Zmei Trei

Just like his father, Mihai Victor Iliescu was born under a dictatorship where the only

ESCAPE FROM REALITY

was in music and books. His father was a folk dancer, and taught him the wild melodies and rhythms of southern Romania. Then, still in the early years, Mihai learned guitar from a great teacher, while becoming very fond of the music of Bach and Tom Waits. This is how he also plays guitar today: simple, to the heart.

Like many people there, Mihai had to try three times until he found his soul (his guitar teacher also, for example, had been a rugby player and a banker before). So, at 18 he went to law school, and became a lawyer. Later on, having realized the mistake, he shifted to advertising, only to find another dead road. It was only the third time that he quit his corporate job – this time for good - packed all his things in the car and left to Berlin to resume guitar playing.

But playing guitar after 15 years of not touching the guitar wasn't that easy. He tried to study music at the university, but they told him he's too old at 35. But you know, in Romania they have a say: "The horse doesn't die when the dog wants". So he began to learn hard, in private, to make his guitar sound warmer and also to free his mind.

One essential question remained still unanswered: who am I? A Romanian immigrant in Germany, and from all this storm of feelings and permanent search for identity the answer emerged: the musical expression is home, is in the roots, is in the Romanian music. Look back in anger – with a Rough Romanian Soul.

Step by step he started building the band Zmeitrei. He first went to Romania and took Nelu and Adam, the men who could teach him the secrets of Romanian folklore. Then Mihai found in Paula the voice he had always been looking for. Then he found Oli, the German guy with a southern heart. And who knows what's next.

	THE DAUGHTER OF A TRANSYLVANIAN PRIEST THE OLD MAN IN THE ELEVATOR THE FORMER LAWYER THE MAN WITH THE MOUSTACHE THE GERMAN EXPERT	Just like his father, Mihai Victor Iliescu was born under a dictatorship where the only ESCAPE FROM REALITY was in music and books. His father was a folk dancer, and taught him the wild melodies and rhythms of southern Romania. Then, still in the early years, Mihai learned guitar from a great teacher, while becoming very fond of the music of Bach and Tom Waits. This is how he also plays guitar today: simple, to the heart. Like many people there, Mihai had to try three times until he found his soul (his guitar teacher also, for example, had been a rugby player and a banker before). So, at 18 he went to law school, and became a lawyer. Later on, having realized the mistake, he shifted to advertising, only to find another dead road. It was only the third time that he quit his corporate job – this time for good - packed all his things in the car and left to Berlin to resume guitar playing. But playing guitar after 15 years of not touching the guitar wasn't that easy. He tried to study music at the university, but they told him he's too old at 35. But you know, in Romania they have a say: "The horse doesn't die when the dog wants". So he began to learn hard, in private, to make his guitar sound warmer and also to free his mind. One essential question remained still unanswered: who am I? A Romanian immigrant in Germany, and from all this storm of feelings and permanent search for identity the answer emerged: the musical expression is home, is in the roots, is in the Romanian music. Look back in anger – with a Rough Romanian Soul. Step by step he started building the band Zmeitrei. He first went to Romania and took Nelu and Adam, the men who could teach him the secrets of Romanian folklore. Then Mihai found in Paula the voice he had always been looking for. Then he found Oli, the German guy with a southern heart. And who knows what's next.