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 Ill-Son Interview
interview 0291 added
24.03.05 words: Mike technical:
QED
Ill-Son is an up and coming producer and DJ from the burgeoning Essex scene.
His work with groups such as Ironbridge and Phonetics has also brought his beats
and cuts to the whole of the UK, and he can only go up from here. I sent him a
few questions by email recently, see what he has to say for himself.
First up, can you tell us who you are and what you do?
‘Sup all. I’m Ill-son. I make beats, I cut, and I produce UK hip hop tracks.
Any opinions of Joss Stone winning the ‘best urban artist’ category at the
Brits?
I don’t have any real strong feelings against her winning it cos I don’t really
pay attention to these major record label run award shows. It’s all a load of
back slapping between the 4 or 5 majors that run things. I think she’s a
talented girl, she’s got a good voice and all these award things are all the
same. They’re all a load of bollocks really. It’s nice to have someone like
Lyric Pad making an effort to award the artists in our scene and letting the
people who actually buy and support UK hip hop vote for who gets the awards too.
"...People
are starting to take note of the talent that resides in the UK..."
You’ve worked with a variety of people, who’s been the best artist/group to
work with?
There isn’t really a favourite artist to work with cos each time you put
together a track, it’s different. As in how you build the track and what you
have to do to reach the desired result. Working with Ironbridge is always quite
easy, as they always know what they want the track to sound like before they
even started recording. They’ve been rhyming for a long time so they’re always
quick in the booth and they’ve got a lot of enthusiasm for it, it never seems to
run out. It’s different with Phonetics cos they’re both close friends I’ve grown
up with. We all know what sound we want and we sort of just let it happen
between us all, ya know. They come round, we sit about and smoke, have a cup of
tea and just get a few things done. Then they come back the following weekend
and do some more things. It’s always a pleasure working with people like Pager
and Headzache and that too, cos they’re all nice peeps. I’ve never worked with
anyone yet where it’s been harsh.
And any horror stories in terms of collaborations?
 None
yet, and I’m not looking forward to any either.
What sort of equipment do you use?
I started about eight year ago with an Akai 2800 sampler, an Atari ST running
Cubase, an old Roland drum machine, and a 4 track tape machine. I now rock a
custom built P4 PC with top everything except the graphics card, with an Echo
Gina sound card, Digidesign Protools Digi 002 (which I just purchased, still
figuring it out), Tannoy monitors, Behringer desk, and a ton of software and
plug-ins. I’m particularly fond of compressors and parametric EQs (I sound like
a sad bastard). I also built myself a proper vocal booth last year with the
money my late granddad left me (RIP Granddad Joe) so I could go out and get a
nice microphone.
And for what reasons have you chosen a particular piece of equipment over
others?
I know what I want in terms of my equipment. Before I buy something I read up on
all the different bits I can buy and make sure that I spend my cash on the one
that’s best for what I want to do with it. When it comes to say a favourite bit
of equipment though, it’d probably be Fruity Loops, although it’s software. Run
this through a decent compressor or two and a good parametric EQ with a touch of
reverb and you can get some heavy results. I’ve also got an Akai MPD16 drum pad
running into it too, to get some natural sort of roughness to a beat if that’s
the mood I’m in.
"...It’s
nice to have someone like Lyric Pad making an effort to award the artists in our
scene..."
Can you explain the process behind making your tracks?
A track usually starts with the beat. I’m always making beats and every now and
then I do like a double CD’s worth and send it out to a few emcees. If someone’s
feeling a beat or two, they bell me or they come round and we work something
out. A lot of the Ironbridge tracks come about by just Dirty or Jibb popping
round and they just ask if I’ve made any new beats. I power up the studio and
playback what I’ve done and they claim what they like. They go away and write
and then come back and record something. As far as making beats goes though, I
usually start by putting together the drum track, and then add the sample(s),
bass line, and any extras I think it needs. If I’ve got a particularly heavy
sample though I may lay that first and build the rest around it.
"...I
don’t really pay attention to these major record label run award shows. It’s all
a load of back slapping between the 4 or 5 majors that run things..."
There have been a lot of rumours and hearsay about the ‘Brute Force’ track,
would you like to clear up the reasoning behind for any of those that don’t
know?
This all started when a UK hip hop hater used the Ironbridge album to make a
blatant diss at the whole UK hip hop scene and at us. The reasoning behind the
track is that if he can use his position as a journalist to diss us, we can use
our position as recording artists to put one back. You see, we’re open to
criticism, we send our stuff off to magazine’s to get it reviewed every time we
release something. What happened here though was not criticism. He didn’t write
a review and discuss what he felt the album was lacking or what he thought was
nice about it, he just straight cussed it and the UK scene. Some of us were
unsure about how the track would be taken by people who listen to UK rap, but
I’m glad we did it and that Apoch put it out. Plus it’s a banger when we play it
live, you can get a whole venue bouncing and shouting ‘Fuck Rob Bringur!’. It’d
be a crease if he walked in when the chorus was going off.
What have you got in the pipeline, in terms of releases or gigs?
You’ve got Jibba’s solo album ‘Immortal’ dropping anytime soon, Dirty Verbs is
just finishing off his solo album ‘Private I’, and I’m in the midst of the next
Phonetics release too. I’m also working with Hoodz Underground on a track for
their album that’s gonna feature Ironbridge and Phonetics, and I recently got a
call from Grimlock of the Colony to put together some tacks for his solo album,
which is gonna be heavy. We’re also gonna be starting the next Ironbridge album
this year, so keep ya ears peeled.
"...There
isn’t really a favourite artist to work with cos each time you put together a
track, it’s different..."
Who would be your dream artist/group to work with if you could choose anyone
in the world?
As far as MC’s go I think it’d probably be Talib Kweli, but that’d be closely
followed by KRS, Dilated Peoples, Quannum, and Ill Bill.
And who do you consider to be your influences?
 DJ
Premier, Hi-Tek, DJ Krush (he got me started), Peanut Butter Wolf, Alchemist, DJ
Shadow, Pete Rock, …I think that’s it.
How have they affected your own personal sound?
It’s mainly that real wholesome sound they seem to get. That real thickness in
the beat, ya know. It’s also the soul and the feeling they put in the track too,
from what samples they use to how they cut ‘em up and rearrange ‘em. I can hear
their influence in what I make but through learning from what they’ve created I
think I’ve developed my own style.
What’s the Essex scene like at the moment? What can we expect in the future?
It’s a really strong scene. Everyone involved in it or supporting it really
wants it to grow, you’ve got collabs going on with everyone all the time.
Everyone helps each other and sorts each other out in an effort to push it
further. As far as the future goes, I think you can expect a lot from Essex.
There’s always new shit coming through, and what’s nice about the Essex stuff is
that it’s different too.
And what are your views on the UK scene as a whole?
It actually feels like it’s getting there now, people are starting to take note
of the talent that resides in the UK. For years it’s been really underground
with only a few heads putting stuff out. It’s still underground now but there
seems to be a hell of a lot more people into it nowadays. It’s like when you
speak to someone who you’ve never met and you say your into hip hop, they don’t
always immediately say “oh, what, Puff Daddy and that?” Some people who aren’t
fully into it know it’s there. It seems to be really growing.
"...I’m
always making beats and every now and then I do like a double CD’s worth and
send it out to a few emcees. If someone’s feeling a beat or two, they bell me or
they come round and we work something out..."
And finally, any last messages or shout outs you want to make?
I gotta shout a few people here: Emma & all Woollard family, all Millson family,
Fullcreym & Verbal Mike, Jibba, Dirty V, KLD, Blokie, Headzache, Pager, Rek One
& Becksta, Gambit, Big Smoke, Panda, Shain caw, Disorda, Mister Toe, P Roh Dusah,
Apocraphe, Obese Records (Oz), all Headzache forum headz, all Southend BMX
riders, everyone @ Adam Hall Ltd, and peace to everyone I didn’t mention – I
could be here all day otherwise. Peace.
 Thanks to Ill-Son for putting in the time to answer these questions. Make
sure to check out some of the groups he works with, especially Ironbridge, and
keep an eye on the Essex scene, as it’s going from strength to strength.
-
Mike
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