Thy Veils. Daniel Dorobanțu

Thy Veils is about exploration and experiment.

Thy Veils started out as Daniel DorobanÈ›u's personal studio project, în 1995… In 2008, after a trip to New Zealand, Daniel DorobanÈ›u abandons traditional compositions in favor of improvisations and turns Thy Veils into a stage ensemble.

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A new album, Lumine was released on-line 

on November 18, 2013.

http://thyveils.bandcamp.com/album/lumine

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RiCo (CZB): When did you discover your talent for composing music? What music did you first listen to and how did you become a ambiental/dark wave fan?

Daniel DorobanÈ›u (Thy Veils): In 1993 I was invited by Dacian Vâlcu (Romantic Jurgen) to help him on an electronic music project. He asked for my help as I owned a PC music interface that could sample CD quality audio from external sources. I had no other references but this is how I got my start. We tried to piece together bits of sound (taken from his impressive music collection, one which I had never seen nor thought possible to be found in someone’s possession) into music tracks which I believe would have fit into compositions suited for the techno/industrial scene.

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Dacian was also hosting The Htonian Club and this is how I first came in touch with TimiÈ™oara's underground music scene. I met Florin Turtă there and he invited me to join Arc Gotic. I worked the whole summer with Arc Gotic on some new material and became accustomed to producing Computer recordings. Gradually, I started sensing a new, more personal type of music taking shape in my mind and that’s how I started composing.

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Both Dacian and Florin gave me personal insights into their musical collections and I discovered a sonic universe that I fully and deeply connected to. Among other things, that was the time I discovered the music of The Cure, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Swans, Cocteau Twins but especially Dead Can Dance.

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My craving for music was constantly growing and I soon discovered Philip Glass and Michael Nyman, which I listened to carefully and ardently consumed. The more I delved into these new worlds I had gained access to through music, the more the desire grew inside me to listen to a music that was the soundtrack of the Universe that was continuously unfolding in my mind, a Universe I was trying to express through my drawings, before meeting the two artists.

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RiCo (CZB): What do you think is a major Romanian music industry problem that needs to be solved for the general public here to gain access to, and knowledge of, ambient / new-age music?

Daniel Dorobanțu (Thy Veils): I think it depends on the reason behind why these genres need to be discovered by a larger audience. But I think a method of provoking the general public's curiosity towards arts and culture would move things along in that direction.

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RiCo (CZB): How did Thy Veils set off on its musical journey in 1995? I understand it started out as a studio project, designed for the unveiling of a sculpture in honor of Constantin BrâncuÈ™i (all of the music being written by Daniel DorobanÈ›u…)?

Daniel Dorobanțu (Thy Veils): In 1995 I had composed enough tracks to cover the duration of a full audio tape. Then it was time to name the whole endeavor. Musically speaking, up to 2008, Thy Veils was a solo studio project. Dan Florin Spătaru came up with the visual concept of the project for the first four albums. In 2008 Thy Veils became and audio-visual ensemble, with the present 10 artist line-up.

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RiCo (CZB): How did you come up with the name? What does Thy Veils mean to you?

Daniel DorobanÈ›u (Thy Veils): I came upon the name with help from Ciprian Costache (from Arc Gotic). I told him what I wanted the name to inspire and he kept throwing words and expressions at me in English. I remember it was Spring; we were sitting at a table outside the Bastion, sipping some tea. I later explained the name as a reference to the obscure inner stir in whose call we veil ourselves and I still feel the same way. The name in Romanian stands for Your Envelopment (A Ta Învăluire) and for me this is the meaning I savour the most.

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RiCo (CZB): Do you enjoy traveling? Tell me about a place you went to, that you've longed to see to for a long time - and why you were drawn to that place?

Daniel DorobanÈ›u (Thy Veils): I love to travel. I really wanted to go to Japan and I was delighted by the 12 days I spent in Kyoto. I was attracted to certain Japanese cultural products I discovered at an early age. 

I’ve spent the last four years traveling through Romania, and I have been truly enchanted by these local trips.

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RiCo (CZB): Do you believe in Life after Death?

Daniel DorobanÈ›u (Thy Veils): If asked face to face, first I’d ask the person asking: what do you understand by belief, life and afterlife. But to be brief: I have noticed that nothing goes to waste in the Universe.

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RiCo (CZB): You played on synthesizers for Negură Bunget in 1997 and have remained friends. What’s the musical connection between the two bands apart from the fact that they are both from TimiÈ™oara?

Daniel DorobanÈ›u (Thy Veils): The bands’ likenesses are similar to the people they are made up of. We share common tastes and interests for that certain something to which we react in mostly the same way, especially through art.

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RiCo (CZB): In the official biography on your website (last updated in 2011 at the time of this 2013 interview) only the Bucharest, TimiÈ™oara and Berlin gigs 

are mentioned… Have you tried to get in touch with the Dark Bombastic Evening Festival organizers or are they only interested in foreign acts?

Daniel DorobanÈ›u (Thy Veils): Thy Veils has seldom performed Live since becoming a live band, in 2008. One of our Bucharest concerts was organized by Doru Atomei (the DBE organizer). Doru has always supported and promoted Thy Veils and I’d like to thank him for that.

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RiCo (CZB): Romania has recently been internationally appreciated for its independent movie productions; have you contacted any Romanian movie directors for a soundtrack collaboration?

Daniel DorobanÈ›u (Thy Veils): I haven’t received any offers yet.

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RiCo (CZB): How did you get in touch with producer Dan Griober? Is he from Timisoara? What does half of the former Unu electronic music project have in common with ambiental Thy Veils ?

Daniel DorobanÈ›u (Thy Veils): Dan is not from TimiÈ™oara and I haven’t met him face to face yet. I tip my hat to his talent and musical tastes. He always has something to contribute creatively to the sound of our songs.

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RiCo (CZB): Since 2006, you have 13 DVD videos ready under the working title: Dawn and Furtherance. Why hasn’t this DVD been released yet?

Daniel Dorobanțu (Thy Veils): Production of the DVD lasted three years but it never got off the ground as the production company closed down when the material was finally ready. You can find the whole DVD content online at www.youtube.com/thyveilsofficial and the DVD will probably be available once I find another label for this project.

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Interview by: RiCo, exclusively for CZB.ro

English translation: Andrei Ursu, revised by: Richard Constantinidi

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The Romanian language interview:

http://czb.ro/articol/6015/

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www.thyveils.com

www.facebook.com/thyveils

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