Szaio: A tale from Canada, via Poland, through Synthesizers (Interview)

There is something unique about Szaio.

Pronounced SHY-oh, the backstory of this synth-pop couple is worthy of the movies, the sets of which they call their day-job.

A decade ago, Zosia Mackenzie first bumped into her musical companion and common-law partner while working. The job? An up-and-coming talent, on the set of his music video to be precise. The artist? The musical companion? Diamond Rings, aka John O’Regan. From such serendipity, new careers have been forged, new life-paths found, and new music created.

O’Regan had enviable success as Diamond Rings, however, reflects Mackenzie, “about five years ago [John] decided to step back from performing” and joined the talented Production Designer (having worked on films like Come To Daddy with Elijah Wood, and most recently Lakewood with Naomi Watts) as an Art Director. Around this time, they also began working together musically, creating their own brand of emotionally layered synth-pop. Szaio was born and “we’ve been working together in that capacity ever since.”

Their partnership is based in Toronto, a major hub of the film industry in Canada and a central city for music in North America. Mackenzie and O’Regan have absorbed the city’s culture while living and working in it, finding new music in record stores and vibrant clubs. Even their neighbours proved inspirational for their own productions.

“Lucky for us we also have two great music producers living down the hall named Mark and Matt Thibideau. They’re twin brothers with a very extensive synth collection who release mainly dub and ambient techno on their own label, Obsolete Components, as well as labels like Joule, Thule, and Sushitech.”

Their own passions, as well as the musical influences of their city, gave Mackenzie and O’Regan the confidence and encouragement to pursue their project. However, it was family and the loss of a loved-one that brought on the final push to create a finished release.

“It wasn’t until my grandmother fell ill in Warsaw,” remembers Mackenzie, “that I really started to explore music seriously. I was helping take care of her which was difficult and draining and I found myself writing the songs as a tool to release some of these emotions.”

On returning to Canada, O’Regan heard Mackenzie’s song ideas and sketches. The pair went to work, polishing the tracks and building upon what had already been laid down. The duo tapped into their own musical knowledge, tweaking segments, writing segments, and of course, getting some advice from their audiophile neighbours down the hall.

The Thibideau brothers were as helpful as ever, adding their own footnotes to this incredible story. Their recommendation for mastering? Stefan Betke (aka Pole, Scape Records.) The songs were mastered and cut by this “incredibly talented” legend of electronic music with Mackenzie and O’Regan being “lucky enough to visit his studio pre-COVID for the mastering session.”

The chain of events, and friends, that brought this release to fruition is truly remarkable. With the six tracks completed, Mackenzie and O’Regan sought the advice of their good friends Gary Abugan and Laura Schutte, who run the Toronto record shop and reissue label Invisible City. After listening, they advised to “get in touch with Bordello A Parigi.” Which is exactly what Szaio did – and Obraz was born.

The six tracks that make up the EP reflect the unique pathways and perspectives of Mackenzie and O’Regan. The importance of Poland, the country’s diaspora, and its language is immediately recognisable, as track titles and vocals are sung in Mackenzie’s mother tongue. The addictive hooks of O’Regan’s own past productions are plain to hear and his enviable talent as a musician melds beautifully with his partner’s passion.


The style pursued on Obraz is very much centred around the synthesizer. Bold chords are accentuated by crisp drum patterns, with the human touch coming through in the vocals. At times, the instrument is the focus, as in the dreamy and understated “Rozkwit” and the bright and fluid joy of “Herb.” A seam of new wave runs through the record, lyrics adopting a distanced stance and a touch of sorrow with “W Naszym Domu” before the emotive and uplifting “Chodź Tu Idź Tam.” That sense of unbridled possibility is carried into the radiant warmth of “Chyba Wiesz” with a final burst of joy arriving in the form of “Nauczyłaś Mnie.”

The tracks developed and grew organically after being conceived by Mackenzie. From their humble beginnings, Szaio built in layers using their 909, Polivoks and Prophet 600, which they “bought from Maciej Polak several years ago on the Baltic Coast in Sopot. He runs a really great online store called analogia.pl where he restores amazing vintage gear.”

The Thibideau brothers, with their Aladdin’s cave of gear, also had a part to play. “During the mix we added Arp 2600, Jupiter 4, Pro One, and a ton of rack effects”, recalls Mackenzie, before the tracks were sent off to Betke for mastering.



The influence of Mackenzie’s grandmother is at the heart of the release, the EP being an homage to someone who was so influential in her life. Mackenzie, who is second generation Canadian, has wonderfully warm memories of holidays spent in Poland and listening to music with her beloved relative. Looking after her ailing grandmother was challenging, but despite the difficulty there is a celebration of a life lived and lived on in Obraz.

“I was in Warsaw at the time taking care of my grandmother and found myself overwhelmed with the emotion and grief of her illness…I think all the sadness was just bubbling up inside me and came out in the form of these songs. I guess that’s not to say there’s only sadness in the music as there’s also a lot of hope. At the time she was still alive and fighting and it was really inspiring for me.”

This tribute to her grandmother permeates the release. “The album title, Obraz, means “portrait” and the image on the cover is a painting of my grandmother from 1937 when she was still a student”, Mackenzie tells. All six tracks have something to say about this amazingly strong relationship the pair had. However, “W Naszym Domu” is perhaps the most poignant for the composer. “In the song I’m singing to my grandmother and telling her not to give up and that she’ll get up again. I’m telling her that we’ll dance in our house the way we used to do.”

All the vocals on the record are in Polish with all words coming from “basic song sketches” before being honed and perfected.  Mackenzie reflects that “it was all pretty unrehearsed. The lyrics themselves can sometimes be a bit abstract or fragmented because it was such a confusing time. Even as we’ve improved the sound quality of the songs in our studio – the vibe and lyrics have remained the same from the beginning.”

This unique story, this heartfelt homage from two talented musicians, has created a one-of-a-kind record. Obraz is a radiant release of synth-filled emotions, a sextet of tracks from a new musical partnership and a fitting tribute to a loved-one.

Obraz is out now via Bordello A Parigi and Joint Account, the latter being Mackenzie and O’Regan’s own new label. The story continues…

Buy vinyl Bordello A Parigi

Buy vinyl Szaio Bandcamp

Buy vinyl Invisible City

Words by Robbie Geoghegan