ilex

ilex is the solo project of Sydney drummer, percussionist and producer Holly Conner.
Live sets combine experimental and industrial club tracks with heavy drums and driving rhythms; balanced with beautiful textural percussion, and amorphous sound-worlds.

ilex’s music draws inspiration from Japanese sci-fi, industrial techno and electro, drone music, and experimental sound art. Combining her eclectic influences, versatility as an instrumentalist, and production skills, she is fast creating her own unique and distinctive brand of percussion-meets-electronic music.

"Dynamic, powerful...an impressive display of virtuosic drumming....Highly theatrical, the sound and vision were highly impressive" - Eric Myers, Loudmouth Magazine 2022.

As ilex, Holly has performed experimental solo/live drum club sets supporting DJs such as Tzusing and industrial/punk/noise group Behind You; as well as creating ambient iterations of ilex for shows with artists such as Megan Alice Clune and Bluetung. She has performed at countless local Sydney electronic music nights, as well as the Sydney Opera House Studio as a Freedman Fellowship Finalist; and at the Sydney Biennale Art After Dark Series. In early 2023, ilex was chosen as FBI Radio's Independent Artist of the Week, following the release of her new single 'What is Soft is also Strong'.

ilex's debut EP, Visions of Elsewhere, was released in 2021. The EP is ambient and introspective; exploring the softer, less traditional, and textural sides of percussion. Tracks feature samples of gongs, traditional drums, temple blocks, found objects; all warped with effects and heightened with sparkly, celestial synths. In late 2022 she released her follow-up single 'What is Soft is Also Strong' which was on rotation at FBI radio Sydney, and received airplay across the country. Her latest track "Kodamas" was released on the New Weird Australia ambient compilation "Fragile States".