“Playing with Tolyqyn is like being confronted with one’s deepest longings and insecurities. The stakes are high because we know how good it can be. But often it doesn’t reach that point. At which point our job is to understand why. It inevitably comes back to not accepting the moment, trying to impress rather than to discover the truth. Sometimes the truth is banal. ”
An evening in a smokey Neukölln venue allowed Tolyqyn to come to life, gathering three musicians from distinct backgrounds, with various musical influences and stories to tell. Comprised of Roland Satterwhite, Kuba Gudz and Tal Arditi, Tolyqyn create a warm blend of rock and jazz grooves without borders, also incorporating West African influences, blues and strings. Since the spontaneous encounter within their scene, Tolyqyn gained a pristine reputation as one of Berlin’s most exciting live acts, having performed and toured around Germany, Switzerland and the UK.
Relying on an organic flow to make their music come to life, the band is now gearing up for a debut album, set to be released on April 24th, and was made possible through their Kickstarter campaign. After their debut single, ‘Autobiography’, the band’s new offering, ‘Prison Cell’ comes at a suitable time, one where we are forced to oblige health restrictions and social distancing. In their new video, directed by Roland Satterwhite, he built a motor and circular track to rotate around the band, filming in his studio apartment. About the new single, he shares:
“I was plucking the groove as a bassline on the viola. I was then particularly inspired by the viola’s texture – soft, yet precise and marked. The phrase ‘Keep me in a prison cell’ was on repeat in my mind. (…) I hope that these lyrics gain depth, gain dimensions, become better than they were when I first wrote them because of the apt and timely subject matter – the idea being that we are all in prison. That’s what makes us human.”
Watch the video for ‘Prison Cell’ below:
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