Ill

ill is a three-piece American rock band based in Atlanta, Georgia. They started playing together in 2005 as part of a well-established Atlanta band that signed to Universal Records in 2007. Finding the major label experience creatively restrictive, the three musicians opted out in 2009 and started writing the songs that would soon establish, ill. They released their first independent album, Down in Deep later that summer. Having spent much of the previous two years on the road, including a tour supporting one of their favorite live bands, Fishbone, ill immediately started booking shows up and down the eastern United States. As the live show progressed, it became apparent that a new album was in order that better captured the sound and the attitude of ill onstage. They started writing in the spring of 2010, during which time guitarist-vocalist, Ryan Waters got called to rejoin the legendary UK soul band, Sade to tour in support of their new album. Ryan started working with Sade in 2000 and was happy to be back, but also wanted to continue creating with ill. The trio carried on writing and recording during breaks in Sade's schedule and, in the summer of 2011, completed an album entitled, Gotten Gains. With the help of friends in a favorite Atlanta band, Sun Domingo, the album caught the attention of Dutch record label, Glassville Records and is scheduled for a March 2012 release. The album will include a cover of the Sade classic, Pearls. The members of ill, Damion Goodpaster (Synth, Piano, and Vocals), Marlon Patton (Drums), and Ryan Waters (Guitar and Vocals) describe their sound as, "Big blues riffs done with a punk attitude and very much rooted in soul. To us, the lines of classification between Ray Charles and Black Sabbath are very blurry". Their recordings have drawn comparisons to such bands as Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, Kings X and Stone Temple Pilots while the live show was described by one reviewer as "...a stripped down, Hendrix-inspired blues guitar power trio with the sonic ambition of Nine Inch Nails". ill is looking forward to promoting, Gotten Gains with live shows throughout 2012. www.illrocks.com