T.O.Y.
T.O.Y. at "Gothic meets Klassik" 2015
Background information
Also known as	Evils Toy
Origin	Germany
Genres	Electropop Futurepop Synthpop Dark electro Electronic body music
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Hypnobeat Eraser Drakkar A Different Drum Progress Productions Nordhausen Schallplatten
Spinoffs	Yavin 4
Members	Volker Lutz Helge Wiegand Marc A. Nathaniel
Past members	Thorsten Brenda Cordula K. Christian "Léo" Leonhardt Markus Helmert Oliver Taranczewski
Website	www.toy-music.info

T.O.Y. (Trademark of Youth) is a Germanfuturepop/synthpop band headed by Volker Lutz. The project originated aselectro-industrial bandEvils Toy until a change in membership and sound style precipitated the rebranding in the year 2000.

Evils Toy started out in 1992 as the project of Volker Lutz and Thorsten Brenda. Thorsten and Volker were introduced by a mutual friend who knew that each of the duo were heavily into industrial music and were already working on music of their own.^[1] After completing several tracks together they sent a demo tape to several labels, including the German Hypnobeat label (a sub-label ofHyperium Records) who released their debut albumHuman Refuse at the end of 1993. Their second full-length release,Morbid Mind, was released a year later and was recorded at André Schmechta's T.G.I.F. Studios, known for recording works by André's projectX-Marks the Pedwalk and many other well-known German EBM and industrial bands.^[2] This studio collaboration with André also yielded an XMTP remix of "Dear God" that was included on the album and as a standalone CD maxi single.^[3]

Their combination of distorted vocals and EBM rhythms with occasional touches of melody proved relatively successful, though their real breakthrough came in 1995 with their "Organics" single, which received significant airplay on both sides of the Atlantic.Organics, and the follow-on albumXTC Implant, demonstrated a new sound for the band, integrating a high energy techno style into their typical dark electro that stood apart from their contemporaries at the time.^[4]XTC Implant proved to have a lasting and influential effect on the EBM scene.^[5][6]

TheIllusion album, released in 1997, was the last album by this act that might accurately be defined as "industrial".Angels Only!, released the following year, moved away from distorted vocals and towards a moresynthpop style. This was the first Evils Toy recording to feature Oliver Taranczewski, as well as the last recorded with Thorsten Brenda. For background vocals and live keyboards Volker brought in his long-time girlfriend Cordula K, who also appears in the videos for "Virtual State" and "Dream With Me".

The addition of Taranczewski to the band in 1997 brought with him lyrical inspiration from the stories ofH. P. Lovecraft to infuse into the band's sci-fi ethic. Lyrics on several tracks onAngels Only! — "Back On Earth," "From Above Comes Sleep," and "Colours Out Of Space" — drew directly from Lovecraftian themes of theGreat Old Ones,R'lyeh, and the textThe Colour Out of Space respectively. Taranczewski continued to weave these themes into the remaining Evils Toy releases and into early T.O.Y. songs as well.^[7]

The albumSilvertears was released on E-Wave Records (with distribution throughBMG) in 2000 and was the last release under the name Evils Toy. The project was known as "T.O.Y." thereafter.^[8]

In 2001 the band renamed then released their first album,Space Radio, through E-Wave/BMG. That year they toured withDe/Vision for 28 dates across Europe.^[9] Their second album under the new name,White Lights, continued the "softer" tone of the previous album.^[10]

The band have produced many remixes for other bands likeApoptygma Berzerk,In Strict Confidence,De/Vision and !Bang Elektronika. Volker also used his SonicStage Recording Studios to record and produce works by bands such asAnd One,L'Âme Immortelle, andFunker Vogt.^[11]

In 2004 Volker made a song for the German radio playThe three investigators song contest. Also in 2004, the computer game companyKonami used a song produced by T.O.Y. on thePS2 &Xbox releaseDance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2. The track was a remix of the DDR andBeatmania IIDX song "I Feel..." by game music composer,Akira Yamaoka. Bands like Neuropa,Echo Image, Alien#Six13 and Midihead also contributed to the soundtrack.^[12]

In 2005 Taranczewski released an album with Stephan Voigt of the band Plastic under the name Yavin 4, an album sounding more like the older Evils Toy releases mixed with modern dance and drum & bass elements. He also produced the Cruciform Injection albumAftermath that was released in 2006.

In May 2009 Taranczewski left the band for good. Volker said he would finish the album, entitledPain is Love, on his own.^[13] After Taranczewski's departure, Markus Helmert and Christian "Léo" Leonhardt joined Volker, playing keyboards and drums, respectively.

In September 2014, Helmert quit the band for health reasons. About the same time, Taranczewski re-joined the band as a keyboardist, while Leonhardt was replaced by Marc A. Nathaniel on drums. The new lineup continued to work on finishing the long delayed album,Pain is Love, as well playing live gigs.^[14][15]

In March 2017 Taranczewski again left the band for personal reasons. Helge Wiegand, a songwriter from Cologne and also keyboard player and vocalist of the band Diorama, joined the band in April 2017.^[16] That Summer the albumPain is Love was finally released.^[11][17] Later that year the band headlined the XV Synthetic Snow Festival in Moscow, Russia.^[18]

In 2019, T.O.Y. released a two-track single, "Silent Soldiers", on the Swedish Progress Productions label.^[19] Videos were filmed for the tracks by director Rytis Titas on location in Lithuania and were inspired by the aesthetics of the seriesStranger Things.^[9]

In 2022, T.O.Y. released the single "Turn On!" featuring vocals fromMarian Gold ofAlphaville. The single reached #1 on the German Alternative Charts (DAC).^[20]

• Volker Lutz (vocals, arrangements, programming, producer).
• Helge Wiegand (keyboards, vocals)
• Marc A. Nathaniel (drums).

• Thorsten Brenda (keyboards).
• Cordula K. (vocals, keyboards).
• Christian "Léo" Leonhardt (drums).
• Markus Helmert (keyboards).
• Oliver Taranczewski (lyrics, keyboards)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toT.O.Y..

• Official Website
• T.O.Y. onFacebook
• Evils Toy discography atDiscogs
• Toy discography atDiscogs

• Video game musicians
• German industrial music groups
• German synthpop groups
• Musical groups established in 1992
• Metropolis Records artists

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