
I feel like at this point, DJ culture has become like any other type of celebrity culture where the individuals are glorified and put on pedestals.
Everyone’s hustling their marketing plan over music; the sense of community and shared support has dwindled. I missed trading tunes and knowledge with other people, and so my passion project has become running the 2000+ member Discord chat server, EDM Production.
We’re the official companion to the subreddit, and we’ve very quickly built up a vibrant community where people of all ages and abilities can come together to learn, support and teach each other. I truly believe that helping others is the best way to grow as a scene. (come chat with us at http://discord.gg/edmp )”