City Beats: Bucharest
In our City Beats series, we explore underground scenes in cities all around the world, and this week we're spotlighting Bucharest, Romania.
The Rise of Rominimal
Since the 1990s, Bucharest has established itself as a global hotspot for electronic music, in particular a subgenre of minimal techno often referred to as "Rominimal." Bucharest’s underground emerged in the wake of communism's fall in the 1990s and gradually evolved into a unique sonic movement. Inspired by the deep, hypnotic grooves of early German and Detroit techno, local producers and DJs began crafting a sound that was more spacious, subtle, and introspective. By the early 2000s, a dedicated collective of artists and labels had formed the foundation of what would become one of the most influential minimalist movements in global electronic music.
Artists like Raresh, Petre Inspirescu, and Rhadoo helped shape the sonic identity of the scene with their [a:rpia:r] imprint launched in 2007. Their sets were often vinyl-only and celebrated for their long, meandering structure and restraint, often stretching deep into the after-hours. Along with the likes of Barac, Priku, Cezar, and Cristi Cons, they built a loyal following both locally and internationally.
But in recent years, the popularity of Rominimal has dropped off. Younger generations in Bucharest are less inclined to lock into all-night-long sets, instead looking for a more dynamic experience.
The Evolution of Bucharest’s Underground
In the last 10 years, Bucharest nightlife has transformed. With more and more DJs on the scene, clubs and promoters are competing to get ravers into their nights.
And one of the most celebrated club nights on the block is Safe and Sound. They launched their night one year ago, with the aim of providing a different experience to Bucharest’s underground scene and promoting shared values and a sense of community.
They throw regular events in a new warehouse club space called Forge, which opened its doors one year ago.
“Forge is starting to grow,” says Oliver Ibanescu, co-founder of Safe and Sound. “They throw big parties that don't sell out as fast as the others, but the headliners are most of the time Romanian DJs, which is great. In the next couple of years, it's gonna grow bigger and have more international DJs, but I think it's great to have a proper underground club that promotes Romanian DJs.”
Safe and Sound is a genre-fluid club night with a focus on Drum & Bass. Their events last six hours, and they create light shows alongside their musical acts to create an experience beyond just partying.
“We still have quite a bit of stigma around electronic music in Romania,” says Andrei Duruș, AKA Scatterbrain, another co-founder of Safe and Sound. "Even after all these years of underground music and all these huge festivals and events, people still might say it's boring or repetitive.”
But Safe and Sound counters that with a huge range of artists, community energy, and transformative visuals.
The New Wave of DJs, Club nights, and Venues
This crew says the most exciting Bucharest artists to watch out for include (but are not limited to) Dragan, Bianca Oance, Sub:liminal, Teodor Ghita and Ellen.
Although clubs like Platforma Wolff, Guest House and Control have established followings, their mission is to build something that transcends a big night out at the weekend.
“The most important thing right now in Bucharest is learning how to create and build around music,” says Matei Simion, third co-founder of Safe and Sound. “I think people need to learn how to get along at parties, and enjoy those moments together.”
In the future, as well as throwing their warehouse parties, they plan to throw more daytime events centered around their community. “We’ll throw smaller daytime parties with a different brand that we're building right now,” says Matei. “It's going to be very small, in a garden during the day with just local DJs. Some friends will cook, they’ll bring their friends, and we’ll connect with all the people who come. So I think that's the most important thing.”
For their latest news and events, follow Safe and Sound on Instagram.
