GETTING FESTIVE

After solidifying himself as one of the nation’s most prominent hip hop artists, emcee Illy is ready to ditch the temperamental bitch Melbourne calls weather for some sunshine at this year’s Sprung Festival and 600 Sounds.

“I’m really looking forward to both days,” Illy says. “Bliss N Eso and Drapht are both mates playing at 600 Sounds and Sprung’s line-up is crazy! I guess just getting up to Queensland, being among a bunch of cool crew and enjoying the nice weather and some good music should be really fun.”

First realising his dream at just 13, the now 26-year-old Melburnian has toured the country extensively, performing sold-out shows with M-Phazes after the release of his sophomore album, ‘The Chase’, late last year. “Having ‘Pictures’ come #66 in Triple J’s Hottest 100 last year and then ‘It Can Wait’ reach #29 this year was awesome, not to mention playing Pyramid (Rock Festival) last New Year’s as well as Splendour, the Melbourne shows, and selling out an entire tour. There’s been a lot of pinch-yourself moments lately and hopefully there’s still a lot more yet to come.”

While ‘The Chase’ has received rave reviews all around, producing the album was nothing less than an all-consuming effort in between touring and completing a law degree at Monash University. There were points when the workload just seemed overwhelming. “It was pretty hectic making ‘The Chase’. I was still a full-time student and I was touring flat out so there were times when it got pretty ridiculous. The whole concept behind ‘The Chase’ was that at the time I was making it I was pursuing three different things: touring, making the album and finishing uni. I was chasing these three different goals but not actually realising any of them.”

Now less than two weeks away from graduating, Illy has his head on his shoulders and a strong plan for the future. “I’ve always said I wanted to push this as far as I could before I turn to a career, I just wanted to have the degree behind me. After graduation I’ll hopefully have a couple of years of just being able to focus on the music and see what happens there before I chuck on a suit and tie.”

ILLY PLAYS SPRUNG FESTIVAL AT THE BRISBANE RIVERSTAGE THIS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 AND 600 SOUNDS - ON THE GOLD COAST - FRIDAY OCTOBER 21.