Polish singer, songwriter and dancer. His debut project discovers the subject of sexuality and taboo. In his work, Tomek wants to emphasize the importance of talking about those things that feel uncomfortable to us. Nowadays, access to knowledge is unlimited, but the source is not always verified, which may cause a lot of issues, especially to your people. Tomek invites you to discover yourself and face your own thoughts. Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Your roots can often shape your journey. Can you share a story or moment from your early life that had a significant impact on your path into music?
Tomek Zdyb: Well, thatโs pretty funny, but looking back at my childhood, Iโd never said that person could become a singer. The stage was absolutely frightening to me and I tried to stay away from it. But there is one single spark of my childhood that proven my connection to music. As a child, I was attending a ballroom dance school and I loved it so much! It was a great passion of mine and the only thing I felt good at. Unfortunately, the circumstances led to a decision of quitting the dance school, so guess I can say, I closed my love to music in a cocoon.
2. Did your musical journey begin with formal training, or was it more of a personal exploration? How has that shaped your unique approach to your craft?
Tomek Zdyb: Letโs start here with the fact, that I only had this first idea of singing when I in my late teenage times. It was like a fight with my self confidence to try it. So when I was in my early twenties, Iโve finally decided to contact a vocal coach. Since then, I am continuously practicing with different coaches. One thing is that after those year of training, Iโve become quite knowledgeable (I think) and self-reliantโฆ and then, most importantly, ready to work on my own music. But it does not change a fact that I treat self-growth as a huge value in my live and I believe that there is always a space to learn new things. I donโt think any artist should ever stop practicing with a vocal coach. You never know, you may discover something new, something exciting to share with others through your music.
3. Who were some of the most influential figures in your early musical life, and how did they inspire your sound? Also, whatโs the story behind choosing the name โTomek Zdybโ?
Tomek Zdyb: My first and most important figure in music is P!nk. Similarly to my singing, Iโve discovered my love to music in my late teenage times. I discovered P!nk through the flashback of Lady Marmalade playing on TV. Since then, she has become my biggest role model and an example of hard work, popstar and an admirable human being. This influence led me to other, more pop-rock oriented female artists, e.g. Gwen Stefani. Later on, my taste in music shifted more towards a dance pop influences like Kylie Minogue, Girls Aloud or 2NE1โฆ but the list is getting bigger and bigger, so I guess there could have been a separate discussion on the influences (laughing).
Although as a listener, I tend now to choose more of those pop/dance pop vibes, I can clearly hear that my roots are being reflected in my music. Playing with genres, as I do within my music, is nothing else that a reflected inspirations.
But I would like to expand this answer just a little moreโฆ There is one other person, that shaped my artistic style significantly. Lily Allen has always been my favorite songwriter. Similarly to her, Iโve decided to take this honest, judgy (and sometimes a little sarcastic) storytelling narration in my songwriting.
4. What do you believe sets your music apart? How would you describe your sound to someone discovering you for the first time, and what emotions or experiences do you hope to evoke in your listeners?
Tomek Zdyb: The element of surprise? You know, whenever Iโve heard any feedback after my performance, it is always a surprise, which is my favorite reaction. I want people to expect the unexpected and I am trying to achieve the same within my music. That is the reason why you can hear so many different genres within my songs. Iโve trying so many different styles, from pop to rock and rap, or even punk. And there is still so much to discover! My rule is simpleโฆ if the humanโs imagination does not have any limits then why should we set limitations on music? We can discover a new world when playing with different sounds, and that is so exciting!
Recently, Iโve been thinking a lot about the emotional impact of my songs. I feel like the word FRUSTRATION has become a driving force of my first project. That project, which Iโve called โThe Untold Storiesโ, has been created to open up about some taboo topics, that feel uncomfortable to talk about, which leads us to frustration. But then, I am hoping that people can finally start feeling relief, if I can convince anyone to speak up.
5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style?
Tomek Zdyb: I consider โoriginalityโ as a very risky term. Music has developed so much throughout the year, that I am pretty sure, we can find some kind of influences everywhere, even among the most talented and experience artists. To be honest, I feel that our influences may even appear unconsciously. Iโd rather say that the meaning of originality comes alone with being true to yourself. As long as you are following your intuition and do what gives you passion, instead of trying to forcefully copy others, I believe you can call yourself original.
When it comes to my style, well.. the only part of my style, that was planned beforehand, was my need to combine pop with rap (highly influenced by artists Mis-Teeq, Qveen Herby or Cher Lloyd). But everything that has been created afterwards, developed very naturally.
The song called โMy Lucky Hourโ came up out of nowhere. There was no plan to go into that direction. But after hearing the music, the words just came up automatically in a few minutes. Thatโs the fastest Iโve ever written a song. I decided to consider it as a destiny and developed this persona into the whole project.
6. Music often transcends entertainment. Whatโs your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles โ and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
Tomek Zdyb: Music, or any other type of media, is a perfect knowledge carrierโฆ especially nowadays, where internet and social media have become so impactful. It kills me to see how stupidity is being promote online. I donโt see anything harmful in some memes, jokes, funny videos.. or whateverโฆ you know how they say.. โa little party never killed nobodyโ. Sometimes we need it to detach ourselves from our stressful lives. BUT! It spreads like a virus! We should use media more to help acquire knowledge and encourage thinking in an easy and pleasurable way.
Lack of communication has always been one of the biggest problems among people. Why not using social media to ignite the discussion?
My music covers various topics that can be considered as too political or too cultural, but I would never tell anyone what to do or what to think. What I do within my music is to encourage people to start talking and seek for help when needed.
7. Do you feel the rewards of your musical career match the energy and passion you invest in it, or are there different kinds of fulfillment youโre still seeking?
Tomek Zdyb: Thatโs a though one, especially for any new artists. There is a lot of passion and energy invested in whatever I do, but I do not feel like Iโve yet managed to achieve as much as I want. At this moment, I am accepting every little success that I get. But I am still full of ideas and very motivated for work hard. I do it for myself, because I love it. But first and foremost, I do it for people. I am still building my fanbaseโฆ my musical family. I want it to be more than just having fun. I was very lonely in my teenage times. I want to reach people who felt the same way as me. I want to help them finding courage and their purpose in life.
8. Can you walk us through your creative process? From the first spark of an idea to the finished track, whatโs the most essential part of your process, and how do collaboration or external influences shape your work?
Tomek Zdyb: I was always a visual type of person. Whatever I do, I always try to create an image in my head. I love watching live performances. They inspire me to use imagination. I will give an example here. As a huge Kylie Minogue fan, I was always fascinated by how many different arrangements and ideas for the song โSlowโ can be created. So that is always my starting point. How do I see the song? Do I have an idea of a video? Do I have an idea for a choreography? Or maybe I can make a song that will then be changed into a piano version? The concept is first.
Then second part is music. I co-work with music producers to get the music that speaks to the concept. And then I start creating melody. Songwriting comes at the end. Iโve never considered myself as a poem writer. If I write, I write a story in a song.
9. Whatโs been the most challenging hurdle in either your personal life or music career, and how has it shaped you as an artist?
Tomek Zdyb: Itโs pretty easy. Itโs the biggest challenge for most of us. Fight against our own thoughts.. or what you can call differently โ self-acceptance. I was never enough for myself. I have gave myself the love that I needed. Whatever I did, it was never enough. Clumsy. Ugly. Fat. Lazy. Shy. Unsociable. Different. โฆyou name it. I had a dozens of different adjectives to throw at myself. God forbid to use any positive.
Funny enough, my songs have become my own form of therapy. So weโve got someone who considers himself as ugly or fat, and who suddenly starts creating this sexualized image of himself. That worked for me. I created a persona.. like a completely reversed version of me. And you know what? It turned out to be a missing half of myselfโฆ like a ying and yang.. or however you want to call it. It was like a lost part of me that was finally found.
So let me summarize your question. Iโd say, that my artistic persona has shaped my personal life.
10. On the flip side, what moment or achievement in your career so far has made you feel the proudest, and why? And letโs talk about your latest release and future plans.
Tomek Zdyb: I am really grateful for every single success of my career. First solo concert. First song written. First music video. โฆso many proud memories. The most recent one, that I am very proud of, is being a guest for the podcast โIn The Key of Qโ, where I was talking about inspirations behind my music and taboo stories within my songs, including the most difficult one, which is a sex addiction.
My latest release is called BUSINESS CASUAL. Itโs my little holiday anthem, quite rebellious one. The song feels a little different from others of โThe Untold Storiesโ project, only because it is not sexually oriented. I decided to include it in this project, though, as I truly belief like it is another โforbiddenโ area of discussion. The song gives a sarcastic comment on big organizations and structures that try to put us in a box and wash out identity off. And donโt get me wrong.. I get the idea of productivity and itโs absolutely obvious that we need to follow certain rules in order to maintain productivity. I work in a corporate company myself, so I understand it very well. Unfortunately, such structures tend to forget that we are people, not robots. If you donโt know how to โplay this gameโ, you can easily get yourself into depression. I am hoping that the song can be like a wake up call to anyone to gets to serious. Politics is a perfect example of such a dangerous environment.
As for my future plans, I would like to release two more songs during the vacation period. That would mean, that I will have โThe Untold Storiesโ album ready around September.. and I would like to celebrate it with a big concert (or a series of concerts), before I will move on to the next chapter.
11. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
Tomek Zdyb: Let me start it with a little background here. I am a millennial kid, so I was growing up with the growth of accessibility in technology. Social media came up naturally to meโฆ at least to some extent. In Poland, where I will, Facebook is still one of the most popular media.. and this one was always part of my life. It was a little bit trickier with Instagram, which became popular a little later. TikTok thoughโฆ letโs be honest, itโs not my generation. Being โup to dateโ with new medias becomes more difficult with age. Somehow it stops being natural. But I guess there may be other reason for thatโฆ You know, when I watch some foreign movies or series and there is a scene where people dig into some old archives from childhood, Iโve observed that it was very popular abroad to record videos from the early days. Iโve never seen such thing in Poland. I donโt thing Iโve ever seen anyone having old videos.. only photos. So I think my generation is not naturally adjusted to the video cameraโฆ Does that make sense?
And then there is this whole criticismโฆ the dark side of the internet. I think Iโve learnt already that it is a part of this job. You need to be ready for that. I am not that bothered by strangers. I understand where the hate comes from. After all, they will not say anything that I havenโt told myself in the past. I think that it hurts me more to see people from my environment, people that I know, to start turning their backs on me. With every single success, I feel more alone.
12. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
Tomek Zdyb: I am definitely a performer! Weโve are now coming back to my first words of this interviewโฆ As a child, I was the last person to go on stage. I have no bloody clue, where it came from. But now.. I love the stage! It does something strange with meโฆ My brain goes โpoofโ and then this persona of me comes out and just goes crazy on stage.
Whatโs funny is that I can never imitate the same energy on any rehearsal. I am always too shy for that. And donโt even start on any theatrical accents. No way I can do it during the rehearsal! (laughing). Then on stage, itโs like a demon inside of me who just wait to get their change to give everything to the audience.
Why?
I really donโt understand. Maybe one day I will. For now, I used to think that itโs this ying and yang theory. I am so calm and quite in everyday life, that when I am on stage, my brain needs to balance the energy and creates this reversed version of me.
But I doubt I can put it into words. You just need to come and see yourself!
13. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
Tomek Zdyb: I do think so. I do not write songs about nothing. I want to tell a certain story and reach to people who feel or felt the same way. But on the other handโฆ isnโt that a true magical essence of music, that each one of us can interpret it on our own?
When I am with my closest friends.. those who usually hear the song before itโs released.. I always ask them for their interpretation first. I want it to be untouched by my story. I want only their feelings. And itโs magic! I love hearing their understanding behind my words. It fascinates me! But then, when theyโre done, I am explaining them my story and it somehow makes them even more attracted to the song. Mind me! We are both boding in this small discussion. We share a piece of our thoughts and mix them together. We find a deeper meaning behind such a small product.
I wish to have more moments like this. I cannot wait to hear how others see my songs. Letโs do it!
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