INTERVIEW Dan Teodorescu (TAXI) – about the industry and how hard it is to say things by name, among the pride

Taxi is, without a doubt, one of the reference bands in the Romanian music industry, Dan Teodorescu’s name being almost synonymous with it, since 1999, the year in which the band was launched. Over time, Taxi has managed to bring to market songs that have often strayed from the classical patterns, especially in terms of “full” lyrics that could easily be successfully included in the “laugh-cry” category. . In other words, the ideal recipe to tell a less pleasant reality, in a humorous way and, in some places, with healthy incursions of sarcasm.

The PlayTech.ro editorial office had the opportunity to participate in one of the Taxi concerts, in Galați, on May 28, 2022, which opened the “gates” for an inevitable interview. Dan Teodorescu agreed to answer a few questions, and you can see the result below.

INTERVIEW Dan Teodorescu, “About Humility”, “The Two Words” and the power to speak without detours

What drew you to music? In other words, what motivated Dan Teodorescu to become that Dan Teodorescu, among many others with the same name, from our country? How was it in the beginning?

Dan Teodorescu: I have no idea what drew me to music. I felt the need to sing, at some point, through the ninth, tenth grade. My father bought me, God rest him, a guitar and he picked up the dust, that’s it. I studied at the Polytechnic, but I had nothing to do with it. Neither then nor now, much less.

I must admit, I will always associate the band Taxi with the manifesto against public money spent on the construction of the Cathedral of the Salvation of the Nation. Please tell, whats the story of them big puppys ….. In addition, did you receive any more or less subtle official reaction from the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR)?

Dan Teodorescu: I got it, yes. We were going to have a discussion with their spokesperson. Eventually, it didn’t happen again, but something happened that I promised I wouldn’t talk about, that I don’t understand why. I received support from some… I don’t know… high enough church leaders. Not many, one or two, but I was… how to say, they reassured me a lot. It was a hectic time. I did not expect. I didn’t expect so much, please, not to say “hate”, but something out there. I really didn’t expect it, it was a gentle play and I was saying a point of view: “I don’t think that’s the idea – that’s what I think, I don’t necessarily say I know”. I said “I think” – it’s a big difference. Then, after calming down, after about a week, I realized that those who disagreed were not as many as I thought, although they seemed very many. Finally, even in that very hectic period for me, I lost three kilograms in four days. I received a phone call from some priests who told me that (no laughs) I agree with what I did. And they told me not to say who I was because it was “off the record.” I had an opinion, I expressed it, some agreed, others bothered, that’s life.

Because, as I said earlier, the music of the band Taxi is seen as one, at least in part, of social and political manifesto, I will dare to ask you, just like in the classic job interviews, how you see our country in 5 years ? I ask you this especially in the context of the increasingly pronounced extremism in current Romanian politics.

Dan Teodorescu: I tell you the truth, I have no idea. I’m not a political analyst, but I never thought it would be as bad as it is now. And that’s why I can’t predict. I hope it’s not much worse from now on. But I think it will be at least a little worse. I have no hope and I think, unfortunately, I am not the only one. I don’t see what the next elections might be like (no. 2024), but another party may appear, although it’s hard to believe.

Suppose that in a parallel universe, “About Smerenie” is composed in 2020. What would this song sound like now, in the context of the pandemic and the “antivaxxer” phenomenon? Would you invite some well-known figures who originally appeared in the music video to collaborate with you?

Dan Teodorescu: All I can tell you is that I did a pro vaccination piece and that’s about all I can tell you about what you asked me.

I know you’re married. How does a marriage work, since you apparently can’t say “The Two Words”?

Dan Teodorescu: The mere fact that I made this song was a declaration of love: I declared together with love and the inability to say “the two words”, and now, if I am to be honest to the end, if I could tell you how many or I say to my wife, “I love you,” I would disappoint people who believed me when I told them I was having a hard time, and who said, “Yes, Dane. It’s tough. Bravo, good thing you said it! ” So I better not tell you.

In conclusion: what are the future plans of the Taxi band?

Dan Teodorescu: I don’t know what the future holds for Taxi, but I can tell you very clearly what plans I have for the future. I have only one plan: to be healthy, God help me, I know it’s none of my business, but that’s my plan. I do everything I can to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible. I eat what my wife gives me, she gives me what I should eat, as clean, eco-friendly as possible. I do sports every morning; at least a quarter of an hour, but generally it takes about 45 minutes to about an hour. Some push-ups, some crunches, I have a bar at home. I do a few tractions, not many that I can’t – so that I can move a little. And it does very well; to the body as to the body, but it does very well to the head. You know, it got me out of a lot of darker situations like that. Or, come on, gray! “What have I done so far?”, Something like that. And it helped me a lot. So that’s the plan: to be healthy.