One of Australia’s best and most respected DJ’s, iLLya, is back in town and will be throwing down this coming Wednesday for anow xclusive one hour mix.

Artist Bio: 

Illya is as energetic as he is enigmatic, tearing up mixes and destroying dance-floors with his unique and undeniable zeal behind the decks. Illya has built a solid reputation as one of Sydney’s leading DJs and is a firm favourite with party goers AND party-throwers alike!

Having formed a passion for electronic music at raves and clubs years before throwing his first record on the decks, it wasn’t until about thirteen years ago after hearing and seeing DJs such as Mark Farina and Derrick Carter while working as a glassy at the Underground Café that he was inspired to follow in their footsteps. For almost five years he played at Sydney clubbing institution ‘The Globe’ as a guest DJ at Switched On on Fridays nights and resident DJ at One on Saturdays. After three years he took over promotions with fellow resident, DJ Frenzie and started Fly, a successful Saturday night party which introduced Sydney to some of its favourite international names including Kaskade, Jay-J and Crazy Penis to name a few.

Fast forward to 2006 and Illya is widely known for his ability to take on any DJ he may come up against as he draws his audience in with an extreme passion that is truly captivating. Hence his unique sound is not just limited to the one style of music – he will cut up anything from house to break- beat to hip-hop and down-tempo through to disco, funk, a touch of soul and all the way back again but it is with ‘house’ music, that his true passion lies.

His record, music collection and jaw-dropping techniques on the turntables prove he is more than worthy of being one of the Top 10 DJs in Australia. It is Illya’s reputation with the punters in Sydney alone, that really set him apart. In 2003, he scored the number 18 posit in the inthemix Australian Top 50 DJ Poll, 2004 he climbed the ranks to the Number 8 position, backed it up with the same ranking the following year and achieved this without the advised self promotion, stepping out of his own home town or releasing any mix cds or production unlike every other dj placed within the top 10 .

Illya has held residencies at Home, both in the main room as well as the exclusive VIP Terrace, at After Ours at YU and Middlebar, while also regularly playing at Monkey Tennis, Lady Lux, the seminal Sounds on Sunday at The Greenwood and Tank nightclub, just to name a few. He has featured on most local festival and main event line-ups, such as Vibes on a Summer’s Day, Parklife, the infamous Field Day and Harbourlife, at which he has been the most frequently booked local dj to date. He is continuously touring the country and New Zealand playing at venues such as Tramp (Melbourne), Electric Circus (Adelaide), the Beats Royal parties in New Zealand , and plays at venues all over Australia.

Not content with a busy DJ and touring schedule, in 2004 Illya added music production to the list when he got together with one of his like minded back2back DJ partners and closest friend, Toby Neal to form LAMANEX. It didn’t take long before their music was being felt around the dance-floors all over the world, releasing eps on labels such as The Sound Republics, Spatula City Records and Matt Shrewd and Jay West’s label, Flavors Recordings , with further scheduled releases planned and confirmed for the coming year.

On top of this Illya also produces music and djs across Australia and New Zealand with his Melbourne counterpart and Partner in crime, aNyO . Sydney + Melbourne = ILL-yO . These two aren’t really satisfied with using the conventional club setup of 2 decks and one mixer and prefer to push it to the limits by throwing in a couple of extra decks and a mixer just for the fun of it.

If this isn’t enough to keep one man busy, he also has releases under his alter ego, ILL De COOP and has further releases planned for the not to distant future.

Over his career, Illya has earned the respect, supported and played alongside international and interstate DJs and live acts including Mark Farina, Derrick Carter, Raoul Belmans (Swirl People), DJ Heather, Kaskade, Miguel Migs, JT Donaldson, Inland Knights, Dimitri From Paris, Crazy Penis and Jim Baron, Jason Hodges, Lawnchair Generals, Joey Youngman, Johnny Fiasco, James Curd (Greenskeepers), Bryan Jones, Littlemen, Da Sunlounge, Bob Sinclair, Roger Sanchez, Eric Morillo, Jay-J, Chris Lum, Dick Johnson, Soane, Hipp-e and Halo, Andy Caldwell, Darren Emerson, Harry ‘Choo Choo’ Romero, Sandy Rivera, Martin Solveig, Groove Armada, Roy Davis Jnr, Elliot Eastwick, Felix da House Cat, Cut La Roc, Resin Dogs, Nubreed, KLF, Krafy Kutz, Jamiroquai , and the list goes on (basically you name them and Illya has supported , played alongside or been billed with pretty much every big name that has come to Australia).