Authenticity has been a driving force in ill-esha’s albums, including 2008’s The Perfect Circuit, 2010’s Circadian Rhythms, and most recently, 2014’s Open Heart Surgery, among a plethora of singles, EPs, and various appearances and side projects. Looking at the space she’s helped lead, she says, “Those of us who do it own way without going with what’s hot in the market, we don’t blow up as much, but we’re all still here.” With her work covered and remixed, the artist who grew up in a professional music family, stresses, “I really try to make songs. A good song should be translatable. If I can’t play an acoustic version of it, I don’t let it sit.”
Calling her own musical style “weird,” it’s something that crowds have hooked onto. All the while, ill-esha has helped shift a paradigm in EDM. After years of suffering the music industry’s sexism, from being mistaken as a visual designer or a dancer to being discounted despite her expertise, it’s only made her sound hit harder. “I have to be better cause people expect me to be worse,” ill-esha says, noting that she plans to lead workshops that inspire at-risk youth—young women especially, to pursue the technical arts. In a culture where production is stereotyped as a masculine practice, it is ill-esha now making the records that male and female DJs are spinning.
A fully dimensional artist, ill-esha remains in touch with her DJ past. “In my live shows, there’s an extra layer of freestyle energy. I think it’s really important to make each show special, and make people have to see you.” Differentiating from the albums, she adds, “I like to make solid songs, and just a whole level of randomness when it’s live.” With turntables, keytars, vocal loopers, and other instrumentals integrated within her sets, all of the iterations of ill-esha’s journey are represented.
A blissful ill-esha describes her newest creations as upbeat, positive parallels to her life. “I feel resolved now. Hopefully my happy music is just as good.” With that
constant driving bass, freestyle, and soulful lyrics, it surely is.
