il:lo, a French electronic music duo consisting of Dejan Dejado and Andreas Schütz have been making waves in the electronic music scene with their unique sound, which blends downtempo, deep house, techno and other danceable elements.

Their latest EP, Myriad, pushes them slightly further into a more deep house, dance sound while maintaining the sound that they are known for. il:lo talks to SIX AM about their creative process, their influences, and there upcoming tour. They also share some insights into the dance music scene in Prague, where they met over 10 years ago.

Hi, il:lo! Thanks so much for talking to SIX AM how are you both doing?

Hi Thanks for having us! We are doing great. We just came back from an Europe Tour supporting Thylacine and now are releasing our new EP ‘Myriad’ and getting ready for our first Headline tour in the US in July!

Listen Now: The Anjunadeep Edition 355 with il:lo

Your collaborative project as il:lo began in Prague, can you let us know what the dance music/night life scene is like there?

Actually we don’t really know, we met there more than 10 years ago because we were both there traveling. We just got a glimpse of it because we went to some nice clubs (Chapeau Rouge, Cross Club) but sadly that’s pretty much it, we would love to spend more time there!

We played a show in Cross Club this year, the crowd was really reactive to our downtempo set and we will be playing in Palac Akropolis next fall with Catching Flies. Seems like there is a room for this kind of music there!

Could you share some insights into your creative process of being a duo group? What are some of the challenges you’ve encountered and what are some of the benefits that have allowed you to succeed?

For us, being a duo means always trying to blend two worlds, two sensibilities. That’s often easy because we like most of the same music and react to the same melodies. Our work process stayed the same since the beginning. We are producing from two different places (one in Montpellier and the in Berlin) and we share our ideas thanks to the magic of the internet!

This way of working allows us to try a lot of things before giving the draft to the other, it’s like adding pieces to an idea till we are both happy with it! Sometimes it’s challenging because we are not always on the same page regarding the BPM or some elements of a song, but it’s always a great way to stay humble and to be open to new directions for our music.

As your earlier releases were known for more of a downtempo style, how does your latest EP, Myriad, push the boundaries of your music in terms of genre and style?

Myriad marked a change in our music, as you said at the beginning we were producing mostly downtempo using a lot of samples. We wanted to try and take a more electronic direction by using more synths but without forgetting the roots of our project. It took us some time to find the right way of doing it and learn some new ways of approaching the composition but we are really happy with the result.

Listen Now: il:lo Myriad (EP)

With the release of your first full-length EP, Myriad, how do you balance your signature downtempo sound with the exploration of more deep house and danceable elements?

As said earlier it took us some time to understand how to combine those two worlds, we spent a lot of time experimenting on synths and finding the right beats and percussions to add to our composition and produce a more danceable and energetic sound.

Can you tell us more about your recent performances for Anjunadeep Live and your headlining solo tour in 2023? How do these live performances complement the experience of your recorded music?

They complement the experience of our recorded music because we have the feeling that we can propose something different during the live shows. We chose to rework on all the tracks that we play. We are approaching them like remixes, we have modified them to offer another color and sometimes another structure from the original versions. It’s great because it allows us to experiment with a lot of things that we wouldn’t dare to do on the studio versions.

One of the great advantages of playing live is that we have time to create an atmosphere and make the experience immersive for the listeners. This is even more true for shows where we have the chance to play headline and where we can play one hour or 90 minutes.

Thanks so much for talking with us, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

Thanks a lot for this nice chat ! If you’re in the US in July don’t hesitate to come to the shows or if you’re not familiar with our music feel free to check it out :)

Connect with il:lo: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website |  Soundcloud