Jackson Free Press

Tonight, two bands will grace the stage of Martin's: ILLLS, a new Oxford-based band, and BOY. This will be ILLLS' first time playing in Jackson and their first time playing with BOY.

Led by Jim Barrett, 21, of Oxford, and Steven Ross, 22, of Jackson, ILLLS started as a side project. Two years ago, after they met through mutual friends, Barrett and Ross started to record unreleased songs. Ross was developing Slow Talk, his electronic solo project. They started recording more and more, all from the comfort of Ross's bedroom, until eventually, in November, the two decided to put together a band to play a live performance.

Tonight, they will perform with Ben Yarborough, 20, of Young Buffalo, and Jacksonian Martin Powell, 19, of Child Star. Barrett and Yarborough have played music together since middle school.

Right now, ILLLS is in a planning stage. "I'm just a little bit more focused on Young Buffalo, because we're kind of reaching our peak," Barrett said. Young Buffalo is reaching its three-year anniversary. "With ILLLS, we are just finishing up recording an EP and figuring out what we want to do with this so it's in the early stages of development."

Barrett thought of the name ILLLS when driving from Memphis. When he got home, he plugged ILLLS into a digital graffiti maker. "It just looked totally badass, so I immediately sent it to Steven (Ross)," Barrett says. "It wasn't so much how it sounded as it was how it looked. We're pretty happy with it."

Ross and Barrett have recorded an EP but are thinking about re-recording some songs and adding some new songs to it before releasing it to the public in the early spring. Barrett hopes to have some or most of the upcoming album available for free and the rest at a low price. He also hopes to tour this summer and release an LP soon after.

ILLLS currently has two songs on its Bandcamp website, one of which is available for free download. The two songs, "Teeth" and "Streetcars," are described by Barrett as the most representational of what they sound like and how the EP would be.

"It's pretty gritty and loud," Barrett says. "I would say there's also some garage rock elements but there's also some simpler pop." The band as a whole has been influenced by groups such as The Cure and The Clash.

Some of Barrett's favorite locals are Flight, Dent May and Dead Gaze. He's friends with a lot of other Oxford musicians though, as he frequents the Dude Ranch.

"I definitely think that some (of the local music) rubs off on us just because we've been listening and actually playing with some of the other bands. But we try to keep it different and not try to bank on others' work."

ILLLS perform tonight at Martin's at 10 p.m. Hear more of ILLLS's music at illls.bandcamp.com.