George Stanciulescu of LeVant

So finally we are getting something official from Le Vant. Tell me more about this upcoming album, those video teasers are very mysterious.

Well, the upcoming LeVant material is in its main parts recorded and as far as the mysterious part is regarded, a teaser should incite without revealing too much, therefore I take your words as the confirmation of an accomplished mission.
What it does reveal though it’s the presence of a new vocalist I work with, Cristina Padurariu, one of the most magic Romanian voices that comes from the jazz music scene, which brilliantly adjusted her versatile singing to my music style.
Anyway, it is probably the best album I’ve done so far, extremely varied, maybe to the point of schizophrenia , yet strangely cohesive and efficiently working as a whole.

What kind of image are you trying to project in this new album? Now when I say image I am not talking about the visuals but the over all effect of your music and video.

The so-called “brand” LeVant likes to implement in the minds of the potential listeners is what I called “post-aquarian electronics”, meaning the overall tendency to render the very actual times we live in through a kaleidoscope of generously expressed emotional states. Therefore, in this post –aquarian age, assumed as what Frederic Jameson called “the cannibalization of tradition”, we reflect and combine the beauty, the tribulations and the purity of the ever-human soulful emotions through the increasingly ubiquitous presence of electronic machines and digital technologies of undenied necessity: computers, samplers and so on.

From a stylistic point of view, influences from a wide spectrum of contemporary music are to be found, from trip hop to glitch/ IDM, from lavish orchestral harmonies to dreamy pop, from psychedelic dance-electro to nu-Jazz etc, all melted in a sort of theatrical and modernly refined sound that is meant to seduce you. This album is much more based on manipulated samples than the ones I made before, this being an advantage to the richness of the sound and the variety of textural dimensions. Being topped with Cristina’s voice and lyrical effusions, I can guarantee it will not leave you unmoved.

What changes in your life happened that you think impacted your songwriting(if indeed there are milestones that you wish to share with your readers)?

I always try to experiment new paths and unconventional challenges. As I did throughout the last years with my first music project Ad Ombra….But now since my experience with electronic music went into more depth and my inner apprehensive structures evolved, I basically try to get the music discourse to a whole other level, which may very well work both as a sort of summing up of contemporary electronica tendencies from the past decades and as a refreshing and touching way of assuming them.

How’s life between your PHD and music making? Do you have more time now to concentrate on your creative side?

I have finished my PhD dissertation in the fall of 2012 and successfully managed to get the degree since, therefore time is not a problem nowadays. I have to say that the creative process was widely influenced by my theoretical research, since focusing during my studies on the postmodern and digimodern aesthetics as applied to digital sound, I enhanced my abilities and knowledge in the applied field as well.

 Let us talk about composing. How do you decide it is time to create something. Where does the drive come from?

I feel the notion of inspiration not necessarily as some kind of transcendental offering, but as a mood and a state of reception that have the more or less successful potential of being converted into expression. Therefore, starting from this sort of abysmal urge, there are a lot of hours and craft spent in order to find the right harmony, the right sample, the overall sound and ambience that most faithfully reflect the state , the emotion, the mood and so on.

 With all the genre mixing that you are doing, I am curious about the top 8 albums you are listening to this week and also artists that influenced your style.

I listen to a wide variety of genres and styles ranging from ambient/electronica to jazz and contemporary classical music and they all show in my music.
As far as a top would go, I already stated few of those before in the quizz you sent me I am not a big fan of tops, charts and anything hierarchical either… But I can tell you that currently I’m streaming a lot electronic artists such as Flying Lotus, Bonobo, Royksopp, Ruby my Dear, Lulu Rouge, along with some avantgarde gems such as the ones signed by Luc Ferrari and Igor Wakhevitch in the 70s.

What are the other things you are passionate about doing along with music?

Well, I like all things connected to art, cinema, reading and meditating, hanging out with my few but heartwarming close ones.

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