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BIOGRAPHY

William Peterson, known as iLLa wiLLa, is a multi-instrumentalist composer from Wilmington, North Carolina. With a song writer's ear, William utilizes live looping for a full auditory experience, mixing a wide range of sounds bringing compositions to life. 

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        Growing up in a musical environment, William sang in choirs and learned piano with his sister, while his father's business Water Street Restaurant had live music almost every night. There is where his deeply rooted love for music took off. Genres spanning from jazz to bluegrass to eclectic improvisation, William's ear was exposed to a wide range of music at Water Street, and now in his mid 20's, he cherish's the lasting effect those artists had in him.

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       When William was in 6th grade, his best friend Henry moved from Boston, Massachusetts, and this is when he had his first true collaboration playing in a punk band with Henry and their closest friends Max and Erik. "The Scandals" performed and gained momentum in Wilmington among the punk rock scene, each member falling in love with the energy they felt from creating original music together. William remembers these formative years as the time where he found his inner passion to perform. 

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       It was when Peterson began college at Birmingham-Southern in 2010, that he knew that being a musician was what he would spend the rest of his life doing. "I met so many different types of musicians and their passions at BSC", says Peterson,"and that's when I knew it was time to get busy." After a year in Birmingham, Peterson transfered to UNC Asheville where he began his study in Jazz and Contemporary music focusing in vocals. Now holding a BFA, he performed in bands in the southeast and released his debut single, "New Sense" as iLLa wiLLa. This was followed by the release of his debut E.P., self titled "iLLa wiLLa".

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      When the time felt right, William left NC to form new beginnings in the Bay Area of California in early 2019. This is when he really grappled the Boss RC-505 and took his looping and live performance to the next level. Kicking off his first week, William performed at the International Film Festival in Yountville which gave way to shows all throughout the Napa Valley. These gigs not only provided amazing scenery, but a great pool of networking. Sofar Sounds also became a positive outlet to play his original music all throughout California. Creating content and producing on his own and others' tracks was the way of life before life brought Peterson back east.

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       Returned to his hometown of Wilmington, NC in January 2022, he hit the ground running performing all over the state with his live loop setup. This has given way to multiple collaborations with live drummers and instrumentalists for his loop sets. iLLa wiLLa is currently planning his Fall 2024 dates in NC and performing locally in Wilmington.

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