Arad

Published August, 2010
by Easterndaze

After a brief stop in the Transylvanian hub Cluj, we headed to the Hungarian-Romanian border, the picturesque town Arad. After checking into the wonderfully tacky B&B, we headed to KF, the city’s only spatiu alternativ. KF is situated in a stunning courtyard enveloped by a magical dilapidated townhouse. The venue is largely utilised as a café, even though it sometimes hosts screenings or exhibitions in one of its many rooms. The current venue is only temporary, KF changes its location frequently.

Salajan Mihai, KF’s music programmer and local producer – under his moniker Selfmademusic, kindly gave us a little tour around the precincts and as we explored the deserted floors, images of potential uses of this venue flickered in front of our eyes. What a gem of a space!

Selfmademusic feat Nomatik – x11 by selfmademusic

Apart from music, Mihai is also increasingly involved in the world of comic books, having published a DIY comics anthology fanzine with an accompanying hip hop CD bearing the apocalyptic title 2012.

2012 (Facem Records / Nocomics / Colorblind) from easterndaze on Vimeo.

Musically, the contrast between Selfmademusic and another local producer Dyslex couldn’t have been more different. Whereas Mihai searches for – even though still with enough bleeps and beeps to carry the experimental flag – rythmic or polyrythmic structures, Dyslex is immersed in pure noise that he combines with slabs of silence.