Meet FIBRE: Alexandru Galetus, known better as FIBRE, is a Romanian independent electronic music producer located in Washington D.C. His influences include many French House and Nu-Disco artists, such as Daft Punk, Justice, Sebastian, but also disco artists such as Dynasty, Jeff Lorber and Gavin Turek. His music style includes the French House / French Touch subgenre, Disco and Pop. In addition to working with online net labels such as Future Society, Stratford Ct. And Business Casual, he has released and promoted numerous releases that has gathered millions of plays online. He most notably got his initial recognition by producing Future Funk, a subgenre of Vaporwave, mostly akin to Plunderphonics. He was a co-manager of Future Society, a Future Funk collective alongside Aritus, from 2015-2016. FIBRE is the owner of Montaime, a House / Disco label, founded in 2016. Source: About FIBRE, Spotify.
My Kind of Music, with FIBRE.
SUPERNATURAL or VIRTUAL WORLD? Be Still MY HEART.
Back to the USA for the First Spotlight of This Year! With another very inspiring artist and let me tell you, if it was up to me, this article had been written about 2 months ago. Who’s Impatient?? Excuse-You-Me, that’s just my
It was not long after the Spotlight on Discoholic, I found, no, Made, time to listen to this guy everybody in my feed was talking to and about. I had seen him in some of the funny video’s with Discoholic and of course my curiosity was piqued. Since my days have been mostly filled with listening to music, writing and listening to some more music, it took me some time. BUT, it was on the 26th of October 2020, I had a first listen to FIBRE’s music – I have the tweet to prove it lol. I fell in love right then and there with his latest release, which of course is on repeat while writing this. And don’t forget to click some pics 😉
Though it was the first song to capture my heart (and tbh, the first one listed on Spotify), there was more for me to like. Now this put me in a difficult position, because the next day it was agreed I was going to do the Spotlight on Wizard of Loneliness, which for me meant to put aside my newfound musical treasures and focus on some other magic first. Really, how do you artists manage? You must be listening to a lot more music even than I am and I get thoroughly distracted as soon as I find stuff that hits me in the gut. Or is it just me? Don’t Answer That.
I love to submerge myself in the music of the person I am writing about and search their social media, to see what they’re all about. My patience runs only so far – call it a sprint – so it was on the 2nd of November, I sent FIBRE a message, asking if he would be interested in a little interview. I knew from all the posts, that he was very busy, specifically with his studies, but as my close ones keep telling me: it doesn’t hurt to ask right? I was so happy when he came back to me saying he was definitely interested, but ‘if we could only leave it to later in december?‘ I totally respected that and told my patience to enter a new reality (read: shove it…)
The 15th of December I thought it was only fair to send him another message, seeing how we entered the second half of that month. Even went as far as to see if he would like to join in for the Xmas Special…I know, I Am Awful… Just checking if he was still interested, which he luckily was and we agreed I would sent him my questions in the following week. Holidays came and went and it took me some superhuman patience 😂, but here we are! Sometimes I feel like a dog with a bone, once I get into something it’s hard to let go and I just want to GOOOOO. Feeling sorry for all of you for having to deal with me – not really – but hey, at least I’m the first to say it.
In the meanwhile I had been listening to all FIBRE’s music and made my own playlist (which I do for all of you guys). To be honest, there isn’t much I don’t like, but of course I do have my favorites, of which you will see several mentioned on this page. I already knew he is the head of the Montaime label and involved in mixing and remastering for others. Add that to his studies, and one could wonder how he would even find the time to make his own music. Just guessing that with all that going on in your life, you must have developed a certain attitude and style of living.
Just to get a little peek into how this feels in real life, he shares the following on 8/7/2019 on Instagram – I quote: ‘It’s official… after 3+ years in the making, my new EP “Rendezvous” will be out 8/10 via @montaimerec‘ Needless to say, it takes not only time, but hard work, motivation and especially dedication, to work on a project for 3+ years and to be able to finish it. Talking about feeling very strongly about something.
FIBRE is pretty active on social media, don’t worry, you’ll find all the links here, as well as the links to his label. I always find it interesting what people’s bio’s are saying and FIBRE mentions on Instagram; ‘just trying to find my place in the world’. If ever I could relate to anything, it would be this. It carries the weight of who we are, where we came from and where we are going. Too Heavy? Hmm, he also shares a link to one of his latest remixes, posted on SoundCloud, to definitely lift your spirits.
The 1st of january 2020, FIBRE posted on Facebook – I quote: ‘2019 was one heck of a year! It was a year of many ups and downs but the progress I’ve made was immeasurable to other years I’ve been at this. My stats doubled, my audio engineering work really took off. I not only sold out my own vinyl releases but helped other artists do vinyl on my record label. I worked with big labels this year and learned how to become a more self sustainable artist‘. Just.Wow. Talking about going somewhere.
Then 2020 happened and FIBRE just kept being busy online with several parties / livestreams. It’s a pity I wasn’t aware earlier about all this stuff, but I’ll be sure to catch the next one. You can have a little peek at one of those parties here and see FIBRE enjoying himself while he’s ‘dropping fun’ at MAGFest 2020. Maybe it’s a good thing I could not be present for any of those, since I would likely get even more addicted to their music, if that were possible. But hey, a girl can dream.
Later that year, he showed he was also keeping up with everything else he is involved in, according to this Facebook post – I quote: ‘My mixing/mastering/co-prod commissions are open! I have 5+ years of audio engineering experience and over 8+ years of production experience. Whether you need help preparing your new release, or need mixing/mastering for digital, tape and vinyl…’ Uhm, how old are you exactly? I think it is freaking amazing if you know early on what it is you want to do with your life and chase that goal. If only I could go back in time to direct my younger self the right way 🙄
By the time I started to follow FIBRE, he seemed to have a bit of a tough time with his studies, which he was pretty open about. Mentioning that he was basically working against ‘all odds’, as he was told that he would probably not make it. Don’t you just love it when people tell you what you can and especially, can’t do? It was amazing to see all the support he was getting from so many people, encouraging him to go on. Not that he gave any impression of giving up. I just want to say here: FIBRE most definitely earned my Respect.
I am very much looking forward to whatever this new year will bring regarding anything new from FIBRE and Montaime. It’s so cool to see how involved all these artists are in each others lives / efforts, to do what they are supposed to do: Make Music, make people happy! I’ve said it before, but the ‘world out there’ can definitely learn something from the love and genuine care in this community. Too Touchy / Feely? Hmm, there’s no such thing as perfection, but it’s nice to get a piece of heaven now and then.
Okay, before I get really emotional and tears will cause my laptop to short-circuit, I am going to gently wrap this up and prepare you all for the interview. You all know how much I appreciate it when artists are answering my questions with real FIRE – only one letter short of FIBRE, just sayin. When he returned the email and told me: ‘Also fair warning I talk quite a lot in interviews (and just in general) Haha. But I tried to scale it down as much as possible’ I just laughed and thought: ‘Oh but that’s just so cute… And so obvious he doesn’t know me…’ out of all the things I could choose to be when I grew up, being a Real Lady wasn’t among the possibilities. (read: I will Never part from my Doc Martens).
But seriously, FIBRE did talk (well write) a LOT and I Love It!! So before I turn this thing over, I want to give a BIG Thank You to FIBRE! It’s been a real pleasure to write this little article about you / your music and I appreciate you taking the time to be a part of my blog. I will add you to my Spotlight Page, where you will remain indefinitely with all the other artists and I will update any new song you release in the future. I so enjoy listening to your music and wish you all the blessings and positivity on your journey. Discovering you was certainly one of last years highlights for me!
The Interview
Let’s start with the obvious, can you please introduce yourself and tell us: Who is FIBRE and when / how, did you get started in music? Do you play any instruments? (do you sing?)
‘I’m an electronic music producer based in the Washington D.C. area, born in Romania. I’ve had an interest in music for as long as I can remember when my parents would play a ton of US based pop, R&B, Soul/Jazz, some electronic for me back home. Also listened to a lot of Romanian bands that were popular in the early 00s such as Voltaj, Hi-Q, N&D, that type of stuff. I started making House and Hip Hop tracks around 2010-2011 when I was 12 and I’ve just been messing in my DAW since. The rest is history!
I play the guitar, and I’ve been singing more lately (for example on Virtual World). I can noodle my way around a piano to come up with ideas but I can’t play the piano very well. That’s my goal for 2021- I’ve been putting it off for so long and its the best compositional tool you can use’.
Who have been you biggest examples? Where do get your inspiration from? And how would you describe your music?
‘Daft Punk comes to mind, like many other music producers. I heard One More Time on the radio when I was 5 years old but had no idea who made the song until 8-9 years later. Finally came across the music video when I was 12 and it changed my life. I bought Discovery on vinyl and swore I would put out a record similar to this in the future.
I’m also inspired a lot by the Ed Banger guys such as Justice, Breakbot, Oizo, Mehdi. And Hip Hop guys like J Dilla, Vanilla, etc. Most of my inspiration nowadays though comes from my friends and the community around Montaime. Been also listening to a lot of hyperpop and trying to make stuff like that but, it’s been pretty hard to figure out tbh!
I’d describe my stuff as French House, Nu-Disco, Future Funk, Disco-y in general. Maybe plunderphonics. I never stuck to one subgenre and I feel that my music overlaps in terms of style a lot’.
A couple of years ago, you started your record label Montaime. Can you tell us a little about how you got to that point, what lead to this decision? How has it grown since then? Any particular struggles or highlights you could share?
‘Montaime has been a huge learning experience! Started the label with some friends in summer 2016, and I started it for 2 reasons.
First, I loved working with Future Society Collective previously and wanted to continue my vision for the future and provide that platform to other artists. And secondly, from my own personal experiences with labels, I wanted to provide that platform in a way that doesn’t screw artists over.
Montaime was the result after realizing that in order to change something, I’d have to be a leader and do my own thing. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing since- we’re a lovely team of 5 people that keep the label going.
While I could list a ton of struggles and highlights, I’ll just generally say that I never realized how emotionally laborious running a label is until you try keeping it going for a while. Some labels get lucky and blow up for some reason or another, but its only through CONSISTENCY and hard work that you maintain a fanbase that won’t fizzle out of obscurity. We’re just trying to play the game of the internet age the best we can. I think we’ve done a damn good job!’
Lately you seemed to have a tough time with your studies. Is this study related to your music? Does this study will help you move forward in the music world / what you’re doing?
‘I definitely struggled in school this semester but it was not the same type of struggle from past years. There’s not much overlap with music, I’m a Computer Science student and I have limited formal music training. My main goal is to continue working on FIBRE / Montaime as a form of alternate income after I graduate and get a job. But hey, if it continues to go well, I could fully focus on it in the future. But I do also really have a passion for the stuff I’ve been learning as a part of the CS degree and would be happy spending my life doing that as well.
I initially feared school. Rendezvous EP was all about my own internal dialogue about the future, about mental health, and submitting myself to the idea of failure as a part of life. Only after accepting that, did I start to struggle less in school.
When I started uni, I was working way too many hours at my job, had undiagnosed ADHD and a bunch of other issues in my life. I was distracted and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. It took a lot of work on myself, my impulse control, a TON of therapy, medication etc, and I’ve never been shy to talk about this publicly. And while the semester was tough, it was just that the classes themselves would’ve been really hard for anyone aside a genius.
Data structures is a tough subject that some people just don’t get through. Doing it on top of a worldwide pandemic made things tougher. But I came out relatively unscathed and I’m extremely proud of myself. I don’t think who I was 2 years ago could’ve remotely handled this, and that’s a testament to my progress I think’.
You’ve released 2 EP’s, several singles and remixes, you’re involved in mixing and remastering for others, you run the label and you’re doing your studies. All in all, you must be very busy. How do you manage to keep everything going?
‘I ask myself that every day lmao. It’s tiring but I see it this way- I’m working towards my future to make things easier on me, my family and loved ones. Right now security is everything to me because it means being able to focus on the things that I love. And if I can work towards that security doing the things I love with music and school, then it never really feels like work.
That, and asking help from others was one of the best things I could do for myself. The team that helps look after Montaime has been a blessing, and without them the label would’ve died multiple times over. I think that’s what many struggle with, asking for help. I think people feel that their work would be invalidated if they ask for a helping hand, but I don’t see it in that way. You can’t pretend to have 8 hands working in different directions simultaneously when you only have 2 hands at your disposal. All you can do is use those 2 hands as efficiently as you can.
Otherwise, taking on too much, you’ll burn out easily, and that’s something I still struggle with a lot. I’ve been trying to really focus on taking care of myself to help with that, and intentionally blocking off time to relax. I feel putting time off to relax is just as productive as taking on the work itself.’
Can you tell us about some tracks that have a special meaning to you and why? Has there been any important turning points so far? Looking back, would you’ve done anything differently?
‘Virtual World is probably the most special song I’ve written so far, and it’s been doing pretty good. As I mentioned before it’s dedicated to my fiancee Sara and the last 3 years of our life together.
Rendezvous in general tells the story of me entering adulthood, struggling a lot and coming out relatively unscathed and on the path to recovery in my everyday life. There’s a lot of other memories associated with my tracks but going through them would take ages, so those are the main 2 I can think of.
And sure, there’s things I would’ve done differently when I was younger… I used to police “lazy sampling” around a lot when I was younger on Reddit threads, but I realized how absolutely lame that was. Once I stopped focusing on what other people did, I felt a lot happier, and I wasn’t wasting time worrying about others.
But what’s done is done, and I don’t dwell on it cause you can’t go back to change the past. What’s most important is what you do in the present to help work towards the future’.
Has COVID affected you / your music in any way? Did you manage to achieve set goals?
‘Absolutely. Professionally speaking this was a fantastic year for both my audio engineering work and the label, and we set a lot of goals that we reached, but it seriously killed off any hopes of live shows for the near future. That sucked too because at the start of 2020, I was playing the biggest shows I’d ever played in my life and meeting a lot of new people.
For a second it looked like I was gonna live out my dream of touring around with a bunch of friends and having a good time. But it ended up falling apart, we went into quarantine and now, I’m not sure when things will start up again. It looks like a ton of venues have closed down. Maybe we’ll be able to take advantage of that and build from the ground up, but I do think that COVID has managed to affect everyone in different ways.
I’m just glad I’m alive and healthy’.
What does the near future look like for you; anything new / exciting in store you can share with us? Any interesting collabs maybe? Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers / your fans?
‘Honestly there isn’t anything set in stone for FIBRE in terms of new material. I’m floating around the idea of a 3rd EP, but I don’t know the direction I want to take since Rendezvous took me 3 full years to finish. My next semester might be a bit course heavy, but it might end up being different and I may have more time. I’ll only know after the semester starts at the end of January.
That being said, we’ll be doing a bunch of releases this year for Montaime of all different kinds, expect vinyl and tapes obviously. I do have some unreleased works that I’ll be finally sharing, and I’m currently focusing on filling in the gaps for tracks that aren’t on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Also, I’ll be doing 1-2 represses of previous works on vinyl and maybe tape I think. Just wanna take it one by one at the moment!
Thanks to everyone who’s supported me and the label so far. I really appreciate it. We hope to bring big things this year, and here’s to 2021, hopefully a much better year’.
Again, big thank you FIBRE, wishing you and Montaime well and hope to hear about your success regarding your study! And you, my lovely musiclovers, Go Find and Listen! Here you go:
Follow FIBRE on Spotify – SoundCloud – Bandcamp – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
Follow Montaime on SoundCloud – Bandcamp – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
Wishing y’all a lovely week and remember: a Virtual World is The Place to Stay Safe ❤
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