Rock Monsters Romania

“Beyond that, starting January 2023, it could be anything: it could end there, it could turn into a journalism school or a mouthpiece promoting other journalists’ efforts, we could join forces with other newsrooms, etc.” was a quote by Cristian Lupșa about DoR that I didn’t fully understand until this year when I faced one of the hardest questions: “What will happen after 2024?”

At the beginning of August, Rock Monsters Romania turned 8. I founded it when I was 15, and for the first time, I realized that I’ve worked on this project for a third of my life—a project aimed at changing the way people view underground rock and metal, while also helping them stay safe at concerts. Did I reach the goal? No. Did we help some bands grow? Yes, but not as many as we wanted.

The truth is, in the last 2-3 years, I’ve missed more and more emails and DMs from bands, or I didn’t have time to write a review for a new album or single as I wanted. I also missed out on a lot of good releases and new bands for the same reason. This applies to concerts and festivals too.

Probably the peak of this issue was last year when I published a review of a Jack of all Trades & Heartbreak Cinema concert about seven months after it took place, and Radu Bădilaș (Heartbreak Cinema) replied, “I was questioning myself about when we had this concert and thought I was going crazy.” As for the reviews I didn’t write last year, there are quite a few, including for Alternative Quartet at the National Museum of Art and E-an-na at Quantic—both 2023 concert highlights for me. Buuuut, I never had the inspiration or energy to write about them, and when I finally put some phrases in the document, they looked awful to me.

And now comes 2024, probably the best and worst year for Rock Monsters yet.

I have the opportunity to see our logo on some of the biggest stages, alongside bands I grew up with and wrote about. But everything I see now just means more and more work after my day job and after my other journalism projects, and sometimes I feel like giving up completely. On top of that, the health problems I’ve faced this year have only drained my energy and enthusiasm further and there was nothing to do about it.

And when I go to concerts now, it’s exactly as Ionela mentioned in a previous article—I can’t enjoy them anymore. I can’t attend a concert without thinking that I need to take photos, post stories, or remember details for the reviews. My mind can’t relax at concerts anymore, and naturally, I can’t write good pieces because of it. And when I do manage to write something, the article is read by about 10-20 people, and most of them only read the first two paragraphs.

So, what’s next? Well… it’s not exactly the end, but a big step in that direction. I’ll try to edit and post my colleagues’ articles on the website once my current health issues ease up, and (hopefully) attend one more concert this year, which has always been therapeutic for me: E-an-na. I know some people may be disappointed when they read this, but this is the only way Rock Monsters can continue into 2025. If it were just about me, I would probably step back right now, as I desperately need a few weeks without having to worry about Rock Monsters. But I still can’t do that.

What about the team, you may ask. It’s getting smaller and smaller, day by day, month by month, year by year, while the workload grows every day. Right now, it’s just me and Ionela managing the website and social media accounts, and we both feel like it’s too much, even with new collaborators or editors. Unfortunately, the team isn’t large enough to handle the number of requests we receive, and even though we try to complete tasks as quickly as possible, it’s not possible to do so immediately. It’s not just about the number of people; it’s also about how we’re doing things, and that’s why I feel, in a way, like I’ve failed.

We’ll try to finish everything that needs to be done this year, one way or another, and then we’ll see what comes next: the same, something new… or nothing.

To close, I want to apologize to those I may have disappointed over the years. I also want to thank everyone I’ve collaborated with and those who helped us get to where we are now.

It’s been a pleasure being “Radu from Rock Monsters.” Now, you can just call me Radu—at least until the end of this year.