We caught up with the brilliant and insightful illexotic a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

illexotic, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

We both actually started playing instruments when we were kids. Corinita later discovered a natural singing voice, and Josh got into freestyle rapping with his friends. We met at Chabot College in Hayward, CA in their Music Recording Technology program. Josh didn’t know much about electronic music but grew up listening to it and going to raves, so he wanted to learn how to make it. Corinita had been going to Chabot for classical music but ended up in the Electronic Music class because she ran out of classical music courses to take. Chabot’s classes taught us all the basics of making beats, recording, all that stuff. A while after we met and worked on class projects together, we decided to start a music duo together instead of just working on individual projects separately, and that’s how illexotic started.
Knowing what we know now, the biggest change we could have made earlier on to level up way faster would have been working with more mentors more often. When we started we were not making the best music, but we had ideas that were so genuine. It’s a struggle when you cannot understand why your finished product doesn’t sound like what you hear on the radio or the festival stage. We worked with Lenny Kiser getting private lessons which upleveled how we heard music and leaned into our creative ideas. After that we worked with Jaybird’s “The Birdhouse” program and it really helped us fit our eccentric music ideas a little more comfortably into genres that were marketable while polishing our sound. Working with mentors really accelerated our growth sonically.

We believe persistence, passion, being open to learning and trying new things are essential skills to a career in music. Things are changing and evolving all the time in the music industry, and you gotta be willing to stay consistent and current to succeed. It’s always a learning process. Also just like with any skill or creative endeavor, it takes tons of time and effort to improve musicianship, production skills, DJing, singing, all that. Among those skills, the most essential skill for us is believing in our music. Any skill can be learned but you first have to believe you can do it. There’s a lot of doubt out there, and a lot of people want to produce music or DJ professionally. It takes a strong belief in what you’re doing to keep at it, take professional steps, have faith that what you’re doing is worthwhile and keep believing that you’ll rise above.

Of course laptops and electronic music gear cost money. So the main obstacle is income and the cost of doing business. We both really are coming up from very little. We may not have every advantage in the world, but we do feel like the grind teaches us to be creative and flexible. I appreciate the journey around hustling to make ends meet in a way that leaves time for creativity in the studio, live performances, and professional development. At times it can get tiring or overwhelming; but the passion always keeps us going.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Oakland, California based illexotic is the House & Bass Music producer/DJ duo consisting of Chicane singer-flutist Corinita, and Pinoy rapper-pianist Josh. Love, positivity and empowerment are the focus of our genre-bending sound which melds gritty with groovy. As a diverse duo, we bring positive energy to live stages while fostering a growing community around mental health advocacy and fighting social injustice.

Releasing our freshman album Resillience in 2019, Chillexotic EP in 2020, and sophomore album illustrations in 2021; illexotic started with a wide range, politically charged experimental sound which featured on EARMILK, Reignland Magazine, The Word Is Bond, international radio shows and more. Retaining our Pop and Rap influences and our focus on mental health, illexotic’s dynamic style has now evolved into the House and Bass universe inspired by artists like Sofi Tukker, Louis The Child, Nostalgix, ero808, Kaleena Zanders, BEAUZ, Wreckno & Mary Droppinz – electrifying crowds on every dancefloor!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think a lot of non creatives think just because you’re making music and performing, that it’s 100% fun. While we are privileged to be doing what we love and are passionate about, it’s a similar privilege and dedication and something like going to the gym. Some days it’s easy to take it for granted, some days you have so much fun and feel thrilled. But some days you just do not want to go, but you know you have to. Not everybody has the time, resources, or able bodied to be doing the gym; music can be very similar. A lot of the time it hardly feels like we’re a couple (we are!) and more like we’re just two people living in a 1 bedroom apartment together switching between work, music, chores, and sleep. It makes the fun times that much more fun, and the wins that much bigger – but it also takes a lot of dedication and boring stuff to get there.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This question spoke to us because of the way it’s worded… we have an album titled “illustrations” and an album titled “resillience” haha!

In 2019 we attended an entrepreneurship and self-development conference for the first time. We learned so much about ourselves and each other, and this was a big catalyst for personal and career growth. We started playing more bigger shows, and booked our own California tour in 2020. The covid lockdown started mid-tour for us, so we immediately pivoted to full time livestreaming and focusing on music production. We grinded out an EP and an album in less than a year, grew a dedicated Twitch community, and played tons of virtual shows and festivals. When we finally, frantically fit all the pieces in place culminating in our album release… we stopped streaming, stopped performing, stopped music. We had been so focused on productivity and growth, that we had ignored our declining mental health and bandwidth.

So we took 2 years off from music. We traveled, worked, moved, and tried to figure out how best to navigate life and a dramatically altered (and still constantly changing) music industry moving forward. In 2023 we incorporated, started doing things as illexotic again, and pivoted and further refined our musical style. It’s taken a lot of experiences; open, honest, sometimes long and difficult conversations; therapy; and connecting with our communities for support. Now, we feel stronger and more focused than ever, and we’re crushing ever-bigger goals we set for ourselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.illexotic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illexotic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100058098280493
• Twitter: https://x.com/illexotic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/illexotic
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/illexotic
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1xpn3czJqAhDkifCBBvF4K?si=IDdJmLB1TgG8lFAAW-NdtgTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@illexotic

Image Credits

Credits:
Deja Whitney @dejawhitney
Denali Elliott @denaliconnected
Bri