Roots: Herck - Things Started To Change In The Romanian Undeground

Sergiu Cilibiu aka Herck may be one of the signs that things have started to change in the Romanian house & techno undeground. Breaking Bucharest’s monopoly when it comes to the clubbing scene, local crews and resident DJs started to build the foundations of cool communities, like Arad, a pitoresque city close to the Western Romanian border, has seen in recent years. The ABC parties, hosted in different hotspots in Arad, gained some momentum, taking the opportunity to promote DJs like Herck, Somesan and Bread & Butter. Yet Herck’s productions, distinct from the abstract loops and bored grooves that have over-saturated the scene, propose a new approach: inheriting the minimalistic framework, Herck’s music adds a weird kind of energy on the dance floor. A kind of energy you may felt in some early RPR sets, before they became a bit more predictable.

Herck’s first contact with electronic music was through Vibe FM’s airwaves, listening to DJ Optick’s radioshows […] It was that pure minimal music, the simplicity of that type of genre, it was simply amazing, and I knew I have to do it, too. It took a few years of wandering through different hybrids of electronic music to refine his signature sound, a dancefloor oriented cocktail with a surprisingly fresh taste.

When you see the crowd bouncing on your tracks and they are really feeling it, itʼs just simply amazing. Especially when you, as a producer, are a part of the crowd, and big DJs are playing your tracks… this cannot be described in words. No pieces of post modern minimal techno or complicated narrative threads: Herck delivers the groove in the most straightforward manner.

inspiration comes from everywhere

In his case, music comes as an expression of a mindful living: Good resting, listening to other type of music, from life, observing people, breaks and spending time with friends, family and the ones you love…thatʼs the real and the best inspiration you can get.

https://soundcloud.com/4pe4/herck-somesan-abc-x-souled-out-052018

Avoiding frameworks and studio stereotypes and just let the inspiration kick in: I donʼt have a specific flow. As a producer, you evolve from track to track so itʼs just… if I hear a sound, a melodic pattern or a rhythm, I simply imagine how that works with some other stuff. You can start a track from anything you want as long as you take it where you planned. I go with the flow when Iʼm in the studio. I make tracks with different feelings and stories and the dj / artist would decide where and when to play them (if they want, of course ahaha). I heard my tracks being played on big festivals with a huge crowd so… I think they fit perfectly with every kind of venue.

A pair of Yamaha HS80-m monitors, a few keyboards, a Blofeld synthesiser and his faithful Ableton make up his home studio at this moment: I canʼt say itʼs my dream studio, but I feel comfortable with what I have. Like someone said… Itʼs the ear, not the gear :) Staying true to the values of the genuine underground, satisfaction comes from the crowd’s appreciation as established DJs started to play his music. I knew that Iʼm doing a great job when I heard big DJs playing my music… after a while they wanted more so they end up contacting me.

The future holds no worries, fears or expectations if you embrace it’s full uncertainty: as an artist, you evolve from track to track and yeah, personally I feel that I changed my sound in the last 2 years. The music is changing from year to year, new styles come out, but you decide if you want to adapt or not. Maybe the future will bring a release on Visionquest, one of Herck’s favourite record labels, or a studio collaboration with Pandilla.

After a prolific year with releases on Roche Madame, Muted Noise and Osmosis, a new EP is cooking up for Curtea Veche, following the amazing Sunetul Noptilor Fecunde album from 2017.