Two men standing in glasshouse, one on the left with dark hair and beard, the other on the right  wearing glasses, jeans and pale blueshirt, photo by Ben Eichler

26/07/2021 | ZMT is gearing up for a musical premiere as former bachelor student Tobias Poprick aka “Biyotob” releases a new music track in collaboration with mangrove ecologist Prof. Dr. Martin Zimmer.

The piece titled „Laguncularia“ is the opening track of Tobias’ new album "Impressionen aus dem Biyotob"  (Impressions from the Biyotob) and features Zimmer on vocals.

In a style reminiscent of jazzy boom bap, a subgenre of hip hop, the track has been composed to carry a scientific message. Set to a slow beat and piano theme and underlined by the sounds of waves and bird, Professor Zimmer’s spoken words detail the vital role of mangroves for climate protection and the continuous threats these ecosystems face.

“I have been working on my first solo album for a couple of years and wanted it to reflect my life and personality by featuring companions of mine from both music and science,” says Tobias Poprick. “Martin is the head of the working group Mangrove Ecology at ZMT where I did the project for my Bachelor thesis. He was on board straight away and we started working on the lyrics to the song. He is a great collaborator as we both share the same goal: to promote the importance of mangrove ecosystems and advocate their importance for nature and humans.”

For Martin Zimmer the musical collaboration was another great way of being vocal about mangroves: “When Tobias approached me with his idea I was a bit surprised at first, as I am not known for my singing voice,“ he laughs. “But I immediately thought it was a great chance to get an important message across and to show my passion for music”, Zimmer explains.

The GloboCut project by the German NGO “Gesellschaft zur Förderung von Solidarität und Partnerschaft e. V.“ (Gespa e.V.) has also supported the project and kindly produced a video to accompany the music, which can be viewed on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw5cDraRLBM

Tobias’s album under the alias “Biyotob” is available from July 30 through Vinyl Digital (https://www.vinyl-digital.com/) and on different streaming platforms https://fanlink.to/lage7 .

More informationon Biyotob: https://www.instagram.com/biyotobi/?hl=de

Images of Tobias Poprick and Martin Zimmer are courtesy of Bremen-based photographer Ben Eichler https://www.instagram.com/who_the_fck_is_ben/?hl=de