Interview withVolker Lutz from T.O.Y.
Since 2001, T.O.Y. from Witten have been characterised by a unique combination of catchy melodies, melancholic lyrics and modern electronic arrangements. More than eight years have passed since the release of their last album. With their new album ‘The Prophet’, T.O.Y. returned on 5th December, and today band founder Volker Lutz answers some questions for us about his musical roots, his plans and, of course, ‘The Prophet’.
Reflections of Darkness [RoD]: Hello Volker, first of all thank you for your time and congratulations on the new album. How satisfied are you with the response so far?
Volker: Very much so! With the new album, T.O.Y. have once again taken a different direction. I do not like standing still, and with this “mood” of wanting to sound like the 80s, which have influenced me so strongly, I have fulfilled a wish of my own. I receive a great many wonderful messages from fans describing what the songs do to them. That is a huge compliment, because as a musician you are essentially sitting in front of a blank page - in this case a screen - and giving free rein to your imagination or creativity. Sometimes something comes of it, the next time it does not. When these ideas turn into songs which then, through fans and people, start communicating with you, it is somehow surreal, but for me it is one of the most beautiful forms of interaction.
RoD: Before we take a closer look at the current album, let us briefly look back. In an interview I read that as a child you wanted to become a marine researcher. Instead, you became a musician and producer. How did this change of heart come about, and when did you discover your love of music?
Volker: Becoming a marine researcher was one of those childhood wishes, like Grisu the Dragon wanting to be a firefighter or others wanting to be astronauts, although I have never lost my love of the sea, especially for sharks. I got my first keyboard at the age of 16 and, together with a friend at the time who also owned a keyboard, I recreated songs like ‘Tainted Love’ or ‘Love is a Kind of Mystery’ by THE INVINCIBLE LIMIT. For hours, weeks, months I sat in front of the black and white keys and would never have thought that I would one day release a song myself. But music - being able to create a mood from countless combinations of notes, sounds and frequencies that makes people dance, cry or feel happy - fascinates me to this day and will hopefully never stop.
RoD: When did it become clear to you that you wanted to make music your profession, and was it difficult to realise that?
Volker: My only real and sole profession was music for just a few years. You cannot really make a living from it as an alternative artist. For me it is more of a calling. I simply cannot do otherwise. Music is the way I express myself, and I must admit that the act of creating - the process in the studio - gives me far more pleasure than listening to the finished result or performing live. Inventing something in the studio, being creative and sensing how something takes shape is the greatest thing for me.
RoD: You have almost anticipated my next question: what fascinates you about music, and what does making music mean to you? What drives you?
Volker: As I have already said, the process of inventing is my motivation. That does not work in every mood, and certainly not at the push of a button, which is why making music cannot be planned. Writing a hit cannot be planned either, for which I am very grateful. Even though nowadays we know much about why music becomes successful, much of it is simply down to luck, alongside having a musical instinct. The diversity of how music can sound is, for me, a pool of inexhaustible creativity and ideas. Musicians like The Edge from U2 have shaped a guitar sound that you recognise immediately. You can also recognise KRAFTWERK among millions of songs. This kind of signature makes it possible to be part of this world if you do not simply copy, but invent something yourself. That is what I love so much about it.
RoD: In the early 90s you started out as EVILS TOY and released six albums between 1993 and 2000, if I have that right. The renaming to T.O.Y. came in the year 2000. How did that come about? What ultimately prompted the change of name?
Volker: If you have the vocals of EVILS TOY in your ear, the answer becomes clear quite quickly. The album ‘Silvertears’, released in 2000 and still under the name EVILS TOY, should really already have been T.O.Y. The music became increasingly Pop-oriented, but above all it was the voice. That simply was no longer EVILS TOY. So we thought: this has nothing to do with “Evil” anymore, from now on we are just TOY.
Then we received an email from a British production team who said that they were TOY, and as producers of SEAL and HUMAN LEAGUE there could be problems with confusion. That was true. At that time, however, we already had a 28-city tour across Europe planned under that name with DE/VISION, and we suggested adding dots to our TOY and coming up with something the abbreviation could stand for. Since “Taste of Yoghurt” was clearly even more stupid, we decided on the second-most stupid option - “Trademark of Youth”. That was fine for the guys from the UK, and we never heard from them again.
RoD: Let us now move on to your current album ‘The Prophet’. During the production of the album, the Prophet-5 was used, among other things. Was this analogue synthesiser, in a way, the namesake of the album?
Volker: Correct! I found the title very striking, and when it came to cover designs and a name was still missing, the original working title became ‘The Prophet’.
RoD: ‘The Prophet’ is a homage to the electronic music of the 1980s. How did you come up with the idea of producing the album using original equipment, and when did it become clear to you that, alongside the old analogue synthesisers and drum machines, real instruments would also have to be used? How did that influence the production?
Volker: Shortly before the coronavirus pandemic, I bought a Roland Juno 106, an analogue synthesiser that was effectively the door opener for this album. Although from day one I had the opportunity to make music using analogue rarities on loan from Andreas Sippel (SECOND DECAY), with whom I share several studio rooms, it was only through this Juno 106 that I really got the taste for it. This warmth, this punch and the authentic 80s sound - no plug-in and no digital synthesiser I had used up to that point could deliver that. Gradually, more and more vintage synthesisers and drum machines were added. With the Linn Drum and the Roland 60, it became clear that the album would be a homage to the 80s.
The songs were re-recorded and all took on an 80s character through these old treasures, and they sounded wonderful. My friend Marc A. Nathaniel put me in touch with his fellow musician Tom Steinbrecher, with whom he was working on songs for the radio play series ‘Die drei Fragezeichen’. Tom, also a lover of 80s music, visited me in the studio, and something happened that I would never have thought possible: T.O.Y. got guitars. Looking back, the most beautiful make-up these songs could have received. From minute one, Tom understood what the songs might be missing, without making me, as a songwriter, say “nooooo”.
Harmony is not only important in music, but is the be-all and end-all among musicians who want to “create” something together. Many musicians fail at this and bands break up. Others argue constantly, yet write great songs together. I myself am a very harmony-loving and sensitive person, and during the collaboration with Tom there were suddenly two of us like that. The mutual respect and taking the time to listen allowed many things to come into being that are now known as ‘The Prophet’.
RoD: In October 2022 you released the feature ‘Turn On!’ with Marian Gold (ALPHAVILLE), which is also included on the album. Had you known Marian before that? How did you get to know each other, and what was it like working with him?
Volker: Marian and I have mutual acquaintances who felt that, with the new sound of T.O.Y., we should do something together. From my side, that was an immediate yes - but would it be the same the other way round? At the time, I sent the demo of ‘Turn On!’ to these mutual friends so they could forward it to Marian. A few weeks later I received a WhatsApp message saying: “Check your emails, I’ve got a surprise for you.” In my inbox was that very demo - with Marian’s voice on it. There sat the little Volker who, at 16 with his first keyboard, had been recreating ALPHAVILLE songs, grinning to himself. Wow! I promptly set about finishing the song in my studio. Up to that point, my contact with Marian had only been through our acquaintances.
That changed when, on a whim, I sent a video to one of them showing me working on the song in the studio. That video was then forwarded to Marian as well, who replied with the following words: “His video is amazing, a real journey back in time into analogue synthesiser worlds - our galaxy of origin, so to speak. Best you send me his email so I can send him my greetings personally.”
The further collaboration was highly professional and characterised by respect, musical understanding and passion. Looking back, there is not a single moment I would change. Marian contributed creatively, made himself available for a music video for the song, and over the years became a true friend. To me, he is incredibly approachable, reliable and, above all, an unbelievably creative visionary with a huge amount of heart and humour. And I suspect he sees something similar in me, because otherwise I cannot explain his words about me and T.O.Y.:
“You can feel where the music of T.O.Y. comes from; it is not simply placed into the world in a disembodied way. Future pop is a cool term for it - admittedly contradictory at first glance. I do not know whether the name is an invention of Volker himself. I understand it like this: the future always needs the past, the roots from which a great project like T.O.Y. continuously branches out from the present into the world of possibilities.
The roots, in this case, are the 80s - or rather what one might mean by that, the phase between 1978 and, say, 1982. For me, that was OMD, TUBEWAY ARMY and ULTRAVOX. In between, DEPECHE MODE inevitably always shines through as well, Germany’s old love. But T.O.Y. has developed into a completely independent voice. Volker is a romantic, a melancholic troubadour with analogue-electronic equipment. And ‘The Prophet’ is his lute. In both senses…” (Marian Gold)
RoD: On ‘The Prophet’ there are many further collaborations, for example with Jonathan White and Andy Treacey (FAITHLESS) or Tom Steinbrecher. How did these come about? How did the features influence the album, and with whom would you perhaps like to work in the future?
Volker: I have already mentioned Tom, and I want to - and have to - continue working with him. We complement each other very well in many respects, and above all the togetherness is addictive. That I was able to work with - and even celebrate with - two people from the FAITHLESS universe is still very special to me.
After I signed up to Instagram a few years ago (reluctantly), I eventually discovered that Andy Treacey and I were following each other. At first I had no idea who he actually was. When I realised that he was the drummer of my absolute favourite live band, FAITHLESS, I was speechless. I wrote to Andy and told him that he was the reason why T.O.Y. have a live drummer on stage. I simply love the live realisation of FAITHLESS, with drums, percussion, guitars and all the other wonderful things that happen there.
What Andy does with FAITHLESS is more than just playing drums to electronic music. He becomes part of it - a very important part - in the live interpretation of those songs. Andy was very pleased with the compliment and said we could do something together sometime. What? Did he really just write that? He said he really liked the DEPECHE MODE touch in T.O.Y.
At that time, the demo of ‘Silent Soldiers’ had just been finished, and I simply sent him the most recent version and hoped for a positive response. For quite a while nothing happened, but then the reply came: I really like the song and would be happy to play drums on it. Andy arranged a date with his friend Dom - who, incidentally, as he mentioned in passing, is the guitarist in a somewhat lesser-known band called DURAN DURAN - to record the drums in Dom’s studio. Said and done: the FAITHLESS drummer became part of ‘Silent Soldiers’. Andy also created the drum arrangements for the B-side ‘Fragile’. Just as a side note.
Of course, we also talked from time to time about FAITHLESS and how much we both miss the band. Then a message arrived that made me freeze. Maxi Jazz, the frontman of FAITHLESS, had passed away far too early in December 2022 at the age of 65. Was that the end of FAITHLESS? Forever? No. In spring 2024, I received a message from Andy saying they were rehearsing again. For what? I asked naively. His answer: we are going back on tour with FAITHLESS! I had hoped so often, and now it was almost tangible to see this wonderful band back on stage. I joined them from time to time and got to know the rest of the band that way.
After a show in Amsterdam, we were sitting together and Stan, FAITHLESS’ bassist, said: if you ever need a bass player, just let me know. I did not let that opportunity pass me by. We exchanged email addresses and shortly afterwards I sent him the demo of ‘To the Stars with Me’. What came back changed everything - my view of the bass guitar as an instrument and the sound of ‘The Prophet’. I would never have thought that an instrument I had previously treated rather neglectedly, like the bass guitar, could do so much for music. Looking back, even though I generally dissect music I like into its individual parts, I can now also explain why I enjoy FAITHLESS live so much. It is the sum of these unbelievably good musicians, and of course the songs and their energy.
That a part of this band now has a place on my new album is something you can hear. So, back to the beginning once again: first 80s synths instead of lifeless digital synthesisers and plug-ins, then Tom’s guitars, then drums by Andy and Marc, and now a real bass guitar as well. And bang - that is exactly what ‘The Prophet’ is.
RoD: For ‘The Prophet’, you not only received musical support, but also help with the lyrics; for example, the lyrics for ‘To the Stars with Me’ and ‘Night & Day’ were written in collaboration with Danielle Kuschner. Did you work with other lyricists for the first time on ‘The Prophet’? How did the collaboration take shape, and how did you develop the lyrics together?
Volker: I love making music, but expressing myself in song lyrics at a consistently high level is something others can do better. So all songs initially start out as instrumentals with me. As soon as I have an idea, I sing the vocal melody using placeholder, imaginary lyrics. The phonetics and the number of syllables are what matter musically.
The lyrics themselves make no sense at first. Because I would take far too long trying to replace this phonetic structure and syllable count with something meaningful, I get help with that. With Danielle Kuschner from England and Henrike Tönnes from Germany, I have two wonderful people by my side who can turn ‘Howard and his wife’ into ‘Now and Anytime’. Although I actually just made that example up, it very vividly describes what the two of them can do far better than I can.
RoD: In times of streaming platforms, many artists are moving towards releasing almost exclusively singles and digital formats. You have opted for the album format and, alongside the obligatory digital release, also for a physical one, which I personally very much welcome. I am quite old school in that respect and enjoy listening to complete albums. Some songs only really work in conjunction with others on an album and would probably not function as singles, and therefore might never be released at all. I find that very unfortunate. I also still like having something tangible - an album you can hold in your hands, a booklet with images and the lyrics. ‘The Prophet’ is available both on CD and as a vinyl LP. Why was the album format, and also the physical release, important to you?
Volker: I feel very much the same way. I love the idea of a long player, because it allows you to show far more musical facets than just the idea of finally having written a hit. Whether it is ‘The Innocents’ by ERASURE or ‘Sunday 8pm’ by my musical heroes FAITHLESS, these albums are so wonderful and stand for far more than just singles. What would DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Ultra’ be without ‘Sister of Night’ or ‘Freestate’? If DM were only releasing singles, we would probably never have heard those two songs.
Single after single ensures constant attention and is certainly clever from a marketing point of view, but personally I want to make music - and artwork, to show who was involved in what. An album, for me, is the diary of a dream set to music.
RoD: Are you planning to present the album live as well? Will we see T.O.Y. back on stage in 2026? If so, can you already tell us something about it? What do you have in mind?
Volker: I would very much like to present the album live as well. The realisation, however, is a bit of an obstacle. I do not want T.O.Y. to be one of those bands that stand on stage with a laptop and a microphone. The entire logistics of live drums, keyboards - and, following the new album, preferably guitars as well - cost money and require organisation. As T.O.Y. is essentially a one-man project, where I usually have to take care of everything myself, from the music to the live shows, it simply becomes too much. Flying abroad, having equipment on stage, staying in a nice hotel and everything else that goes with it does not organise itself. That said, I am working on an idea of how all this could be made possible, and I hope myself that you will see us live again soon.
RoD: ‘Now and Anytime’ strongly evoked associations for me with wide beaches, holidays and a touch of itchy feet. Are there places of longing that you have not yet travelled to, where you would like to go - whether for a holiday or to play there?
Volker: For me, any place that offers peace and relaxation is a dream destination. Well, the temperature also plays a role. The Caribbean has always been, and still is, the destination of my dreams. I have also had the chance to travel to Mauritius, and just thinking about the sea and the food makes me happy. As a band, we have already been to many countries, from Mexico City to Toronto and even Moscow. The USA, however, is a place I would genuinely like to travel to as T.O.Y., because we have actually never been there.
RoD: You are not only a musician, but also a producer and run your own studio (Sonicstage Recording Studios). Aside from songwriting, what distinguishes productions for other artists from those for your own band, and what has been your most memorable studio moment as a producer?
Volker: In recent years I have worked less for other artists, as the production of ‘The Prophet’ was already very time-consuming. When you work for others, it is not always easy to recognise what they hear in a song, which you yourself might perceive differently. I am very sensitive when it comes to moods, which is why I always try to create a certain atmosphere musically. If the artist you are working for does not understand or feel that, it becomes difficult to work on a project together. My most memorable studio moment is spread across so many different memories that I actually consider every single moment of being a musician to be memorable.
RoD: How do you most like to spend your time when you are not in the studio for T.O.Y. or other artists, or on stage? Do you have another passion besides music?
Volker: Films - I think I like films. Preferably from the 80s or 90s as well. Apart from ‘Stranger Things’, I am not a Netflix fan and prefer the classic way of watching a DVD or Blu-ray. Sometimes even a VHS that starts with the iconic words … “Liebe Videofreunde…” (Dear video friends...), where the narrator’s voice alone awakens the fondest memories in me. Otherwise, I really enjoy going to smaller concerts, or simply spending time with my family and friends at the local Greek restaurant.
RoD: Would you like to leave our readers with anything else? If so, go ahead. Otherwise, I would like to thank you very much for your time and wish you, your bandmates and your loved ones a fantastic 2026.
Volker: Thank you - the pleasure is mine. Your questions were great fun, and I hope I was able to give you and your readers a small insight into the creation of ‘The Prophet’.
Website: https://www.toy-music.info / https://www.facebook.com/toymusicofficial
Pictures by: Chris Ruiz, Volker Lutz
