Discovering the talents near us: Alex, a passionate guitarist

The protagonist of today’s story is our colleague, Alex Bucur, a person endowed with talent both in music and theatre. An exquisite storyteller, Alex told us about the most beautiful moments of his life that he considers meaningless without music: `I think music is a part of us. It is that place we go every time we have problems, it is the person that stands by us when times are difficult and probably the best listener to our problems. Yes! Music can be what we want it to be!`

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Alex had his first contact with the guitar during high school, when he was interested in preparing for the admission to the National University of Theatre and Film of Bucharest and when he was taking part in various theatre classes. Within a theatre section of a European student experience exchange, Alex became friends with Florin, a theatre director from Bucharest, the programme’s coordinator. During a cultural event, he played on the guitar traditional songs specific to the countries participating in the event. That was a revealing moment, says Alex: `Those scattered notes, released into the air, spread into the room and created a very cozy, relaxing atmosphere that made you dream with your eyes wide open. I had been charmed once more and kept in this state of dream long after the concert finished.`

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Alex remembers with pleasure his first acoustic guitar, the emotion he felt when he stroke the first chords and the enthusiasm he waited for the next gig. He firmly states that music changed him as a person, helped him evolve and grow up both personally and as an artist. He admits that the beginning was not easy, `there were months of struggling to change chords sequentially, to constantly stay on the beat, to use bare chords (where one or two fingers have to be pressed on multiple chords) or to be able to sing without having education and to make it sound good. The fingers of my left hand were red and swallowed during this entire period, but I did not complain. I was doing what made me the happiest back then, and the satisfaction was endless.` Ambitious to improve on his skills, Alex played in various bands, various rock types, even in two or three bands at the same time, eventually managing to create his own band.

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He told us about his first rock band, Apus, a gothic rock band: `I had the chance to work with people that, though not professionals, inspired professionalism and I tacitly admired them. I greatly appreciated it when the lyrics or the harmony I composed were noticed, analyzed or taken into account in creating a song`. At the same time, he went from the acoustic guitar to the electric guitar, `a superb Arctic White Fender Stratocaster with which I terrorized my neighbors and still do`.

Although most young bands have a repertoire made up of covers, Alex and his colleagues have their own compositions and do not miss any chance to get on stage and the friends and public’s appreciation are the biggest reward an artist could wish for. Due to his talent, Alex performs as a theatre and music artist with Casa de Cultura a Studentilor in Brasov, managed to sing with important Romanian artists and to form beautiful friendships with various artists, because as our colleague put it, we are all united by the same passion: music. In the photos below he is accompanied by Razvan Ghit, the vocalist of Skank and Gabi Georgescu of E.M.I.L. and Vlad Staricu, the vocalist of Pistol cu Capse.

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Alex takes pleasure not only in his music, but in his work, as well. This month he is celebrating two years with CGS Romania and we are happy to be working with a talented and positive person: `I arrived at CGS Romania on May 16th 2014, by a happy coincidence, I found a very united collective that received me with open arms and I found enough reasons to remain here, too, by going to work with pleasure.`

Alex, we wish you the best of luck and we remain your biggest fans!