DJ SPOTLIGHT: ILY!

We’d like to introduce you to ILY – Julian Delabano

Tell us how you got started—what sparked your journey into DJing/producing?
I’ve been a musician and instrumentalist my whole life - but I began practicing music production at the age of 18, moving through various indie music projects as a singer/songwriter and producing my own tracks for those projects, (LULJ, JUL, POOLBOYJUL) until eventually landing on bass music through my love for the rave scene and the music that inspired me in it, which made the final rebrand to my personal project “ILY!”, which has grown to over 40 original music releases, collabs, and remixes under the current ILY! moniker. I also created the TENHUT COLLECTIVE experimental music and art talent group for other inspirational artists making weird bass music in our local scene, which has grown to include 20+ artists in our release roster, with many other talented guest producer and DJ bookings to our community rave events and music festivals!

What are you most proud of when it comes to your brand or artistry?
I own the Tenhut Collective record label/talent group, which was conceived years ago on the basis of being a safe haven community for growing artists, a place we can all help each other grow mutually through channels of inspiration from one another. My goal with Tenhut was to make it bigger than myself and to make a space for up-and-coming talent to grow, and be appreciated properly for that growth! As of today, I feel as though I have accomplished that goal and will always continue to push the label forward and grow the brand to make a bigger impact on our community, and keep bringing people together with music for forever more! With my personal project (ILY!), I focus on playing a 90%+ original set of bass music that I have personally hand crafted through years of grinding and hard work on the DAW, including collabs with other artists, and remixes/flips of my favorite music that I have made as well. I am very excited and proud to play my sets on anything that can handle the bass!

What goals are you chasing right now as an artist?
I am currently focusing on growing my personal project by taking on bigger bookings. I have accepted a couple larger-scale bookings for 2025 as of now, and I’m releasing lots more original music this year! I have already released an EP this year, as well as several collabs and a few drops onto the Tenhut Collective compilation album, and I’m already planning several more big releases through 2025.

Any mixes, tracks, or recent releases you’d like people to hear?
[IN MY BEST FORREST GUMP VOICE] - “I’ve got Originals, collabs, flips, remixes, edits, bootlegs, VIPs, Double VIPs” etc…
CHECK IT ALL OUT HERE:
Spotify
SoundCloud

Links so we can follow and support you:
Linktree
SoundCloud
Spotify
Instagram
Tenhut Instagram

What’s the most memorable crowd moment you’ve had in the Dallas scene?
I think in the Dallas scene, any time I’ve thrown shows with my record label out here, has been absolute CORE MEMORIES. I have so much respect and love for everyone that works with Tenhut Collective, it really just feels like a family affair every time!

If you could back‑to‑back with any Dallas DJ tomorrow, who would it be and what genre would you play?
ANYBODY ON TENHUT COLLECTIVE, AND WE’RE DROPPING ORIGINALS ALL DAY! We actually have a big b4b that we are doing as a stage takeover as direct support for OZZTIN, TWOPERCENT, and GALLIUM next month at Green Elephant, and it’ll be a blast!

Best advice you’ve gotten from another artist?
“Never give up.” - Literally everybody, and it sounds cliché, but it’s such great advice. That bit of advice has never failed me.

“Keep being different, it’s refreshing” - Another big promoter out here told me that one time actually, when I spent an hour playing originals to a room with 3 people in it, and I really took that to heart.

How do you discover new music to keep your sets fresh?
I make some more. Can’t go wrong with cooking up something nobody has heard yet!

Get your tickets to MayHAM HERE