I Ya Toyah landed here to spread the disease of music and infect the human race. She is a one woman army that blends the chaos and balance with a familiar vibe of industrial electronica sound. Her music is a fusion of smooth, cutting edge vocals, surreal guitars, hypnotizing beats and multiple electronic synth elements arising into dark arrangements that, combined with storytelling lyrics, respond to the paranoia of everyday reality.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with I Ya Toyah about the latest music, challenges, adapting during a pandemic and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
I was born in Poland, but relocated to the US and now I live in Chicago. My music is categorized as industrial electronic, but then it has also been described as dark pop, dark wave, punk electro, goth rock … I never liked labeling my creativity to be honest. It is very hard to lock something so intangible like music, into the box of limited definition. Being inspired by 80’s and 90’s rock, metal and electronic music, while having a complete fascination about exploring the potential of ‘now’ in regards to finding new sounds, their combinations, dissonant notes and progressions that aren’t supposed to make sense yet they do, I always think of music as an open, unlimited flow. It either connects with you or not, and by following the labels and tags without further diving in, a lot of us never discover new artists we could love otherwise.
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
Music is that one element that makes me feel I’m never alone. In the most vulnerable moments of my life, it is my creativity that saves me from drowning in the darkness- it’s the music and ability to transfer my feelings into the sound form. This honestly started at a very early age for me. I was told that my reaction to music was very vivid right after I was born. This attachment grew along with me, and today I don’t imagine my life without having this friend, this outlet, this cathartic experience music offers me. So, rather than an inspiration or motivation, I guess this is something within me.
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
Out of Order E.P. is a child of a pandemic feels combined with my inner need of survival. It is a very specific release- five songs with their own separate single release ceremonies, their own artworks, and five official music videos- basically five chapters representing different stages of pandemic moods and dealing with them. But, at the same time it reaches far out of these frames. It is an E.P. about the human condition, emotions, dark feelings, dark side of being alive- things so universal we can all relate to- in and out of the pandemic.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
It’s the creative fires that kept me going, honestly it’s what saved me. When the pandemic started, all my touring plans- the greatest in my career yet- got canceled. This itself was enough to bury me in darkness, so I had to pull myself towards anything optimistic and hopeful for a simple self- preservation. I figured writing and producing a record will be perfect, especially with all the unease growing inside me. This gave me a new purpose, new goal. Helped me face these tough times, and gave me something to look forward to.
What was the last song you listened to?
Recently I’m obsessed with Gary Numan’s Intruder, Stabbing Westward’s I am Nothing, and Lingua Ignota’s The Heart of Man. These releases are in my constant rotation lately.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
It all depends. Streaming is great for immediate access but I recently fell in love with vinyl. Something magical about the sound of LP that just goes beyond any other formats- and the whole culture about the vinyl obsession is so awesome, it is the reason why I released the limited edition of Out of Order record in blue transparent LP format. It’s fun!
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
I always encourage people to visit my website: iyatoyah.com and join my mailing list. In case all the social media collapse one day, I’m still going to be able to keep you updated on all things music and beyond, haha. Bandcamp is the platform where all my releases can be found- all the music as well as my fashion merch, Fuck the Virus face masks, Death’s Kiss lipstick line I launched earlier this year, and more, so I’d like to invite everybody who reads this to visit: https://iyatoyah.bandcamp.com/.
Other than this, I share quite a lot about the things I do on my social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, recently also Tik Tok- I guess I’m everywhere!
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you so much for having me! Love to all reading this- stay well, stay safe and I hope to see you on the road in 2022!
