“The Goal Is To Defy All Expectations.” This could quite conceivably be the maxim mounted on the wall of the New York office belonging to Ill Ease. That is, if Ill Ease actually HAD an office and, that is, if Ill Ease believed in Corporate Mission Statements.
Ill Ease is actually just Elizabeth Sharp ….. and her drum-kit. And her guitars and ‘loop’ pedals. She has neither an office (a laptop doesn’t really count, does it?) nor believes in any Corporate pish.
She does, however stand by the mantra……
Liz explains: “The expectation when as a lone woman I turn up to play a show, is that I’ll unpack an acoustic guitar and sing love-songs for the next forty-five minutes or whatever. Or possibly I’ll plug in a laptop and sing over the top of pre-recorded music. The same goes for writing the music – I try to defy convention as regards the verse / chorus ‘standard,’ and not just follow a structured template. You know, as a songwriter, there’s something should come logically next and I try to do the opposite!”
“I guess being a female who principally plays drums also shatters some preconceptions – maybe not as much as back in the late Nineties. Overall, though, I don’t suppose there’s more sexism in the Music Industry than others. In saying that however, it is a bit more prevalent here in UK than back home in New York. (This is Ill Ease’s fifth visit to these shores and with a new album on the way; it certainly won’t be the last.) Like, I’ll go into a music shop over here, and people sometimes speak with a bit of an attitude. They’ll say things like: ‘I don’t want to get too technical for you….!’
Patronising sales assistants needn’t worry. Liz does ‘technical’ pretty well, thank you very much.
“When I started out as Ill Ease, I would write and record all the music myself, but then take it on the road with musicians to help me perform live. However, for the past two to three years, I have been gigging on my own. I love recording and production, but at the moment I don’t find that as rewarding as playing live in front of a crowd. I enjoy the travelling and touring too much to move completely into the production side.”
Ill Ease started out in 1999 as something of a ‘side-project’ whilst Liz was playing bass with Skinner Pilot, in Athens, Georgia. (Previously, whilst at college in Massachusetts, she had formed and played drums with New Radiant Storm King – a band that attracted plenty of positive attention and played alongside the likes of Kim Deal, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and The Meat Puppets.)
However, Skinner Pilot ‘died of natural causes’ over a period of time, leaving Liz more time to concentrate on the development of Ill Ease. The initial two albums – ‘Live at The Gate,’ and ‘Live a The Holiday Sin’- were released in The States on a local label (Smilex Records.) Then, in 2002 and seeking a distribution deal in UK for the ‘Greatest Tits EP,’ Liz sent the demo to the Pickled Egg label in Leicester who then passed it on to our very own Paul Artrocker. He, in turn liaised with his connections at Too Pure. The EP, the ‘Jersey-O-Matic’ 7” and the excellent 2004 album ‘The Exorcist’ were all released through the UK label. And although the latest release, 2006’s ‘All Systems A-Go-Go!’ is through San Francisco’s Cochon Records (who also boast Hey Willpower, Peaches and Gravy Train on their roster) UK distribution has been secured through Cargo UK with online availability from HMV and Play.com.
So – what of the music? As mentioned previously it doesn’t follow any conventional structure. It tends to be repetitive – but ‘hooky.’ Could this be because Liz writes the songs principally as a drummer / bass player?
“Yeah – definitely. I mean, the guitar is really more of a rhythm instrument. It’s not so much the melody and stuff. And also since (Ill Ease) started off more as a recording thing, the kinda repetitive stuff is sort of built around that. Like, I would start with drum loops or repetitive drum grooves, add the bass to that, and THEN add the guitar – so that’s really the evolution of the sound.”
Does that mean, then that if Liz were more a ‘guitar player’ then her approach to song writing would be different? We’ll soon find out:
“A little with the present album, but even more so with the next one (‘Turn It Loose’ is due for release around Autumn 2008) I started writing with just the guitar to see what would happen – and I think it’s pretty different. There’s going to be some acoustic songs on the new album. It’s all going to be a bit more melodic and guitar based.”
Generally, Liz works on the minimalist creed of ‘less is more.’ Occasionally, she has been known to use a floor-tom, but more often has worked – both in the studio and live – with a basic drum kit comprising of snare, kick-drum and cymbals.
“I think if you’re in full control of your instrument, you can do a lot with very little, so I like to keep it at that – you know, not having a lot as far as instruments go, but doing a lot as far as comes across musically.’
Liz has been quoted as describing her drumming and performance style as ‘spazzy,’ a description she concedes may have different connotations in UK as opposed to USA.
“Hyper-active would probably be a better word to use over here” she accepts. “When I play, I do this bit real quick, move over there, do something else real fast and move back again. As if with a short attention span. ADHD, you know?”
On stage, Liz works hard for the money. She may be the only member in a band of one, but whilst that undoubtedly reduces the chances of conflict within the group, it does mean that there is nobody to share the set-up / clear up of performance gear. Yet it is quite evident that she enjoys the freedom this affords.
As the stage lights up, so does Elizabeth. With beaming smiles and bouncy gait, she covers every inch of her temporary territory. A few strums on the bass and guitar are ‘looped’ as she then moves to the drums, which are given a damn good thrashing! Actually, Liz is a very accomplished drummer and pounds out what can best be described as incessant ‘broken-beats.’ After only a few songs the word ‘spazzy’ rings true. Throughout, Liz encourages members of the crowd to ‘play’ the tambourine for her. At one point she even leaves the stage itself, while a hip-hop style beat is looped as she speaks to the audience on a one-to-one basis!
The set itself is a 50:50 split between tracks from the ‘All Systems A-Go-Go!’ album and new material. From the opening, repeated riff of ‘The Two Party System’ the audience’s expectations are defied. For a start, this particular song starts with a six-line first verse, a five-line second, and a four-line third. The drumming is off-kilter. The guitar riff is incessant. It’s fuzzy. It’s noisy. It’s certainly ‘spazzy!’It just shouldn’t work. But it bloody does!
Throughout, the lyrics are cynical and pointed, though not lacking in subtle humour and metaphors relating to personal experience. They shower disdain on those who would seek ‘perfection’ as ‘perfection.’ Perhaps true ‘perfection’ requires some blemished components? It would seem this is the message through the structure, music, lyrics and performance.
Liz is also a talented photographer, with a book of her pictures in the library at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
“Yeah – I still take a lot of pictures as I tour. It’s a nice way to interact with places. I think the most obvious correlation between my music and photography is that they are both really kinda ‘urban’ and based on life within cities. It is something I would like to explore as a career, but right now I’m putting 90% of my time into my music. That’s my main priority for the foreseeable future.”
With an ‘apprenticeship’ served through years of playing / touring with bands; irons in the fires of writing, performing and producing music and an obvious talent for photography, it is very apparent that despite the name of her ‘project,’ Elizabeth A. Sharp is one talented, creative and determined young woman who is completely AT ease with herself.