Asif Illyas is a veteran of 30 years in the Canadian music scene. He has won numerous awards for his work in the pop songwriting and producing realm as well as composing for film and TV features. His extensive touring experience in bands over the years has taken him all over the world, performing on stages and in festivals with some of the world’s best including Colin Hay (Men At Work), Paula Cole, and producing and writing for Canadian acts like Ria Mae and Ashley MacIssac.
After his daughter, Ava, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 2, Illyas decided that his touring days were on hold so that he could help take care of her so, in 2013, Asif released his ECMA award-winning debut solo album, “Synesthesia”, where he performed all the instruments himself. Still continuing to have challenges figuring out ways to stay home from touring and create music, in 2018, he released a unique online music show called “ Live On The Flight Deck”, an aerial version of Seinfeld’s “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee”, where he took musician collaborators such as George Canyon and Alan Doyle on flights in a Boeing 737 simulator, hand-crafted by himself, above places they toured which brought him national media attention.
With, now 15 year old, Ava, he is showcasing songs that have been special to him during his life, going year by year, from 1978 to the present. They livestream the performances, raw and real, and Asif uses a new technique he learned recently of “percussive guitar” which aims to make the acoustic guitar have rhythm accompaniment all at once. Along with Ava’s talented ear, they perform intimate, acoustic versions along with original songs written during Asif’s extensive career.
He lives in Halifax with his wife and two children, continuing to perform when possible and creating film and multimedia music. Along with his performance series, he has created the musical score for the new main stage production by the world-renowned Mermaid Theatre "It's Okay To Be Different: Stories By Todd Parr", along with several themes for TV.