ILÆY  is a singer, songwriter and producer based in Berlin.  I caught up with ILÆY after her set at Sziget beach on the 9th of August to chat about her music, her experience playing at Sziget and her future goals as a musician. 

What are your musical influences?

You're opening a can of worms there! I literally get my influences from all genres possible. I was such a big Pink Floyd fan when I was a child, and I still am. I think that gave me a psychedelic and melancholic touch. But I also listen to a lot of Jazz based genres like new jazz and obviously all the classics. I think what really shaped me was bands like Radiohead, Portishead, Apparat and Massive Attack (I was a massive fan of them growing up). I’m used to singing and performing in a lot of different genres. So I love doing everything all at once, and my music I guess is kind of a mixture of everything.And after I left Turkey I started to write Turkish lyrics and my music started to have Turkish influences in terms of the harmonies.

Could you tell me about your songwriting process?

Sometimes I  find some lyrics that rhyme well and I start building up a melody around that. I actually have this memory of when I was in Mumbai and I was singing a song in my dream. I woke up and I tried so hard not to lose it so I recorded it and I have that recording to this day from 2018. So sometimes it happens like that, but if you are a music production nerd then you find a synth or a new sound and you start playing with it. Either way works. Sometimes I write the lyrics later and I come up with some gibberish words to find out what kind of vowel the song is looking for. Or sometimes I feel really built up with some kind of emotion that I need to write about.

You mentioned during your set that when you leave a place you take parts of it with you. Is this something you have felt from your own experience and does it influence your music?

Absolutely. Obviously I am reflecting a lot of my experience with my home country, Turkey in my music, but while I was living in Prague I wrote many songs there. Only two of the songs that I played today were written in Berlin, which is where I am based now. I cannot really flag which songs are influenced directly by 'Czech music', but I feel like the Czech music scene did have a strong influence on me. It's what makes you rich, right? 

What is the music scene like in Berlin?

I think I'm still new there. It's been ten months since I moved, but it is incredibly lively and so welcoming and that's the best part for me. In Berlin, I feel so welcomed. There are a lot of good venues and festivals to play at with incredible musicians from all around the world. I feel like it was a great decision to move there. 

Do you think music can be political? Does music always need a message?

It can be political, but it doesn't have to be. If you overdo it then it can lose its meaning and its sincerity. My music doesn't go into politics too much, but everything we experience is impacted by the politics around us. For example, leaving my country was a very conscious decision, and obviously there are political reasons for that. 

With playing at festivals you get to meet lots of artists from around the world, and you played at Glastonbury festival last year. What was your experience like at Glastonbury and how would you compare it to Sziget festival?

It was otherworldly. The funny thing about Glastonbury was that I played one gig there and then the second gig two days later with another artist that I had never met before. Her name is Kezz, a great producer and singer from Serbia with a solo setup that is very similar to mine!-. We came up with some common songs from our countries and one of my songs reminded her of one of the traditional Serbian songs, so we merged all of those things for our collabs. It was a beautiful five days with beautiful memories. Being at the legendary Glastonbury was incredible.  

Here at Sziget, I am very impressed with how beautifully organised everything is. Everything has been positively overwhelming. Now that my concert is over I'm going to enjoy the festival. 

Looking to the future, are you planning on playing at any more festivals or releasing any more songs?

Most of the songs that I played today haven’t been released yet. So I'm going to make a debut album. I'm working on that with a few co-producer friends. I would like to make it a concept album. Hoping to release it at the end of the first half of 2025. In terms of concerts and festivals I have a lot coming up in Berlin, maybe in Poland and definitely in the Czech Republic. 

It was a pleasure to interview ILÆY, and I look forward to listening to her debut album. To find out more about ILÆY and her music follow this link to her website: https://www.ilaey.live 

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Heather Gosling is a university student currently studying English Literature at York. She is passionate about journalism, creative writing and music. She has written for many online and print publications and is working on a music magazine (@circulationzine).