Rock Monsters Romania

DWMT La Conac, the only arts and music festival in southern Romania, organized by Diud in collaboration with Point, returns in September for its second edition with a line-up full of well-known artists, but also names for the future.

One of the intriguing names is Andra Andriucă, who will have a special set alongside Paul Tihan.

Andra is a newcomer artist from Iași, who released her first album, Liniștea nu se împarte, on February 29th.

She was also a mentee in the Women in Music Romania mentorship program, an initiative by Carina Sava, supported by Raw Music, Watermelon Agency, and Overground Music. The program helps girls and women step forward in the music industry, and Andra has since joined the Women in Music Romania team.

After an amazing tour around Romania alongside Paul Tihan, she will also perform live at DWMT La Conac this weekend.

We spoke with her in an exclusive interview about the tour and her upcoming festival performance!

Your first album has been very well received by both fans and critics. How has this success influenced your approach to the tour, and how have you felt the audience’s reaction in recent concerts?

There’s something very special about seeing the music that you create, begin to grow, and, with a bit of luck, it reaches those who listen to it just as pure and sincere as it was created. And then to step onto the stage and share live with them those stories, those songs, sing along and connect through music, it’s just the best feeling. I’d say it’s one of the most beautiful aspects of music for me.

This year, as we’ve journeyed from city to city on Welcoming Tour, every place we’ve played in and every person we’ve met has filled our hearts. It has given us even more desire to sing, to go to new places with our music, to enjoy what we do and why we do it, and the way everything has unfolded has made us feel like we are getting closer and closer to our dream.

As your tour is nearing its end, what have been the most memorable moments for you, and what have you learned from this experience?

Every single part of our tour is memorable to me. All the behind-the-scenes work, each day on the road, the beautiful people we met, the concerts – everything. And it was even more special as it marked our first big step into the music world. Also, it was so nice to plan and experience this double tour alongside Paul Tihan, especially because his project has always been an inspiration in my journey through music, even before we decided to collaborate. This journey showed me once again how important it is to be surrounded by the right people. Between all of us – me, Paul, our band members and our entire team – a very large family has grown, as we like to call it. It meant a lot to have people by our side who work hard every day to add another brick to the big dream that brought us together.

Photo by BandBook

Despite a busy schedule with concerts and promoting your first album, have you already started working on new material? What can you reveal about the artistic direction you’ll be taking in your future projects?

So, actually, you’ve caught me during a quiet moment at home after a busy (and amazing!) stretch of our summer tour. I have a few days at home, alone, in quiet, where I’ve returned to songwriting. I’ve missed creating, spending time in peace, singing, and brainstorming new song ideas, as well as putting together new plans. I’d say (perhaps a bit prematurely and maybe a little too confident) that a new material is beginning to take shape. Time will tell what will come of it, but one thing I know for sure is that the music following our first album will reflect pieces and stories from this chapter of life, with its highs and lows, with the people I’ve met, loved, or lost. I’ll continue writing stories – stories for and about people.

In the context of your musical evolution and the changes in your career, how do you define your style now, and how do you ensure that you stay authentic to your fans?

In musical terms, our music falls somewhere between indie, pop-rock, songwriting, and a bit of alternative. To put it in my own words, what we sing and what I write and create is honest and real. (in romanian it sounds a little bit better, I promise :)) I always strive to ensure that everything I do and sing reflects who I am today, genuinely, without altering or compromising anything for anyone. I always try to do only what feels right to me. It’s hard to explain into words – it’s a feeling inside that tells you ”Yes, that’s it, it feels righ.”. This applies not only to my life but also to every aspect of our music, whether it’s songwriting, producing tracks, creating videos, photos, or anything else. I need to feel deep inside that it’s good, that I like it, that it feels natural. If not, I wouldn’t be able to do it with passion and sincerity, and it wouldn’t be real or sustainable for me.

Moreover, I feel that it’s very important for everyone who listens to my music to feel, even if just at the concerts, that they know me a little, that they are discovering me as a person. That’s why I always feel the need to talk about the songs, the stories behind them, and sometimes about myself. At the end of the concerts, I loove staying with everyone, getting to know them, and talking. I feel that I need that connection and I believe it’s important for them as well. 

Your participation at the DWMT la Conac will be for the first time. How are you preparing for this event, and what are your expectations for this experience?

Honestly, I followed the first edition of the festival last year very closely, and especially since I wasn’t able to attend then, it slowly became a dream to get to DWMT La Conac, as I was really fascinated by the festival’s concept and how it unfolded. The fact that we are part of this year’s lineup is yet another proof for me that if you dream enough, work even harder, and keep dreaming, things will happen for you. How are we preparing for it? With veeery big smiles, lots of music and even a bit of nostalgia, as it will be one of our last concerts together with Paul Tihan, in our big family. So we’re giving it our all, it’s going to be ROCK, as our band members like to say. Hope to see you there!!!

Text by Radu Mihai and Ionela Pleșan
Interview by Ionela Pleșan