Formula Indie Sessions – Interview with I Ya Toyah
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
One of my earliest memories is sitting with my big sister’s guitar, as a little girl in Poland, long before I knew music could become a career. It felt less like trying to learn an instrument and more like discovering a language that didn’t require explaining myself. I’ve always struggled to communicate with only words. Music never asked me to, and instead it gave me the whole new world of expression.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
I don’t think I chose music. I think it found me every time life became too loud to process any other way. That feeling of having the outlet that allows me to deal with emotions is irreplaceable. I’ve written songs through joy, grief, loneliness, reinvention, anger, disappointment, and hope. All the color of the human condition. Creating has always been how I make sense of being human.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
I Ya Toyah has become a world where uncomfortable questions are welcome. We’re living in an era obsessed with perfection, performance, and constant evaluation. My recent releases, FEELINGS and Apology, explore what happens when we slowly trade our humanity for approval, certainty, or survival. One asks what we’re willing to remove from ourselves just to function. The other confronts entitlement, anger, and the stories we tell ourselves about what the world owes us.
To me it’s less about giving answers and more about creating space where people can recognize themselves. And it all begins at the core of the project: I Ya Toyah, when spoken out loud in my native language, Polish means:” It’s just me”. My main philosophy is to carry that thought through life – not as an excuse but as a reminder that staying true to yourself, protecting your own uniqueness is the best contribution to the world.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
Industrial darkness with a heartbeat.
It’s where cinematic electronics collide with heavy guitars, vulnerable vocals, and melodies that refuse to disappear. Imagine music you can dance to while questioning your entire existence.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
I stopped trying to sound impressive and started trying to tell the truth.
Ironically, that’s when the music became stronger. I think maybe it’s because listeners don’t remember perfection. They remember honesty.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
My guitar is still where many ideas begin. I love combining it with synthesizers, textures, creative ‘rule breaking’ programming, and whatever serves the emotion of the song. Beyond the gear, my brain, clear unaltered thought and focus are probably my most important tools.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
I’ve been genuinely inspired by Sofia Isella. She creates from a place that feels fearless, poetic, and emotionally honest. I love artists who aren’t afraid to leave silence between the notes and trust the audience to meet them there.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Completely.
Growing up in Poland, building a life in America, constantly existing between cultures, and learning that identity isn’t something fixed—it all shaped how I see the world. My music has never been about pretending I’ve figured life out. It’s about documenting what it feels like to keep becoming someone new, and trying to remain human through the process.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
I hope they leave feeling a little less alone, and a little more seen. If someone hears one of my songs and realizes, “I thought I was the only person who felt this,” then we’ve already connected in the most meaningful way. Our world rewards numbness and conformity. My music quietly argues that sensitivity and unique, original perspective are still worth protecting.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Patience. And that vulnerability isn’t a weakness. The songs I wrote that scared me the most to release have almost always become the ones people connected with the deepest. Music taught me that honesty has a strange way of finding exactly who needs it.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
Dalhalla has always seemed so magical. It feels like one of these spaces where music becomes something people experience together rather than simply consume. It’s my dream to perform there.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
David Lynch, David Bowie and Trent Reznor.
These amazing artists have always been willing to expose uncomfortable parts of being human without offering easy conclusions. Through music and visual form. Pushing the unimaginable
limits with such effortless, authentic touch. Their creations simply make me feel something. They seem so honest, they hit me right in the center.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music?
You can find everything in one place:
Website: https://iyatoyah.com
Streaming: https://linktr.ee/iyatoyah
Instagram: https://instagram.com/iyatoyah
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@IYaToyah
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
I want to keep building a world people don’t just listen to—they step inside. More music. More films/videos. Bigger stages for bigger productions. More conversations that matter.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
That beneath all the industrial sounds, the cinematic visuals, and the dark aesthetic is someone who is simply human. Someone who believes in hope, the quiet kind. The kind that survives.
Representative YouTube Video
My newest releases: “Apology” and “FEELINGS” are both the best introduction to who I am as an artist today. They capture the sound, the visual world, and the emotional questions I want my music to leave people with.
