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“Summer Of Joy” is the debut single of the Berlin pop project “HeYoMa”.

HeYoMa wants to spread good mood music in difficult times – catchy, melodic pop with lots of real acoustic instruments (guitar, percussion…). The danceable, radio-ready earworm “Summer Of Joy” impresses with skillful choir vocals, rhythmic percussion fireworks and temperamental guitar fills: real radio-happy sound to sing along and dance!

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Vertel eens iets over jezelf, wie ben je en waar kom je vandaan?

I am Yo, the musical head of “HeYoMa”. For many years I have been writing songs for other artists (e.g. Gliffo – www.gliffo.net), whose projects I sometimes also produce. In addition, I stood for years as a sideman for various artists & bands on stage. In the last few years I have increasingly discovered singing for myself and write and produce my own songs, on the one hand as a solo artist (funk/rock/soul – www.jooliver.net) and now for the brand new HeYoMa project, which I started together with my wife Magdalena. The hometown of HeYoMa is Berlin/Germany. But the project is also a reminiscence of Magdalena’s late father Henryk with whom we sang a lot. The name stands for Henryk, Yo & Magdalena: HeYoMa!

Hoe is je passie voor muziek ontstaan? Wie zijn je idolen?

Already as a child I was enthusiastic about artists, bands and guitars. This enthusiasm for music really increased when I was finally allowed to learn guitar at the age of 13. I quickly made progress and played in the first bands. Later I studied electric guitar and have been working as a freelance musician ever since. The focus shifted more and more towards songwriting and music production. I love to think up melodies and harmonies, to create certain moods and to wrap everything up in my own music. I was influenced by many artists and bands, such as Joe Cocker, Queen, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner and many others, but also the Beatles and many band projects with choir singing. Simple catchy melodies like those of Laid Back appeal to me, but also younger artists like Pharrell Williams or Bruno Mars.

Wat voor soort muziek maak je?

HeYoMa stands for catchy melodies, real musical instruments and danceable rhythms. In times of great upheaval, tension and uncertainty, we would like to give our listeners a “good atmosphere” with our songs. A music for relaxation, which balances and helps to reduce stress. Music has many functions: One could be to mirror the social developments. Another is to give people back a piece of “normality” with music, something that makes them forget all their problems. This function is also extremely important, because many people can recharge their batteries by listening to music. HeYoMa is definitely a good mood music project!

Wat is voor jou het belangrijkste nummer? Welke boodschap wil je overbrengen aan de luisteraar?

Our most important song is of course our debut single “Summer Of Joy”. Our 1st release stands exactly for the positive vibes HeYoMa sound: ear-catching melodies with lots of rhythmic elements (here: percussion), choir voices and interesting guitar rhythms and fill ins. Plus lyrics that lift the listener into a good mood. What could be better in summer than to enjoy the “Summer Of Joy”?

Waarom zou een luisteraar die jou niet kent naar je muziek luisteren?

Someone who doesn’t know our music yet, but is open-minded for new things, will quickly realize that our music triggers a good mood when listening to it. At the same time, the core melodies are simple, but not flat. If you listen to our music on a good stereo or through good headphones, you will quickly realize that the musical arrangements, the instrumental parts and overall the production quality also provide real hi-fi enjoyment.

Wat zijn je toekomstige projecten? Waar zie je jezelf over 5 jaar?

We would like to release and promote many more HeYoMa singles (the next one is called “easy Livin’ Reggae” and will be released on August 19th 2022) , reaching numerous new listeners in the process. This is not so easy in today’s times, but we believe very strongly in the quality of our songs! Many years of songwriting and music production experience go into this project. I have already been able to capture musical awards for other projects. (The newcomer “Gliffo” for example, produced by me, received 5 awards at the German Rock & Pop Award 2021). The HeYoMa listener expects also in the future catchy Feel Good songs, rhythmically interesting and suitable for singing along, dancing along. Since the music business has changed a lot in recent years and we are no longer 20 years old, we have to learn a lot of new things, for example, the proper use of social media. But the question about the 5-year goal we can answer clearly: My wife and I would like to be able to live from the HeYoMa project in 5 years…

Vertel onze lezers een grappige gebeurtenis in je carrière als artiest.

Towards the end of my school days I played in a band called “Shocraan”, with which I also had my first TV appearance, which was of course followed regionally by quite a few people. At the same time there was a TV series “Shogun”. One day a person I didn’t know from my hometown recognized me and asked me if I wasn’t the guitarist of “Shogun”…

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