Words by w0rmw00d
What does it mean to create? To exist? To leave a mark that feels like you? These are the questions Ilā has been wrestling with for as long as they can remember. Ilā’s creative world is one of sound, emotion, and experimentation—a kaleidoscope of ambient textures and electronic pulses that feel both deeply personal and otherworldly. This world was shaped first by questioning everything, from binaries and boundaries, to embracing the spectrum of it all.
QUESTION EVERYTHING
If life is a series of events you learn from, then meeting and connecting with Ilā has been a masterclass of the highest order. First of all, we both studied philosophy and physics, which is a minor miracle in and of itself given how different our contexts and upbringings were from each other.
And yet, I found such a kindred spirit in them. Someone who constantly questioned the world around them, the constructs that have been put in place. Ilā’s context is quite unique and shows how binaries/boundaries can be a source of power. From being mixed-race (german, malaysian, sri lankan), to having a duality of religious undertones as a child (catholicism and hinduism), wanting to study and excel in both the arts and sciences, to transitioning, we see an individual who truly embraces the wonderful “clusterfuck” of it all.
“As humans, we far too often focus on what the identity, what the binary or boundary, IS vs the behavior and context. I find this so limiting as I’m so much more than just one thing. Like, I’m so much more than just an ‘artist’. I am someone who does artistic things, which is all-encompassing. It’s quite freeing to see yourself this way.”
Ilā’s childhood was all about experimenting—playing with sound, exploring emotions, and creating for the sake of creation. Growing up surrounded by London’s multicultural energy, they instinctively learned to view the world as a playground for expression. It wasn’t about doing things the “right” way; it was about following curiosity wherever it led. Music wasn’t something Ilā approached with rigid structure or rules—it was an act of discovery, a behavior of constant play. This mindset shaped everything they did, embedding a love of exploration and experimentation into their identity long before they ever considered it consciously.
“I remember when I got my first guitar, my instinct wasn’t to play, but to disassemble! I took it apart out of curiosity to understand the nuts and bolts. What is this thing made of? How does the construction of these parts lead to sound? I cared so deeply about that before ever considering playing the thing!”
That same behavior—the innate curiosity, the joy of experimenting, the freedom to question, and the drive to create—naturally led them to philosophy and physics. Both fields, like music, are rooted in the art of play. They involve testing boundaries, asking impossible questions, and sometimes, breaking the rules. Philosophy invited Ilā to challenge ideas about the self and existence, while physics grounded those questions in the natural world. Together, they became the perfect balance: one probing the abstract, the other focused on the tangible.
This foundation set the stage for Ilā’s fascination with AI. For them, AI is just another playground, another instrument for experimentation and expression. It’s not about rigid programming or purely logical outcomes—it’s about playfully exploring what’s possible. In many ways, Ilā’s journey from experimenting with sound as a child to studying the nature of reality through philosophy and physics, and eventually working with AI, feels inevitable. Each step flows into the next, driven by that same innate behavior of curiosity and creation.
AI
The current explosion of AI today is something I’m equally proud to be alive for and terrified by. The prospects, in my opinion, don’t look good for humanity. And yet, it was through Ilā that I was reminded of the fact that it’s not the technology we should be scared of, as it usually never is. It’s actually us.
We’ve been using forms of Artificial Intelligence for a very long time, since the early days of computing. I’m reminded of the Illiac Suite, which is considered as the first composition carried out by an electronic computer, as I take stock of just how far we’ve come in ~50 years. The only real difference seems to be the level of ‘sophistication’ of AI today and the general adoption across industries.
For Ilā, the fascination and interest lies in its ‘scariness’. But grappling with the real-world implications of AI is something we need to take seriously.
Our lack of a joint or coordinated effort to tackle AI’s impact on economics, the disenfranchisement of people who already deal with a technology access gap today, and even something as critical as governance of exponential technologies should be reason enough to slow things down. These issues are not unique to AI, but simply magnified because of its potential in business at the largest of scales.
“At the simplest level, AI is not the issue, it’s people. We historically love rapid expansion and using up resources; it’s in our nature to just take and take. When have we ever stopped scaling something? It’s like a runaway train and we don’t even seem to have dialogue around these things on a critical level.“
“I’m not optimistic per se, but I don’t think it will be the end of humanity. Rather it seems like the latest way to create more of a gap between those with power and those without. The whole thing is disheartening. And who knows, maybe we’ve provided the Doomsday Device afterall…”
As disheartening as it may be for Ilā, AI ultimately is something to explore, not only because it exists and denying that is irresponsible, but because there is always something to glean or pull from a situation.
If you think of any new technology, there is always initial pushback, skepticism and some degree of fear. Specifically in music, you can think of the inventions of amplifiers, DAWs, sampling and more as just some things that were not well received when first created that now feel vital to the creative process. For Ilā, AI is no different, ultimately another tool that creatives can and should explore.
“People have and will always feel some trepidation when a new thing comes along. It’s natural to have a healthy skepticism.“
“At the end of the day though, blaming technology or a new invention or tool as the problem isn’t the solution. If there’s no ‘soul’ in the final product, the thing you create, that’s your fault! You are the artist and your job is to inject a part of you into your work. The medium doesn’t matter and shouldn’t be to blame.”
CREATIVE PROCESS
As we established Ilā’s thoughts around AI, it was illuminating to learn about their creative process in general. I’m always fascinated by how people get going. Where do ideas come from? How do they evolve? When is an idea at its end? These were the topics I was most interested in exploring with Ilā as everyone is unique in this realm.
Anytime I need to do something creative, I seem to always default to some similar things. Play music to get me going, hopefully have some privacy, maybe smoke a little weed. I was surprised to learn that Ilā, whose music feels so inspired and intentional, doesn’t have a set way of doing things.
“I like to always change things up. I’ll literally move furniture into new places or displace things to give a new sense of space. If I’m interested in guitar, I might completely detune it or tune it randomly as my first act. Again it’s just about exploring.”
One of her latest tracks with the mighty Imogen Heap, Ilā outlined how the process was unlike any other they’ve been a part of and of AI’s involvement in the creative process:
“The track with Imogen was the hardest I’ve worked on a track so far. People think using AI is cheating, but there’s actually so much that goes into it. Tons of editing, tons of granular tools, timbre transfers, modulations to create interesting rhythmic structures for a groove. Exploration of time stretching, pitching, etc. just to really explore the boundaries of the idea and the tools/technologies involved. And then Imogen doing the same thing to the new files!“
“Using AI just adds another layer of complexity and interest. From training the model you might be using, fine-tuning it and embracing the unpredictability of the output. It’s quite lovely though, because it’s almost a forcing function, for me anyways, to continue to constantly explore and push those boundaries and expectations. It’s a labor of love really.”
This is just the beginning of an already inspiring journey for Ilā. Their work has already proven to be so impactful for many of us who might not have our own voices be heard or are muted.
Ilā represents the best of what humanity has to offer: fearlessness, curiosity and an unwavering embracement of what’s to come.
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Ilā has a lot happening right now! Please follow along below and engage as much as possible! We are honored to be working with them and Trans Voices, of which they are a co-founder.