Neu ILLLS: ‘We Definitely Don’t Want To Have Some “Gross” Shtick’

New bands will often become pigeonholed within days of their inception, as ‘lo-fi’ tags or a brand or image will get lumped in with their awakening movements. ILLLS were incredibly patient with DIY when we decided to ask them questions almost entirely centered around a desire to make songs, artwork - everything - as queasy and sick-inducing as possible. But it’s difficult to get the pool of pink goo that graces the band’s debut EP’s artwork out of your head. When ILLLS were first profiled by First On last month, there was much speculating as to how they’d continue along this sickly trajectory: ‘In this game of self-oneupmanship, how on Earth will they top such queasy feats? Will they throw live cockroaches into the audience? Will a curtain of mould form the backdrop of their set? Will each member of the crowd be encouraged to sip on a carton of curdled milk while watching the group play?’ The Oxford, Mississippi band are surprisingly welcoming towards their current reputation and despite stressing that they don’t want to mimic a ‘Nickelodeon game show’ where everyone waits for the green slime to arrive, they seem not just courteous, but keen to revel in the gory details of their experience as a band. In the group’s first ever interview, we discuss topics beyond feeling nauseous, but the conversation seems to go full circle, constantly ending up on the same discussion of all things rotten and sickening. 

Everything you’ve done to date suggests you have a taste for the queasy, for the sick-inducing even. Is this mere coincidence or does the vomit-like artwork of your debut EP set a benchmark for what you plan to do in the future?
All of the sickening type stuff kind of just fell into our laps. We came up with the band name before we even thought about using the picture for the EP artwork, and then the idea for the ‘Teeth’ video just spawned from those two. We definitely don’t want to have some “gross” shtick that is associated with everything we do. If we did that, I think our videos and live shows would start feeling like one of those Nickelodeon game shows where everybody is just waiting for the green slime or whatever. 

How did you come to be approached by Sounds of Sweet Nothing? Are you excited about finally releasing the EP over here in the UK?
We actually knew about SOSN before they approached us. We are both big fans of a lot of their releases, UMO and Gross Magic in particular, and both of those bands ended up putting out records with Fat Possum, a really cool record label here in Oxford. After we played our first show, Ned at SOSN just sent us an email asking for more songs and soon after that we had a deal. We’re really excited about putting the EP out in the UK and are hoping to get over there to play some shows sooner than later.

What are your touring plans - are you bringing anything sick-inducing to the table with the live spectacle?
As of now we are still trying to figure out our touring plans. We both want to be confident in any tour we sign up for before we take off time from work or school, but we know we are eventually just going to have to go for it. I’m not sure if we will bring any sick-inducing aspects to the live show, but I’m sure having four or five guys stuff their faces with fast-food everyday, rarely shower, drink every night and piss, shit and fart whenever they feel the urge will have enough nauseating transcendence to come through somehow or another in the live show. 

Talk us through the video for ‘Teeth’ - what led you to going on this all you can eat shopping trip and how did you feel the day after filming?
Jim and I just brainstormed for an afternoon and came up with the concept for the video. We thought the grocery store would be a cool visual, and the live scenes were done in the art storage space of an amazing artist we know named Jane Rule Burdine. The idea for cooking and eating the pink goop was the least planned out part of the video. We didn’t know what food we were going to buy, or how much we would eat but we ended up just drinking a lot and following the shouted out directions of our friends / directors [Carson Culver and Reid Cooper] as they laughed the whole way through. There should probably (or maybe not) be more of us eating/throwing up, but it got pretty gross and I guess the editor showed as much as he thought was tolerable. All I know is that the taste of that goop didn’t leave my mouth the whole next day, and I still feel sick to my stomach if I think hard enough about eating that shit. 

Do you have any influences besides musical ones - culture, literary, film?
Yeah, it’s constantly changing, but as of late, the series Twin Peaks (David Lynch and Mark Frost) has been really inspiring. We are already recording new material for a full-length, and as of now, the goal is to make the new songs sound like they would fit in that show. Not necessarily as a soundtrack, but just fit in that world. 

How did you all meet? Have you been involved in other musical projects before?
Jim and I met a few years back through mutual friends. We had each heard the other’s band and decided to start recording some songs together, but it was originally just for fun. Once we realized we worked well together, we decided to record an EP and last November we played our first show and all the SOSN stuff happened. A few of our friends play with us live and they are in other bands too. That is kind of how it works with our friends here in Oxford. Every member of every band either has, or is part of another band and they are all putting out great records at different times. It’s a really fun place to make music because you are constantly being challenged creatively. 

Although the songs are guitar-based, there’s something very unconventional about what you do. How do you go about challenging yourself when songwriting?
Thanks, I think it’s really important to try and make something that won’t immediately lump you in with 10 other bands, but good songs are still the most important thing. We try not to settle on the first tone, chord progression or whatever it may be that comes to mind, because that’s usually just a regurgitation of something we heard earlier that week. However, I think finding new ways to present familiar ideas within pop music is usually more challenging than just being fully experimental, so that is what we try to do. Guitars have been the main focus of the EP, but keys are creeping in more and more on the new stuff. Live drums are something that we both agree are important to keep using, though.

What’s the most disgusting thing you’ve ever had to endure, besides the shopping trip for ‘Teeth’?
Well, there are many instances that come to mind but one in particular has always stuck with me. I was visiting some friends in Florida one summer and we all spent most of the day/night drinking and what not. In the middle of the night I was sleep walking and went over to where my friend was passed out on the couch and pissed all over his non-responsive body. One of my other friends (who happened to be very dehydrated) witnessed me do this, so early the next morning he decided to wake me up by pissing all over my body/face, which was very responsive. I freaked out, but seeing that “we were in a hurry” to get to the beach I was not allowed a shower and got to hang out drenched in piss and baking in the Florida sun for about an hour until we finally got to the beach and I had the luxury of being able to wash salt-water off with salt-water. 



The ‘Dark Paradise’ EP is released through Sounds of Sweet Nothing on 17th June.