This is the official AND profile of "singer", "songwriter", "ilja alexander" aka イルヤ (iruya).
Whether it was conscious or subconscious, merely to express his feelings or to amuse other people, music has always been at the centre of Ilja Alexander's life. At an early age ilja found his way easily on the piano, played the guitar soon after and he has been writing and composing his own songs and music throughout his life. Ambition, remarkable talent and determined willpower have taken him to where he is today: On the verge of becoming the next big thing in Pop Music with a highly personal, non-definable style and a keen vision of the total concept of his music and performance on stage.
Born on the 13th february in Amsterdam, Ilja believes he inherited his musical talent from his two grandfathers and his ambitions in music have been with Ilja since an early age, like a waking flame. With his talent, aiming for the academy of music -which he initially did by taking classical piano lessons- seemed a logical step. Music, however, did not fit in the context of his family traditions and on the advice of his parents Ilja nevertheless made the choices in his educational course in a rational way. A future in trade was the preferred goal at first. To achieve this, Ilja followed a path of several schools and courses. While studying he found his escape from daily college routine in a post-teenage life, which was monotonous to Ilja, in composing and singing his own music at the piano. Through music he created his own imaginary world. The ability to skip classes during college gave him the time to pursue his true ambition. It was not until a student exchange college course to Osaka in 2004 that ilja realized planning a future in making music could be a rational option as well.
While playing the piano on campus in Osaka, ilja unconsciously found his first fans. Fans who got him his first informal gigs at local events and festivals. The realization of people actually enjoying his music strengthened his self-confidence and made him realize for the first time in his life he could both push himself and his music to a higher level: As a performer on stage. Being in Asia made ilja's belief in music strong. Being in Amsterdam tempered it down. Several extended family holidays in Asia, however, awakened his inner ambitions for a future as a performer again, when he found himself playing the piano accompanied by girls asking for autographs in hotel lobbies, shopping malls and restaurants in places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia. It was there that ilja decided it was time to take his talent and true ambition seriously. The first steps in the direction of his dreams and a serious future in music were a fact from then on.
To the outside world, including his family, ilja was still the smart student but in reality there was a lot more going on. He had already got himself a semi-professional in-house Apple/Logic recording system and spent most of his time, as well his scholarship, on piano-, guitar- and singing lessons. He started taking additional lessons in Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, Korean and Chinese for the purpose of using it in writing his songs. Even a nose operation to fix his nasal- bone and tone was part of the new deal. The accomplishment of his Masters degree in Economics and getting more and more positive reactions from the people around him made ilja decide to come out with his ambitions in music for real.
In 2008 ilja released several digital singles in the Netherlands, Thailand and Indonesia, co-operating with producer Rutger Kroese in the Netherlands. Rutger Kroese owns Cruise Control Studios in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and produces major Dutch R&B artists. Ilja’s first single released in 2008 was I’ll Come Back For You.
In October 2009 ilja started to co-operate with producer/engineer Holger Schwedt in Europe. Holger Schwedt is responsible for many Dutch artists and bands. Among them Di-rect, Anouk, Blof, Van Velzen and Marco Borsato. Holger is also responsible for engineering Lionel Richie’s latest album for the Dutch market.
As an independent record label, Ilja Alexander Productions outsourced part of the production process to Jakarta, Indonesia, co-operating with the most well known producers, arrangers and musicians of the Indonesian music industry. Among them Andi Rianto, conductor of the Magenta Orchestra, Irwan Simanjuntak, ex-band member of Glenn Fredly and arranger for Indonesian Idols, Andre Dinuth and guitarist Stevie Item, band member of the rock band Andra and the Backbone.
January 2010 Ilja released a new digital single in Indonesia, Fire In The Rain. Within two weeks the song went up to #1 position in the Radio Ardan Chart in Bandung, Indonesia. He started co-operating with an Indonesian contentprovider to release his ringbacktones in Indonesia and the Telecomproivder Indosat made Ilja icon for its tv channel Star One and broadcasted Ilja’s first two music video’s throughout Indonesia. In March 2010 Ilja released yet another single in Indonesia, but to the surprise of his audience this single was recorded in the Indonesian language, Dunia Yang Sempurna. The same song will also be released in English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.
Ilja’s album Hold On To Her is expected to be released soon. First in Japan and the Netherlands
Enjoy!
http://www.ilja-alexander.com
http://1upmusic.jp
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