My guest this evening is composer Sebastian Androne-Nakanishi, a creator with a great artistic appetite, a discoverer of meanings in the world of musical language, who writes extensively and very diversely. Good evening from here in Romania, Sebastian. Welcome, even if it's just by phone.

Good evening. Thank you very much for the invitation.

Can you say about yourself that you suffer from great artistic curiosity?

Yes. This is one of the reasons why I could never stop composing, the joy of discovery. When someone listens to my music, it is fresh, but I consider myself the first listener, and I not only create but also explore. It is a great joy.

We must tell our listeners that your music is heard every day on Radio România Muzical, because you practically created the package of signals and jingles that make up our station's sound identity. How did you work on this sound identity we were talking about, and how did you achieve this result?

I think it was one of the most difficult projects, but also one of the most beautiful. Writing a short melodic line, a track of just a few seconds, that incorporates what a radio station represents, and not just any radio station, is not an easy task. Mrs. Cristina Comandașu, who has been a rare support to me and to whom I thank once again, contacted me and asked if I would like to write the jingle, the station signal for Radio România Muzical. I said yes, of course. Previously, I had been contacted by someone else, also for Radio România Muzical, but things didn't come together. I had worked on some jingles, but not for the station's signal, rather for some shows, and since then I had some experience. Even though nothing materialized then, I had somehow already worked on such a project. I remember that I was walking my son, who was then a year and a half to two years old, and he was sleeping in the stroller. I started to whistle and to sketch out my ideas for the signal that you hear now

Here is a reason to listen to it more attentively, so to speak. You mentioned that your composition professor, Dan Dediu, was delighted when he heard that you actually created this package of signals and jingles.

No one knew, and I'm not sure how this conversation came up with him, and he was actually wondering who wrote it. I was glad he liked it too.

I know you had valuable mentors in Romania. I mentioned Dan Dediu, but alongside him, there were the late Nicolae Coman and Dan Voiculescu. However, you didn't remain tied to "pure music." Why is that?

I was always advised by these wonderful professors, and not only by them-I also consider Mrs. Doina Rotaru an important mentor-they all told us to go abroad and explore. Attend master classes, summer schools, and so on. At all the master classes and summer schools I attended, everyone would tell me, sometimes critically, that my music had a tendency towards the visual. Loving films and video games, I always had this appetite for film music without realizing it. At one point, a friend told me about the Zurich Film Festival competition and asked if I wanted to participate. When I saw that video with rats, I decided to give it a try. When I won and through discussions with people there, I realized it was something I should try. Sure, I struggled a lot to stay on both fronts, but it's not easy. Somehow, I am the black sheep-within film music, they say you come from contemporary music, and vice versa. I'm trying to fight on both fronts.

However, I would like to contradict you regarding being the black sheep in pure music, because if I'm not mistaken, about a year ago, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra performed one of your works in a premiere, right? That OK.

Yes, of course. I'm referring more to the discussions I have with my colleagues at film music festivals or contemporary music festivals. Certainly, I have been enormously helped by people in Romania, and I still have a lot of commissions from them. Indeed, the work OK, commissioned by Maestro Marin Cazacu, was performed and conducted masterfully by Dmitry Matvienko. I am very happy that such things happen and that I can write an orchestral piece for a massive orchestra, and it's performed this way in Romania. It is fantastic. My colleagues abroad are still amazed that such things happen.

Speaking of film music, we must tell the listeners that you composed the soundtrack for a film presented at the Cannes Festival this year. Could you tell us about this film and the soundtrack you created? I know Enescu is one of your favorite composers, right?

Yes, of course. He is my favorite for several reasons. First, for the person he was-his genius transcends the realm of music. He was a model of a person I can only aspire to emulate, and when Toma Enache invited me to write the music, I said yes without asking for any other details.

We should mention that Toma Enache is the director of this film.

Exactly. What Toma Enache asked me to mention is that it wasn't officially presented; it was a private screening. This is typically done for a film to open opportunities and increase visibility for distribution. From now on, the film will be submitted to as many festivals as possible. The world premiere will take place sometime in the fall, but even so, the experience at Cannes was fantastic. I met some amazing people there, such as Kira Hagi, who plays Alice, the daughter of the Cantacuzino couple, film critic Irina Margareta Nistor, and fashion designers Doina Levintza and Adina Buzatu. Through this private screening, I could see the film through their eyes.

The title of the film is quite shocking, isn't it?

It is, yes. I was a bit surprised by it too.

Please, tell us the title.

It's called Enescu, Skinned Alive. I didn't know these details. Of course, Toma conducted extremely thorough research, and of course, I won't give any spoilers or explain why it's titled this way; it will be revealed in the film's introduction. However, those who know his life can understand why. I really liked the title, especially in English, because when you say Skinned Alive in English, it doesn't specify the gender, and as you can see from the poster, besides Enescu, there's also Maruca (Cantacuzino), whose life is even more interesting than Enescu's. Sure, Enescu is in the foreground, but her life is just as fascinating. Certainly, writing the music for such a film is a bit overwhelming; it's a bit too much. At some point, I had writer's block. You are dealing with a titan, a literal sacred monster, and daring to write a musical note after he wrote what he wrote is madness. My wife helped me and said that I shouldn't compete with him (Enescu), as there's no chance. Obviously, I didn't want to do that, but it somehow clarified things. I also talked to Toma. He told me the direction he wanted, and I created a strategy where my music mostly describes, portrays, if you will, the world and nature of Maruca and perhaps the other characters, leaving Enescu's music to bring suggestions to Toma on what music to use for certain depictions of Enescu. Yes, it was a challenge.

Another challenge is a special project you're preparing, as far as I know. I'd like you to tell us about it.

Sure. It's something I've been working on for over a year. I created a crowdfunding campaign through Kickstarter to finance this project. It's about an album that explores the realm of epic music, where I play with an imaginary folklore within my capabilities. It's about Gilgamesh. I wanted to imagine and try to bring to life, to animate, the oldest story in the world-Gilgamesh, with Enkidu and all the other fantastic characters. The goal was to create an album which, to my knowledge, hasn't been done in Romania. We already have the epic present in blockbusters and all sorts of films, but I wondered if it could be done in a more creative, authentic, and personal way, as this epic sound has often become overused in most blockbusters.

You practically fell into some clichés because that happens.

Exactly. How can you reinvent the epic? How can I try to bring something new by tackling one of the most important stories ever written?

When do you anticipate releasing this album?

It also depends on the funds I raise, as I have put my album up for sale before launching it. I would like to release it by the end of the year or the beginning of 2025.

I understand. What other plans do you have?

Quite a few.

You are involved in many directions, as far as I know.

Yes. For example, now I am writing a piece for solo cello. It's a commission from ARTEXIM, for the George Enescu competition. Alongside Diana Rotaru, who has to write a piece for piano, and Vlad Maistorovici, who has to write for violin. We have to create these short pieces that should challenge the performers, so we are dealing with a fairly avant-garde language. Another very cool and dear project to my heart is called Aripi (Wings). It is organized by the UCIMR Association, in partnership with the Romanian Music Society in Japan, co-financed by ICR, within the Cantemir program to promote Romanian artists to the Japanese public. The eponymous work Aripi, for soprano, violin, and piano trio, is specially commissioned to open the two recitals that will take place in Tokyo, from August 27-31. I also have a video game project for some young people from Switzerland, which is a small start-up. I am also on the committee, which no one knows about, of the Film Music Competition at the Zurich Film Festival, a competition I won in 2019.

Tell us a bit about this area of video games. I'm not an avid video game player, but I've noticed that the music has evolved in this regard, becoming very sophisticated. You are an expert, let's say, in this field as well. Tell us about video game music.

This is also a universe. One of my professors even said that contemporary music is like a neighborhood with many streets. The same goes for video games. There are games where the music is neglected and not very great, and other games where the music reaches at least the level of cinematic music. What fundamentally differs is the fact that video game music is not composed the same way. It is non-linear music, if you will. It cannot be set from beginning to end. Let me give you an example. Let's say a battle is taking place, and it needs to be graded. I have to compose the music in layers, so I have a layer that, if not exceeded, has an ending, but if it is exceeded and reaches a higher intensity of the battle, a new layer will follow, and so on. It is practically another way of thinking. Special software needs to be used to achieve this, and then many of these things, at least technically, are realized with help, meaning I can do certain things. The implementation in the game is certainly done by the game designer.

Understood. I wish you success in everything you do and hope you remain as curious about discovering and sharing communication through music with the public. I'd like to end our discussion with a piece from the soundtrack of this film about Enescu. The music is composed by you. This will be, let's say, a world premiere here on Radio Romania Music. I'd like you to tell us about this piece before we listen to it.

I worked on the film, as we were talking about non-linear music. I couldn't work step by step; I don't think it would have suited it. So, I followed a certain logic. Even Toma had this idea, of composing the music for a film almost in an operatic way, as if it were an opera. The moment you're about to hear is in a very delicate scene, where Ionescu, a somewhat controversial character, has an intense conversation with Maruca. Certain very painful things are said, things that drive Maruca to commit certain irreversible acts, let's call them that. That's why I named the piece I and M, from Ionescu and Maruca, because I hope that these things can be understood from the music-that there are two characters there, two souls with totally different ethos. I don't want to say more. I don't want to give spoilers. I hope you enjoy it and I can't wait for the film to be released.

Once again, I wish you success, and we are very curious to listen to the music from the film's soundtrack, Enescu, Skinned Alive.