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In techno, differentiating ones self can seem an almost insurmountable task. It's one of dance music's oldest genres, with enough performers at the top, bottom and everywhere in between trying to either hang on or break through, slicing a path through the noise, especially from the outer reaches (read, not Berlin), seems almost a suicide mission. But from the Eastern European country of Romania comes three musicians who saw opportunity in the noise; a chance to do something their own way, from an outsider's prospective, and bring a touch of home to a sometimes lock-step market.
Premiesku, with members George G, and longtime DJ duo Livio & Roby, was conceived in just this way. Through Livio & Roby the three already had connections outside of Romania, and with Geroge's lack of interest in DJing, drive to perform live, and all three's knowledge of analogue equipment, they decided to do it their own way – by assembling custom equipment to become a true live act. Since then, Premiesku has brought their live act to clubs like Fabrik in Madrid, festivals like Time Warp and East Ender, and all over Ibiza for parties like ENTER., Flying Circus, Used+Abused, and of course, Cocoon, whose booking agency they recently joined. In the studio, they've released on labels like Cécille, All In and Desolat – their infectious, minimal grooves carrying something unique, something that can only be classified as the new Romanian touch. So we knew we needed to find out what drove them to build their own gear, find out more about what the Romanian sound is, and why their country has become a hot bed for techno in recent years, eclipsing all it's neighbouring countries in terms of DJs, parties, labels and international acts. Read on...
<<<Continued from Part 1 of our interview with Premiesku
Livio: We have a lot of guys, a lot of people here doing good music, actually. Some of them are very young in the scene, some others are coming from our time, and I think a lot of them are working together, there’s are a lot of collaborations, there’s a lot of experience between them. Some others are doing their own thing. And now a lot are using the labels and the market, playing around Europe and everything, and they are actually participating in this scene, and they are doing really, really good. We have guys from Bucharest and all over the country.
Do you think Romania could be the next hot spot for techno? Roby: It’s already hot as a sound. All these young producers make kind of the same sound. It’s interesting. They are all going in the same direction, and that is a different thing in my point of view. It’s nice. Everyone is going on the same road, and it makes it special, somehow.
What do you think differentiates the Romanian sound from everybody else? Roby: The deepness. It has a deep character to the sound.
Livio: All together, it’s a characteristic sound, if I can say. It’s interesting because there’s a lot of original style to it. Even if it’s deep or tech, you can hear the touch of the Romanian sound. And you can say, “This is from Romania, not from anywhere else.”
Roby: The harmony of the tracks have a Romanian touch. Maybe it comes from the folklore. I don’t know. Maybe the grooves have the Romanian touch…
Livio: It tends to be a little bit, you know, complicated, but it tends to be smart, a little bit different. We tried to add something on a new production we did – something new, something nobody’s tried before, arrange and play it differently, and come up with something more interesting. Some tracks are working, some not, but you can say, “It’s Romanian.”\
You mentioned folklore. Is there a touch of traditional music? Livio: Yeah, of course. Some tracks have a lot of traditional music. Maybe harmonies or traditional instruments, something like that.
Roby: I think it was more a couple of years ago. It was really a trend of making techno music with traditional folkloric things. But now, it’s more the touch, just a touch of the feeling. It’s not in your face, it’s more subtle.
So you are with Cocoon bookings now. How has that been so far? Livio: It’s going very well. It’s super nice. We’re really happy, we’re playing good gigs.
How did that all come together? Livio: With Sven and Richie, Marco Carola, Loco Dice…Cocoon was a really big icon for us. We found that our music style and our live act and tracks have always been appreciated by Cocoon. We’ve been playing with them in Ibiza a couple of gigs, and we found that our sound was totally matching with Cocoon, with the artists over there. So this is how we started to think about it, how it would be better if we started to work with those guys, and they were happy to hear the idea.
Roby: We really fit there.
Livio: We had this match, and we fell into the right place.
The guys will have plenty of new material coming out in 2014, though most of it is still under wraps, so keep an eye out. We'll keep you updated as it comes in. Head over to the Premiesku Facebook page for more info.