On Monday evening, Metalhead Mundy and I interviewed a lovely, unassuming, humble young lady named Ania Tarnowska. She goes by the name I Ya Toyah which means “It’s Just Me.” While Ania seems shy and reserved on the surface, she is anything but. I Ya Toyah is a self proclaimed movement, and she isn’t joking. She is a dedicated musician, a creator, a coach, a maven of makeup and a driven philanthropist.

I Ya Toyah has an EP, a full length album and covers of beloved songs to her name. Do yourself a favor and check out her versions “It’s No Good” by Depeche Mode and “Lovesong” by the Cure. Wonderful covers. For many of her songs, I Ya Toyah has created thoughtful, artistic videos. Her latest single, Panic Room, is the latest to get the video treatment.

Panic Room is a song that depicts a panic attack. Ania explained on Wanderings and Woolgathering that she does indeed get them from time to time, so she is speaking from an authentic place. It’s a feeling of the walls closing in. Here lyrics use personification to embody the panic that one feels.

Give me your hand give me your hand she says
Give me your heart give me your heart she says
Give me your pain give me your pain, give your pain
She takes it all until I have nothing left
Again
I’m feeling closer, I’m closer to death
Panic Room! Panic Room! Panic!

In the case here, “she” is the anxiety that causes panic. “She” overwhelms the senses. For those listening, “she” could represent drug abuse. It could be alcohol abuse, stage fright, etc. The song meets the listener where he or she is and that makes it powerful.

In the video, I Ya Toyah cuts from performance shots of Ania playing guitar, keyboards and singing to shots of herself in the midst of panic- bedraggled, chained and closed within a cell. It’s confining, closing in on her causing further panic. The shots are tight and uncomfortable. Those scenes represent what is going on in her mind during an episode and it’s painfully rendered.

I Ya Toyah uses the theme of mental health on a number of songs. It’s important to her, and she has made it her mission to bring awareness to the topic. Subscribe on her website, iyatoyah.com, and send her an email requesting a Crisis Hotline 988 bracelet. She sends them free of charge. The bracelet is also adorned with her logo, a combination of a peace symbol and an anarchy symbol- a perfect summation of who she is as an artist.

For the full interview you can check out Wanderings and Woolgathering on Youtube, Soundcloud or you can find us on your favorite podcatcher. To find out more about the artist I Ya Toyah go to her website and find out why she is so committed to mental health. While there, listen to remixes and acoustic versions of her songs. Watch her videos and check out her line of lipstick. This lady is a one woman wrecking machine who is making major waves.

Full Lyrics to Panic Room:

Panic Room! Panic Room! Panic Room! Panic! Room!

Here she comes my way
I thought I’d never see her again
Every time she’d stay
She’d ring the bell, bring me hell
Again

Why haunt my mind
Take it slow
I’m an open book
You’re in control

Give me your hand give me your hand she says
Give me your heart give me your heart she says
Give me your pain give me your pain, give your pain
She takes it all until I have nothing left
Again
I’m feeling closer, I’m closer to death
Panic Room! Panic Room! Panic!
And I am closer, I’m closer to death
Panic Room! Panic Room! Panic! Room!

How does she find the way
To crawl inside me on my strongest day
Rain, rain, rain, but it’s ok
Rain, rain all over again again again

Give me your hand give me your hand she says
Give me your heart give me your heart she says
Give me your pain give me your pain, give your pain
She takes it all until I have nothing left
Again

I’m feeling closer, I’m closer to death
Panic Room! Panic Room! Panic!
And I am closer, I’m closer to death
Panic Room! Panic Room! Panic! Room!

Here she comes my way again again again again!
I thought I’d never see her again!
Every time she’d stay
She’d ring the bell bring me hell again again again again again

I’m feeling closer, I’m closer to death
Panic Room! Panic Room! Panic!
And I am closer, I’m closer to death
Panic Room! Panic Room! Panic! Room!

Panic Room! Panic Room! Panic! Panic Room!
Panic Room! Panic Room!