illyria interview on Metalwar.gr

Hi Ilija, welcome to Metalwar.gr!

-Jo: First of all give us the line-up of the band, you know who is who and all your background!
-Ilija: Cam’s on drums, Jeffrey plays the bass, Andre, Harry and myself are on guitar. I do vocals as well!

-Jo:” Illyria” the band’s name, why the specific name, tell us the story behind it!
-Ilija: I was learning about Ancient Rome in high school and I saw there was a province called ‘Illyria’, I said to myself “that sounds like my name, I could make a solo project”, now eleven years later, this is my main band and I don’t plan on slowing down!

-Jo: “Wanderlust ” , your full album (can’t stop listening to it….fantastic), do you wanna tell us a few words about it?
-Ilija: I am really glad people are enjoying listening to Wanderlust as much as I enjoyed creating it. Every album so far has been an experiment and I really approached this album to be a more sonically consistent album than previous releases. I feel very comfortable writing this style of darker, energetic metal and I look forward to expanding on it with future releases while still maintaining the melodic and intimate charms within our tunes.

-Jo: What is the feedback you are getting about the album and all of your albums?
-Ilija: Much better than our previous albums and it is nice to see our metrics from sales, streams and engagement all positively trending upwards. Wanderlust seems to have ticked enough boxes for our broad range of listeners, old & new, to be satisfied.

-Jo: Something you said not l that your goal is to capture and build on the gracious melodies and pulsating rhythms of the hybrid genre whilst pushing the accessibility of the genre to new listeners around the world,how did that go, was it difficult to accomplish it?
-Ilija: It is still difficult and to be quite honest, I think we have much to improve in reaching new listeners. It was a different era when we first started as a band where you could drop an album on bandcamp and youtube and let the music do the talking. You really have to be consistent with being a content creator as much as a music composer and sometimes it gets too much for my lifestyle. I hope to find a nice middle ground in the future because I don’t want to ultimately reject the current musical climate but I also don’t want to become a slave to the social media grind as that also affects my peace of mind. The world is becoming more accepting of genre blending, especially with black metal fusion but we have much more to go when it comes to showcasing our version of metal that we offer.

-Jo: Who writes the lyrics and what do you like to deal with lyrically?
-Ilija: I write all the lyrics. Sometimes I am inspired by history, sometimes video games I play or movies/TV shows I watch. One of our albums ‘The Carpathian Summit’ is a lot more personal and I delved into my relationships with family members, ex-girlfriends and exploring more into my Eastern Orthodox faith. I am not really keen on going more personal these days, I have a wonderfully blessed life with my beautiful wife and my cheeky sons, not much substance to make angry metal music about, so I try to find these confronting emotions within movies and books these days as a substitute.

-Jo: Can you elaborate a little bit on the songs? What are they about and what are the themes on each one?
-Ilija: The songs are much more like vague references building-on shows, movies or books I have experienced. A good example is “Yesteryear” which was composed immediately after binge-watching Attack On Titan and reading The Bible, I wanted to enforce those chaotic motifs into an illyria song. “Pragma” is inspired by watching Avatar: The Legend of Korra and “Sirens” is inspired by The Odyssey. Every album has these kinds of songs that are inspired by other references. Normally, the title tracks are the personal ones. Wanderlust is heavily inspired by the daunting feelings of the duty of becoming a father for the first time and I was unsure how my life would pan out, or Take Me Somewhere Beautiful about finding someone so amazing in your life that all your problems seemed to fade away. I truly just love the entire process and I love reflecting on my growth in multiple fronts of life.

-Jo: The cover artwork of the albums is really beautiful and distinct. Who’s behind the curtain?
-Ilija: Mark Erskine is a very talented artist and I managed to come across this artwork back like half a decade ago and kind of sat on this art until the right album suited it. I think Wanderlust’s music was perfectly fitting for such an amazing art piece. Thanks so much to Erskine Design!

-Jo: What are the most important values or principles that guide your decisions as a band?
-Ilija: To always challenge myself and to push the boundaries. Keep the listeners on their toes and don’t be afraid to not please everyone. A special shoutout to all my students that I teach and support what I do, but also to the others that aren’t afraid to tell me my music sucks! I am who I am and I won’t compromise. Go make the music you love and test all the eardrums on this planet!

-Jo: Australia is a huge continent, is there a resonance in Metal?
-Ilija: A huge continent indeed and the fact we are based in Perth, Western Australia really significantly emphasises that. We only toured outside of our state for the first time in January 2025, twelve years and four albums since I first started Illyria. Ultimately, a great experience, but a long time to stabilise to such a point in our musical career. The alternative music scene is great. It goes through nice times and tough times just like anywhere else, but you definitely feel it a lot more when you are all alone, girt by sea… I have nothing bad to say about living here, raising a family is amazing here and to be able to balance work, family and my musical passion is the greatest balance.

-Jo: Where can we find your work and merchandise?
-Ilija: You can visit our bandcamp for physical and digital items at illyria.bandcamp.com and if you want a dropshipping alternative come visit illyriamusic.com if those shipping prices seem nicer for where you live! Thanks so much for a good chat, a new EP is coming out later this year!