Ils came to electronic music the long way; trying to reconcile his love for hip-hop with the DIY ethic of punk, while still enjoying the complex production sounds of people like Pink Floyd. Drum'n'bass first caught his fancy and Ils became a well-respected producer for Bukem's 'Good Looking' label. When the confines of d'n'b tempo got too much, Ils started looking for a new creative outlet. The rapidly evolving break beat scene was where he headed, and a string of amazing records followed shortly after.
First was "About That Time" on Fuel Records, an incredible debut full of chunky and disturbing breaks. "Idiots Behind The Wheel" followed, a collection of prescient break beat and immensely danceable bass-driven tunes that had press and fans frothing. Label hassles swallowed the album whole however, and it never saw the light of day.
Undeterred, Ils released a series of singles that confirmed to the world what break beat whiz, Adam Freeland had already figured out. Adam snapped up licensing rights of Ils tracks for his two seminal albums, Coastal Breaks and Tectonics and as the albums exploded beyond the breaks scene, Ils' tracks also gained widespread attention. In one of those cool, mutual-respect moments, in 2000 Ils turned around and signed to Adam's highly respected label, Marine Parade.
The mammoth and growling '6 Space' (Next Level) was used by Orange for their new mobile ad and by Playstation for the new Formula 1 game (not to mention Adam Freeland's/ DJ Hyper's and Ali B's mix albums); this was followed up by the timeless 'Soul Trader' album, commonly regarded as the first real breaks masterpiece. With some heavy hitting remixes under his belt and a recent 'Y4K' mix compilation, which was in URB magazine's top ten mix albums of 2003, Ils maintains his position as one of break beat's most respected and credible artists and is due to drop his third artist album in the second half of this year.
