THE STORIES BEHIND THE LYRICS OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS
SHORT DISCLAIMER
I must state from the start that I do not promote anything on demand, I am not affiliated with any brand or platform, and I do not even have a collaboration with the character in question. Moreover, Mihai didn't even know about my intention in writing this article.
A MESSAGE LIKE ALL THE OTHERS RECEIVED ON LOUD T-SHIRTS
Mihai wrote to me yesterday to congratulate me on my passion for t-shirts and hoodies. I don't want to flatter myself, but it seemed like a message I've received from other quarters. Because many congratulate us, but few buy. But that's not the point of my post. We're not complaining at all because everything we do started out of passion, out of a desire to do something totally different than encourage brutal consumerism.
As I said, Mihai wrote to me and, after the short words of congratulations, asked me if I could help him in a new project with the printing of some personalized t-shirts to serve his purpose.
Image taken from Europa FM
I DISCOVERED A WORLD OF MY TEENAGE MUSIC STORIES
After I answered in the affirmative and gave him details, we ended up exchanging addresses where we can watch each other's work, passions. Of course, I also subtly invited him to my website as a professional photographer – www.mariancristea.ro
I first went to his Instagram account and immediately fell in love with everything I saw and heard on his account - short stories about musical masterpieces that accompanied our teenage years to the present day. Basically the messages behind the lyrics of the songs are exposed and explained. Absolutely brilliant! I've never heard or seen anyone do this. But one more thing struck me... The more I listened, the more I realized that his voice sounded familiar.
THIS IS ECLECTIC
Then he gave me a link to his podcast on the most popular music platform - Spotify. And here the game is over. We found the full stories about the songs or albums of the biggest artists in the music industry. Once I opened the first episode I couldn't sleep until late at night...
I listened to the stories of Gotye's song - "Somebody that I use to know" and learned about what a "puzzle" composition means in music.
I moved on to the story of the famous album, "Violator", by Depeche Mode and stayed absorbed for almost two hours.
I went to bed around 1 am, full of adrenaline and satisfaction, with the thought of waking up as quickly as possible to listen to as many stories as possible.
Image taken from Europa FM
WHO IS HE AND WHY DID I NOT RECOGNIZE MIHAI DINU
I woke up at 7 with a thought in my mind. I was intrigued by the fact that I recognized his voice, but I didn't know where to get it. It didn't look like anything you could overlook. And everything I had listened to sounded extremely sound to me as information and way of conveying. So I thought I'd do a web search to see if anyone knew him. It only took me about two seconds to find out that he is actually the show producer at Europa FM. Phew!
Then I found out that he also won an award at Webstock, in the "Best Podcast" category, for his series of musical stories THIS IS ECLECTIC.
At first I felt uncomfortable that I couldn't acknowledge him and flatter him a little, as honestly as possible. But I also have a reason for that.
I haven't listened to the radio since I was born. Maybe just right after `89 I was a little curious to see what was next. Ever since Ceaușescu's time, I had my sources from where I got my music. I remember that I used to go to a nene whose name was "Neamțu". He probably had access to travel to Germany somehow. He had a whole wall of tape recorders that were recording non-stop. I used to go with two or three cassettes to get more news. God, I loved those Akai tape recorders! They were the ones after which the Russians copied the famous Kashtan model.
If I still listen to something these days it's Radio Guerilla, but it's not what it used to be either.
That's how I found out that Mihai Dinu has part of his roots through Guerilla.
WE HAVE THE DUTY TO PROMOTE EVERYTHING THAT IS VALUABLE
I entered Mihai's account again and saw with amazement how few views and likes his beautiful stories about music can have. I find it extremely sad that a place that can serve as a foundation for anyone's musical culture is almost totally ignored. I am absolutely certain that was not the purpose of his podcast or social media accounts. But I believe that all of us who grew up in the culture of common sense and who caught the times when values were still valued, have a duty to promote something other than subculture.
THE SOURCES THAT DELIGHTED MY SENSES
SPOTIFY: This Is Eclectic
INSTAGRAM: @mihai_si_dinu
FACEBOOK: @mihai.dinu.9
TIKTOK: @mihaidinu35