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Bio
Of course I remember the childhood days in my home town, with all that running, fighting, smoking the first cigarette and playing around the block ( and I’m glad I can remember), but I’d rather put the accent on the good environment my parents tried to create around me, the hours I spent listening to the music brought by my english teacher at school, my older friends who hardly let me borrow their records which I copied on tapes stolen from my dad. I wasn’t very excited when I got my first guuitar. I was 6 at that time and I was already an expert in earthenware and skillet percussion. To be more specific, I used all the frying pans and other things in the kitchen to build my first drum kit. The wooden spoons were the sticks and the fire iron was the bass drum pedal ( how did I know, at 4, that such pedal even exists?).
I have to mention my early, irresisible attraction to rhythm. I’m glad that in meantime I found out more things about music, but the first thing that marked my childhood was rhythm. I could hardly pronounce words but I knew every song that was played in the house. And I was beating on everything that came in my wat. Until I started to bring my music. The music I listened in my group of friends was very eclectic and, fortunately, of very good quality. Diversity and quality, two vital elements in building a good musical knowledge. OK, let’s go fast forward to the highschool days when I discovered the first real (anyway) drum kit, the first instrument that burned the unstopable passion inside of me. I didn’t have a band in my own school, so I joined the band from the rival school in town, which started some gossip and arguments I simply forgot. But I will never forget the friends I played with, the people I first shared the magic of playing in a band. Almost any reason could bring us together in front of our instruments and tapes to listen to the music and try to something close to what we were listening at. Because of them I made the decision of dedicating my whole life to arts. Then it was the theatre club and the name of the first band I played : Boltz.
The year 1990 was the time of my returning to Bucharest. The city I was born. I was so excited to go to the acting classes, to hang around artistic environment, to feel comfortable among actors, writers and musicians. My fantasies about playing on a stage in front of a rewarding audience became more touchable. Every day of my life was full of classes, rehearsals, shows and, of course, loads of fun. I haven’t miss one single opportunity of tasting the pleasures that this part of life can offer. It’s true that sometimes I was tasting too much, but this helped me to become more selective. Excess never brought something good. Especially the moment you can become it’s victim.
In my first year of college I met the guys whot took me in their band (Alien) as a vocalist. I wanted to be a drummer, but I accepted the job anyway. I was attracted to the ideea of being a frontman. I was educating my voice in school, I new how to sing some blues, I tried other genres, so I was already dreaming tours, parties and groupies. And I got very close. We didn’t have many gigs, but every moment I spent on stage with my mates was fully enjoyed. The freedom, the energy, the vibe, became like a drug. I felt capable of aproaching any kind of music, I was atracted to everything done by the artists I was listening to or work with. I wanted more and better. My first appearance as a featuring vocalist in a jazz festival encouraged me to enlarge my stylistic scale. I was more atracted to the spiritual, intelectual side of music in stead of applying the recipes of succes.
I graduated the college and went on the road with a band called Voltaj ’88. Along came my first record, my first english lyrics, the first signs of a serious envolvment in the small crazy world I was living in. Another dream came true : to hear my voice on a vinyl record. I descovered the pleasure of singing the blues with The Blue’s Convention and Big Mamou, with the risk of missing better opportunities. A new descovery came up : the blues harp. And then the percussion instruments. My passion for world music made me discover the richest source of inspiration for modern music, the efflux that brought me the information about the traditional instruments. A new way of expression, a new opening to the organic side of rhythm.
I want to travel and show my skills and passion all over the world, to taste the culture, the food and the wine from all the countries I visit. You exist as an artist only if you perform on a global scale. Working with “Stomp” was a unique, sensational experience in my life, there was a time when I learnt a lot about work, respect and team spirit. Touring and recording with all those beautiful artists gave me the opportunity to use most of the skills and instruments I had so far.
The trust I earned, the pathologic curiosity to find out more and more details about anything that’s generating vibrations, the radio and TV shows I was invited, the reviews and articles I wrote or were written about me make me believe that I made the best choice with the path I’m on and the privilege of making arts it’t worth almost any sacrifice.
I purposely didn’t mention anyone’s name. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I forgot one of them. They all contributed to what I want to call my evolution, they helped me to discover, to confide in myself. And I thank all of them. It’s good to know that I want to dedicate myself to music for the rest of my life. To finish what I started.
To find out more about the things I interacted with along the years, please visit the other sections of my site. |
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