Rock Monsters Romania

If you enjoyed the third concert of the SESAME Project last week, it’s time to discover the artists featured in the upcoming show, which will take place at Echoes Haus on the 23rd of January.

The SESAME project aims to support the mobility of artists from regions surrounding the Black Sea, France, and the Republic of Moldova, fostering intercultural collaboration through music. Over the course of five creative camps held in Bucharest, ten bands come together for seven days to create, learn, and perform. Each camp concludes with a SESAME Live Session event, where the artists showcase their newly created music to a live audience.

Today, we’re heading to Romania’s neighbor, Bulgaria, to spotlight a special duo that rocked the stage at the Mastering the Music Business Showcase in 2023. We had the pleasure of speaking with IVA.

Who are IVA?

IVA is a bold sister duo that fuses alternative pop-rock with daring experimentation. With Iva’s soulful, captivating vocals and Elena’s distinctive, unconventional lyricism, they create a soundscape that is both haunting and exhilarating, inspired by legends like Massive Attack and The Rolling Stones.

To help the public get to know you: what is one thing people should know about you before reading this interview?

We’re sisters, but not the Hallmark kind. It’s not all hugs and tea parties—it’s yelling, crying, and laughing until it hurts. That’s where the music comes from: the chaos of being so close you can’t hide anything.

If you could describe your musical style in one word and your local music scene in another, what would they be and why?

Our style? Electric. It’s raw, full of fire, and always unpredictable. The local scene? Scrappy. Everyone’s fighting to make their mark in a very tight audience for the alternative scene, and that kind of hunger makes for some incredible music.

What’s your favorite milestone in the process of creating a song—from the initial idea to writing, recording, and performing it live? What makes this moment special for you?

Performing it live. That’s where the truth comes out. You can’t fake it on stage. Either the song hits, or it doesn’t. When it does, and the crowd feels it, it’s like a lightning bolt. You can’t get that in a studio.

What impact has the support of friends, family, or fans, as well as your participation in camps, conferences, and workshops, had on your career so far?

It’s been everything. Friends and family kept us from giving up when things got rough, and fans? They’re the ones who light the fire under us. As for workshops, conferences and camps— we were blessed to perform on the biggest stages of showcase festivals in Europe – MMB (Romania), ESNS (Netherlands), Reeperbahn (Germany) and many more! They’re like stepping into a room full of sparks. You leave with ideas you didn’t even know you needed.

How did you hear about the SESAME Project, what motivated you to apply, and how do you see it impacting your career and presence in the European music scene?

We heard about it through the grapevine—someone said it was for artists who aren’t afraid to push boundaries, and that sounded like us. SESAME is a chance to step onto a bigger stage and prove we can hold our own in the European music scene. We love performing in Romania and we hope to solidify the relationships we’ve built so far, make new contacts and unlock more stages for the upcoming seasons!

What challenges do you expect to face in this program, and is there anything you’re nervous about? What skills, knowledge, or qualities do you hope to gain or bring to the creative camps, and what’s your biggest goal for this project?

Challenge? The challenge is always the same: stay true to who we are. Programs like this can push you to compromise, and we’re not about that. We’re bringing our grit and our heart, and we’re hoping to take away new ways to make people feel something. The goal? Leave with music that punches people in the gut.

What do you hope the Bucharest audience will feel during your performance? Is there a memorable concert moment from the past that you’d love to experience again?

We want them to feel alive—like they’ve been hit by a tidal wave of sound and emotion. As for a moment we’d love to relive, there was this gig where the crowd sang so loud we didn’t need to. That’s the dream: the audience becoming part of the band for a night.

If you could give one piece of advice to upcoming artists who are reading this interview, what would it be?

Stop chasing trends. Don’t try to be what you think people want—give them what they didn’t know they needed. And never lose the fire, no matter how hard it gets.

Interview by Ana-Maria Corjos and Radu Mihai