In Memoriam (2025)
27 minutes
For 3 electric guitars
“In 2013 I found out that my father’s father had spent 5 years as a WWII prisoner in the Siberian Gulag. It inspired me to read more about the Gulag from authors like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Anne Applebaum. It was truly horrifying how the Gulag was used by Soviet Russia to enslave its own people. I wrote two sections of In Memoriam in 2014 but didn’t develop them further. Then in February 2024 Alexei Navalny died in a prison in the same Gulag. The injustice and brutality of his treatment at the hands of the Russian authorities spurred me to finish the piece.”
In Memoriam was performed and recorded by Mihai Cucos. It was mixed and mastered by Wharton Tiers (Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr) in the summer of 2025. The recording was released on Reward Center in August 2025.
Icarus Theme (2013)
6 minutes
For 3 electric guitars
“In 2013 I was invited to create a soundtrack for a radio play called (at that point) Icarus by my friends Dan Collacott and Denis-Jose François. As it was during the period when I was working on Under The Regime, I used the same instrumentation of three guitars. The project developed and changed but what survives is the main title I wrote called Icarus Theme.”
Icarus Theme was performed, recorded, mixed and mastered by Mihai Cucos in 2013. The recording was included on the compilation Husets Høst Vol 1 Selected Trax 1995 – 2015 released on Reward Center in February 2017.
Under The Regime (2013)
29 minutes
For 3 electric guitars
“Part One of Under The Regime was based on one of the earliest compositions I made in 1994 (Tonic-Clonic 2). In late 2012 I rediscovered a guitar tuning with a drone element that had always offered a lot of possibilities. Using that tuning I wrote Part One and a lot of other material, some of which became Under The Regime.
Thematically, I was very interested in the experience of living in the Communist bloc. My father had fortunately escaped from Romania many years before. But I felt that oppressive regime had continued to impact my family long afterwards.”
Under The Regime was performed by Mihai Cucos, Stacey Hine and Antony Robinson and recorded at Soup Studio, London. It was mixed and mastered by Kramer (Galaxie 500, Bongwater) at Noise Miami. The recording was released on Reward Center in May 2014.
Last Piece (1996)
4 minutes
For 3 Pro-One synthesisers
“Last Piece is a composition that I made using a Sequential Circuits Pro One synth and my Yamaha 4-track recorder soon after I moved to Copenhagen in 1996. It made it onto the Fucking Hell Tape, the first of many projects I have worked on with Jacob Ørsted over the years.
Although not a guitar piece, it has 3 parts and explores similar elements of repetition and harmonic variation to some of my trio guitar pieces, only this time using different voicings on the Pro One. The recording has an interesting tape warble which was added during the digital transfer in 2016.”
Last Piece was performed and recorded by Mihai Cucos at Husumgade, Copenhagen in 1996. The original Fucking Hell Tape cassette was released in December 1996 by Jacob Ørsted. It was remastered and released digitally by Reward Center in 2016.