Iliest Vida Recordz

BIOGRAPHY



Phumlani Ilie Gumede A.K.A Alma Adicta/Iliest is a Versatile South African Music Programmer, DJ and a Freelancing Engineer. Lives in Isipingo, Westmont and is 21 years old this year. Was a student at the South African Film Institute, doing a 3 year course of Sound Engineering & Music Technology. Alma Adcita/Iliest is a passionate music producer and is always making music because he believes that with trial & error thereΓÇÖs always something to be learned along the way. He also loves drawing, passing the knowledge he has to anyone whoΓÇÖs interested to learn.



HISTOGRAPHY





Introduction



Alma Adicta’s passion for drawing started in 2006, age 10 when he was still in grade 4, and Alma Adicta was always luck to have friends that were interested in drawing (whenever he changes school). So Alma Adicta drew for 7 years and was improving every time. “I once drew a world map because I was challenging myself to see if I can make an exact replica of it” said alma Adicta. In high school he met a friend Nhlakanipho Shezi who draws comic books. They became best friends and Alma Adicta joined him in drawing comic books, coming up a variety of characters, 3D word designs, etc…



2013



Alma Adicta was 15 years old when he started to make music, and the love for drawing started fading away when his high school mate Thalente Richard Gumede introduced him to the world of making music. ΓÇ£I still have my drawings, stashed somewhere in my room and would like to re-do my drawings when I find time to do soΓÇ¥ the said. He learned to compose gqom since it was a trend at that time and thatΓÇÖs when the love for making music began. ΓÇ£My music was terrible at that time and IΓÇÖm glad that my friends never lied to me about that so I worked hard, would visit my one of my neighbor in the morning to experiment on FL Studio and go home at night because I love making music even when I was terrible at that time. The only thing that kept me going was the vision I had, I told myself that if I carry on making music at this pace, in 5 years time IΓÇÖll finally figure out how to make proper music. So thatΓÇÖs why I liked being criticized because I would wanna improveΓÇ¥ said Alma Adicta. So Alma AdictaΓÇÖs journey began and there was nothing that could stop him from making music because he is has passion for music and wants to dedicate his time in learning more and more.



2014 & 2015



When he was in grade 11, he met more creatives as him and most of them where in the same class as him. Alma AdictaΓÇÖs sound was still not good enough for him and he would tell his friends about his vision of mastering the making of music. He produced qgom for 2 years and few months because in 2015 December his interests moved to House/Deep House. ΓÇ£Some of my friends from the neighborhood advised me to this style and see what I can come up withΓÇ¥ he said. The love for music grew bigger everyday leading him to take a break in drawing. Made an album which was not pleasing since it was his first time making house music songs. But that did not stop him from making more music because he loves making music. Alma Adicta repeated his grade 11, not because he was spending too much time doing music but because he was easily distracted during lessons since there were about 40 students in his class. Repeating grade 11 was the best resolution for me to wake up and take my studies very seriously and this time there were about 25 students in his class (including him).



2016



At this time, he was in matric and was able to find a balance between his music and school work. A friend from around his neighbor ΓÇÿPure DistortionΓÇÖ told him about a new trending sub-genre ΓÇÿDeep TechΓÇÖ, because of interest, they both ventured and made a lot of experiments which led to releasing their first EP ΓÇÿMusic Is Life EPΓÇÖ (Contains 4 songs). The EP was released under DASM records and was available in some digital stores like Traxsource, Djtunes, Amazon & Junodownload. Later that year he

released a bootleg ΓÇÿLiquideep ΓÇô Alone (Alma Adicta Dub Tech Bootleg). Made a couple of mixes and shared the mixes to anyone who listens to his type of music. He was blown away by the feedback he kept on getting from people (talking about the EP).



2017



Alma Adicta finished high school in 2016 and went to study a 3 year course of Sound Engineering & Music Technology at the ΓÇ£South African Music InstituteΓÇ¥. This was the year when my sound changed abruptly because I was exposed to a variety of music making softwares. ΓÇ£We studied using Reason 5 & Cubase 5 but I was also using Logic 9ΓÇ¥ he said. While I was doing my first year, I was being mentored by a 2nd year lecture ΓÇ£Manqoba MtungwaΓÇ¥. His mentor helped him understand and discover a lot of things, every time Alma Adicta would go stay in the 2nd year class when his period ended. While doing so, he made new friends in the 2nd year class and made a collaboration with one o them ΓÇ£MxolisiΓÇ¥. Pure Distortion and Alma Adicta made another deep tech EP later that year but they didnΓÇÖt release it. The EP is titled Phased Side Of Us EP which featured a vocalist in one of the songs ΓÇÿPure Distortion & Alma Adicta ΓÇô Confusions Ft. Sne QueΓÇÖ. Alma Adicta Passed his first year and progressed to the next phase the following year.



2018



Alma Adicta was venturing on a lot of styles during this year because he doesnΓÇÖt want to limit himself to one style of music so that he could work with a variety of like-minded creators. Although some of the collaborations that happened in his class with his colleagues are still not yet released, hereΓÇÖs a list of people he has worked with in his class:



- MTOTO

- P Scyn

- Wolf

- Dj Loverboy

- Oro

- K.M.V

- Kazvilla

- Vuyelwa



Alma Adicta was still being mentored by Manqoba Mtungwa but was taught by Clerance Goodman Msani. ΓÇ£2018 was an amazing year for me because I was now mentored by two people and one of them was also my lectureΓÇ¥ he said.

The ΓÇÿPhased Side Of UsΓÇ¥ EP was released on the 23rd of June 2018 as free download. Followed by tons of singles ΓÇô ΓÇÿWhite ShadowΓÇÖ, ΓÇÿMove Your BodyΓÇÖ, ΓÇÿDo Your ThingΓÇÖ, ΓÇÿSeeking For MercyΓÇÖ, ΓÇÿPositive EnergyΓÇÖ. Alma AdictaΓÇÖs interest moved to Electronic Dance Music (Progressive House) and the first music producer that inspired him was Deadmau5 so he ventured on studying deadmau5ΓÇÖs sound by watching YouTube tutorials on how to achieve progressive house style, which got him excited when he found out that as he learns more, the style became his 2nd nature.. When he finally understood the basics of progressive house, he then focused more on studying Deadmau5ΓÇÖs music which changed Alma AdictaΓÇÖs perception about EDM.



Alma Adicta love challenges, he was fascinated by the things that are being done when making an EDM song. He started his YouTube channel and uploaded some of his music there. In December he then decided to release 4 singles every Friday and also started entering remix contests on the skiomusic platform ( https://skiomusic.com ) and the first song he remixed was ΓÇÿJustin Caruso Ft. Rosie Darling - High Enough (Alma Adicta Remix)ΓÇÖ. Other 3 songs of his original work that he released were ΓÇÿLesson From The Great OneΓÇÖ, ΓÇÿSpace HeightsΓÇÖ, ΓÇÿWhats On My MindΓÇÖ, ΓÇÿStep EmotionsΓÇÖ , ΓÇÿWay Back HomeΓÇÖ. Alma Adicta passed flawlessly and progressed to the last phase of his course.



2019



Early 2019 January he released 3 singles for the first 3 Fridays, ΓÇÿAlma Adicta & Not-B - Feadmau5 (Original Mix)ΓÇÖ, Aash Mehta Infinite Summers Ft. Lydia Kelly (Alma Adicta Remix) <Skiomusic remix contest>, and ΓÇÿNyeusi Mtoto & Alma Adicta ΓÇô DeepCoBlackΓÇÖ. ΓÇ£I spent a lot of time watching YouTube tutorials because I completed these 3 single last year so I had time to learn new thingsΓÇ¥ he said. One day he watched David GuettaΓÇÖs set playing at the Ultra Music Festival (UMF) and discovered a different style that he never heard before, which was Big Room & Big Room House. ΓÇ£When I first heard that big room house, At first I thought maybe it wasnΓÇÖt mastered well because the kick & bass was sounding different and weird. Another big room house song followed and thatΓÇÖs when I realized that this is done on purpose, the synth lead made me feel goosebumps and so I was determined to leave everything else and study this styleΓÇ¥ he said. While studying this genre, he managed to make his own YouTube tutorials to help others that need the little knowledge I have.



By March I began understand the structuring of the song and the cool thing about this genre/sub genre is that you are free to try out your weirdness. ΓÇ£I finished my course in June and after that I went all in with big room house music. Although I havenΓÇÖt released any of my big room & big room house songs, IΓÇÖm still waiting for the right label to release this type of styleΓÇ¥ said Alma Adicta. In Durban, the dominating genres are Hip hop & Amapiano so it would be pointless to release big room house on many local record labels. Released an EP titled ΓÇ£Eye for an Eye EPΓÇ¥ under Chaufferedream Label, made this EP on year 2018. Because Alma Adicta loves trying out new things, He discovered a platform for producers ΓÇ£DroobleΓÇ¥ and uploaded some his released work. Josh Thacker liked his sound and asked Alma Adicta to make remix song his that will be distributed on online e stores ΓÇ£Josh Thacker - Inside Out Ft. LilΓÇÖ Cam & Mackenzie Clymer (Alma Adicta Club Remix)ΓÇ¥. The song was released on the 28th of November 2019.