Illenium: Self-titled and Self-proven [Magazine Exclusive]

The rise of Illenium over the past seven years has been one of the greatest stories in all of the industry. An electronic music fan turned superstar producer has now become known as one of the leading forces in melodic bass music and producing some of the most emotional tracks the scene has ever heard, he is never afraid to share his vulnerability in the hopes that his truth will help others. Starting with an iconic three-album run known as the “Trilogy” with projects ‘Ashes,’ ‘Awake’ and ‘Ascend,’ followed by his Grammy-nominated sequel in 2021,‘Fallen Embers,’the Colorado native has not just put out timeless music but has impressively created an entire mythological world with his bodies of work. 

Now he comes into 2023 with his newly released self-titled album, ‘ILLENIUM.’ A prequel to the previous albums that explores Illenium’s earliest inspirations in music. In this May edition, We Rave You spoke with Illenium for an insightful interview on the creation of the project and the world tour coming this summer. 

Five albums in seven years. You look back starting with, ‘Ashes’ and then ‘Awake,’ ‘Ascend,’ and ‘Fallen Embers.’ And now ‘ILLENIUM’. Did you think that you were going to put out that much music in that span of time? Was that the plan?

No, I think it’s just a mixture of things. I think I have something in my brain where I love being able to tell a bigger story with an album and being able to kind of build the world a little bit. And each time I put one out, I really feed off of the energy and people being excited. And that one inspires me to do something new. I can’t really just sit in a sound. 

Image Credit: Sean Flynn