ill-esha (pronounced ill-EE-sha) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

artist, producer, singer, and DJ known for her work in the

bass music Bass music is a term used to describe several genres of electronic dance music and hip hop music arising from the 1980s on, focusing on a prominent bass drum and/or bassline sound. As one source notes, there are "many different types of bass musi ...

world, as well as her unique style of singing and DJing simultaneously.

Biography

From an early age ill-esha had a musical background, and she began her career as a vocalist, MC, and

Drum and Bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

DJ in the late 1990s. She was the first female D&B performer to mix records, sing, and MC simultaneously, and developed a diverse style by doing so, whilst blending electronic music genres such as broken beats, hip hop, breaks with D&B during her sets.

Music career

In 2001 her first 12" Single "Social Skillz" made with producer Datcyde was released on New York label

Breakbeat Science Breakbeat Science Recordings was a drum and bass record label and record store of the same name based in Manhattan in New York City, New York; both the label and the store were founded in 1996, and a website was launched in 1997. Breakbeat Scienc ...

. By 2007, she had played across North America, Asia and Europe, featured on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

, CTV, and

MTV Canada MTV is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media with the name and branding used under a licensing agreement with Paramount Global. The channel is devoted to talk, lifestyle and documentary programming, and also airs some ...

, built her own production studio, and performed vocals on numerous releases with D&B producers. The year 2007 marked the advance into the professional world of

production, as she completed her debut album ''Perfect Circuit''. After having successful D&B releases, the full-length album was independently released under her own label Elysha Zaide Music. A deviation from the aging genre of D&B, it encompassed an eclectic mix of electronica and pop inspired by her "myriad of music tastes, and love for technology and nature". Performed with a 5 piece live band The Perfect Circuit Band (a collective of live musicians), ill-esha fronted with vocal and musical performance using a laptop and synthesizers. In the summer of 2007, the band debuted at the New Music West, Soundwave, and Victoria Electronic Music Festivals. The album ''Perfect Circuit'' was well received by the electronic music community, and her single "Broken Windows" was among the top 3 electronic category finalists for the 2007 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Increasingly inspired by

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

and

glitch hop Glitch is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the 1990s. It is distinguished by the deliberate use of glitch-based audio media and other sonic artifacts. The glitching sounds featured in glitch tracks usually come from audio recording de ...

, in 2008 ill-esha began producing music more synonymous with the

glitch A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system, such as a transient fault that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among ...

genre, and founded Glitch Hop Forum with collaborator Dewey db. Together they produced the track "H.A.A.R.P" which was released in 2009 on Muti Music. It hit #3 on Beatport electronica downloads, and stayed in the top 10 for several months. Exploring her love of 2-step and future garage, she diversified further. In 2010 she was signed to Haunted Audio and Daly City Records. She has several single releases on Haunted Audio, and her second album ''Circadian Rhythms'' was released on Daly City Records the same year. The album held a spot in the top 10 monthly downloads on Addictech for December 2010. Sampling

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

's soundtrack for the movie '' Tron: Legacy'', she released a free bootleg "Purple Legacy" in 2010 which went to #1 on SoundCloud and garnered almost 15,000 plays in four days before being removed due to a copyright conflict with

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. Collaborating for years with Bay Area

Dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

pioneer

Antiserum Antiserum is a blood serum containing monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies that is used to spread passive immunity to many diseases via blood donation (plasmapheresis). For example, convalescent serum, passive antibody transfusion from a previous ...

, their mix of purple and hard

reached the international market, with two vinyl releases "Zephyr" and "Lightning/Overflow" released on European labels Dub Police and Subway. She released several glitch/dubstep EPs on San Francisco-based Muti Music, and Austin-based label Gravitas Recordings. as well as being featured on acclaimed producer Starkey's boutique label Seclusiasis. More recently, she has released independently with the support of collectives and blogs such as Hebinomichi, Run the Trap, NEST HQ, Earmilk, Phuture Collective and more.

Music Scoring

Soundtracks

In late 2011 ill-esha worked with indie game developers, VectorBloom to produce the original music score of electronica dubstep titled 'Kaleidoscope' for Big Top Ballet, a stylized

art game An art game (or arthouse game) is a work of interactive new media digital software art as well as a member of the "art game" subgenre of the serious video game. The term "art game" was first used academically in 2002 and it has come to be un ...

for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

, Android,

OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

and Chrome. She has also provided the music for the game 'Hack Run' as well as recently scoring a documentary for the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

Film Scoring

In 2018, ill-esha scored a documentary titled "Beauty" directed by Christina Willings for the National Film Board of Canada Documentary. She also scored "Sandra Oh: Inspiration", an NFB tribute to the actress directed by Karen Lam, released in 2019.

Discography

Albums

*''Perfect Circuit'' (2007) *''Circadian Rhythms'' (Daly City, 2010) *''Reverie'' (Muti Music, 2011) *''Elusive History'' (Simplify, 2011) *''Imaginary Friends'' (Muti Music, 2012) *''Whiplash Recovery'' (Gravitas Recordings, 2013) *''Altitude Sickness'' (Muti Music, 2013) *''Open Heart Surgery'' (Gravitas recordings, 2014) *''Open Heart Surgery: The Remixes'' (Gravitas recordings, 2014) *''Autopilot'' (with

K.E. on the Track Kevin Erondu, better known as K.E. on the Track, is an American record producer. Early life Kevin Erondu was born in Tampa, Florida. He originated in Valdosta, Georgia. Career K.E.'s breakthrough came in 2009, when he produced the single "Swag ...

(

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

, 2014) *''Hyperbolic Space Crochet'' (Seclusiasis, 2015) *''Hyperbolic Space Crochet: The Remixes'' (Seclusiasis, 2015) *''Wordless'' (

, 2016) *''Antarctica'' (Phuture Collective/Play It Louder/Soundcloud, 2018) *''Illusions'' (Muti Music, 2019) *''Songs from the Sweat Shed'' (Bandcamp, 2020) *''Unleashed'' (Muti Music, 2020) *''The Living Atlantis'' (Outlaw Ocean Music Project, 2020) *''Simplications EP'' w/ K+Lab (Westwood Recordings, 2021)

Remixes

*Subvert: "Speaker Humpin'" (ill-esha remix feat. MC ThinkTank) (Muti Music, 2010) *Freddy Todd: "Blowin' Good" (ill-esha remix) (Car Crash Set, 2010) *Mochipet: "Whomp-a-saurus Sex" (ill-esha remix) (Daly City, 2011) *Who Cares: "These Three Words" (ill-esha remix) (Simplify, 2011) *+verb: "Cough" (ill-esha remix) (Muti Music, 2011) *Chron4 ft Audio Angel: "Get Lost" (ill-esha remix) (1320, 2011) * Ayla Nereo: "By Night" (ill-esha remix) (Jumpsuit Records, 2015) *Aceyalone: "Almost There" (ill-esha remix) (Sony Red, 2017)

Singles

*"Social Skillz" with Datcyde (

, 2001) *"Social Skillz" Garon Remix (Taciturn, 2002) *"The Modern Divide" with Revolution Void (as Elysha Zaide, 2004) *"Gemini Soul" with Jay Tripwire (Nordic Trax, 2007) *"Stealth" with Aperture (Outsider UK, 2007) *"Universe" with TheEgo and DJ Roots (BluSaphir, 2007) *"Coward" (on Knowledge Magazine Cover CD, Acoustixx Journeyz, 2008) *"Point of No Return" with Contour (Intrinsic, 2008) *"Not the Way" with Castor (Force Recordings, 2009) *"Save Me" with Madmen & Poets, Soulgrifter (Fokuz, 2009) *"Sin City" featuring Ozzius Atreides (Woofer Cookers, 2009) *"Kitchen Sync" (Woofer Cookers, 2009) *"H.A.A.R.P." (with Dewey dB on Acid Crunk Vol. 2) (Muti Music, 2009) *"Snow-country Child / Daydreamer" (Haunted Audio, 2010) *"Risky Rutabaga" (Woofer Cookers, 2010) *"The Grande attack Dunk" (Emergency Broadcast System, 2010) *"Kitsch Meets Glitch" (with Kitsch Palace) (Street Ritual, 2011) *"Meeting Up With Producer Friends on Mountainsides" (with Freddy Todd, Elfkowitz & Joe Mousepad, featured on Freddy Todd's "Neon Spectacle Operator" LP) (Simplify, 2011) *"Black Ice EP: Part 1 North American Excursion" (Haunted Audio, 2011) *"Black Ice EP: Part 2 European Excursion" (Haunted Audio, 2011) *"Cherry Blossoms EP" (featuring remixes by TrillBass, Mindelixir, Dan Wall & Ron Gee, Splatinum) (True Score Theory, 2011) *"Zephyr" (with Antiserum) (Dub Police, 2011) *"Lightning/Overflow" (with Antiserum) (Subway Music, 2012) *"Treasures" (featuring Chadio and Damon Morris, featured on "EVD Bass") (East Van Digital, 2011) *"Fossils" (with jOBOT, featured on "Disciples of Headtron") (Muti Music, 2012) *"War Cod" (with Opiuo) (Addictech, 2012) *"Wanderlust" (featuring Zipporah) (Critical Beats, 2012) *"Chicken Scratch" (featured on the Joe Mousepad vs Glitch Hop EP) (Street Ritual, 2012) *"Blazed EP" (featuring remixes by Standard&Push, Buzzwak, Toprek, Zonatash) (R3GMA, 2012) *"Love at 432" (LostinSound.org, 2013) *"We Heard" (collab with kLL sMTh for the BlackMarketArmoire Collective) (The Untz, 2013) *"Galactic Halo" (Slit Jockey "Choice Cuts" Compilation) *"Dirty Mind" (East Van Digital EVDBASS3 Compilation) *"Signs" (Hebinomichi Vol 4 Compilation, 2015) *"Real Life" (Unspeakable Records Vol 2 Compilation, 2015) *"Brave" (w/ SteLouse) (Taste&Tone/Atlantic, 2015) *"Ghostwriter" (Hebinomichi Vol 3 Compilation, 2016) *"Coraline" (Seclusiasis 130 BPM Compilation) *"Cloud Sublime" (with option4) (Kitsune, 2016) *Why?" (with Oksami) (Hotboi Records, 2017) *"Your Skies" (with Venza) (Swisted Selections, 2017) *"Hologram Midnight" (Soundcloud, premiered via NEST HQ, 2017) *"Into the Sun" (with nine plus) (Phuture Collective, 2018) *"Feel What I Feel" (with frost) (Big Beat/Atlantic, 2019) *"Sideways" (with 90five) (Distrokid, 2020) *"Live Again" (with The Burner Brothers) (Patrol the Skies, 2020) *"Endless" (with ill.Gates, Andrew Huang (musician), Ludlow) (Producer Dojo, 2020) *"Isolation" (with Stereotype) (Lowly Palace, 2020) *"Photograph" (Distrokid, 2020) *"Summer is Calling" (as part of "the group") (Ahead of Our Time/

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others. Inspired by a visit ...

, 2021) *"Call You out" (with frost) (Monstercat, 2021) *"Opus" (with frost) (Gravitas, 2021) *"Sonata of Solitude" (

, 2021)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ill-esha Canadian electronic musicians Musicians from Vancouver Living people 1982 births Women DJs Canadian women in electronic music 21st-century women musicians