Rock Monsters Romania

On June 21st, you can experience a dose of randomness, eccentricity, and good music with Toulouse Lautrec at Rocanotherworld!

Toulouse Lautrec is a memory of Bucharest in the 2000s. They’ve taken something from the painter’s spirit and carried it through radio waves and onto stages across the country. In an era full of “post-” labels, Toulouse Lautrec is post-indie rock, post-mainstream, and post-underground. They’ve made it through MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, and now they’re navigating the age of artificial intelligence.

At their core, they’re still four guys with guitars and drums, reinventing themselves for over 14 years. With five albums, dozens of songs hitting the charts, countless music videos, and shows in at least seven countries, maybe even across seven seas, as they like to say, they’re still here, doing what they do best.

We talked to them about their set from Rocanotherworld in an exclusive interview.

It’s been a few months since our last interview, when you described Ultratonic as “an album focused on music, with small speeches about personal life and life stories in general.” After all the chaos of recent months, have new song ideas emerged that might be released soon?

Quite so. We started thinking, writing and composing about a new concept, story or rather feeling. We believe it will be original and revealing as an idea. It is very important to start from a single powerful idea that will give you the energy for an album, let’s say ten to twelve tracks.

You’ve also had some time since the tour ended, a period that probably allowed for reflection. How has the album aged for you over the past six months? What aspects are you most proud of, and what do you feel could have been done better?

We are happy that people accepted the tracks in English too. I think the Romanian scene should aim internationally, at least as wishful thinking. As for the production, there is always room for better. I regret that we could have done more in terms of video. We have five videos, two of them are live from the Danube Delta.

You were in Iași for one of the first concerts of the tour. What is your connection with the city and the region?

I wasn’t aware of that. It was just random, I guess. In Iași we have a long history. One of our track, Irrational, is related directly to Iași. We have a very good friend in Iași and we always pay him a visit. Iași is also an emerging city, is part of the BIG 3 or BIG 5 in terms of culture. I believe we have now 4 cultural centers and those are Bucharest, Cluj, Iași and Timișoara. There are four different scenes. From them Bucharest is relatively stable. In the others the “underground” scene is still a matter of changing.

You’re one of the bands with a long-standing relationship with Rocanotherworld. What’s the most memorable moment you’ve had at the festival?

I remember when the festival was born. It was emotional. Any tragedy that moves people and moves things becomes something bigger, something better. It is the case of Rocanotherworld. So, the spark is totally emotional for me.

You’re returning to Rocanotherworld for a show in 2025. How does it feel to be back? What can the audience expect from your performance?

The festival is now bigger, the Iași audience is more involved, the whole infrastructure I think is bigger and better. We are happy to be one of the bands. We will perform with Bedouin Soundclash and with our friends from Mono Jacks so I guess it will be a perfect timing.

What message would you like to share with the people coming to your set at Rocanotherworld and reading this interview?

I think we should all enjoy it – it’s not about a band, it’s not about a genre of music, not about age, not about time, day, night. It is all about joy. Let’s enjoy the forest, the wineyard, the sound, friends, relationship, family, a drink, talking and listening. See you there, we come with an open heart.

This year marks the 10th anniversary edition of the festival. Do you have a special message for the organizers?

Keep going and grow kinder, smarter, better, warmer. Love you!

Tickets and multi-day passes are still available on the official website (www.rocanotherworld.com), so don’t miss the opportunity to see your favourite bands live!

Interview by Radu Mihai