Romania has long been a quiet powerhouse in electronic music, and DumitrEscu is one of the names carrying that reputation into new territory. Splitting his time between Bucharest and London, he has built a catalogue that moves comfortably between underground club cuts and records with far wider reach, guided by an instinct for grooves that carry character as well as dancefloor impact. The breakout success of ‘Sitting In The Sun (Walking In The Rain)’ pushed him onto a global stage and marked the beginning of a new chapter, and now he turns his attention back to the club with a heads-down debut outing on Solid Grooves Records.

Built around a rolling groove, punchy drums and warping acid tones, ‘Secrets’ unfolds through tightly woven rhythms, understated textures and a hypnotic vocal that keeps the energy locked from start to finish. Direct, functional and loaded with late-night intent, it is a track that strips things back to what matters most: groove, momentum, and the kind of understated confidence that has become a hallmark of his productions.

We caught up with DumitrEscu to talk about the art of subtraction in the studio, what Bucharest and London each give him, the Romanian lineage that shaped him, and why he no longer feels the need to define himself so narrowly.

WWD: ‘Sitting In The Sun (Walking In The Rain)’ opened the door to a much wider audience. With ‘Secrets’, you’ve gone in a noticeably more stripped-back, heads-down direction. Was that a conscious reaction to what happened with the last record, or simply where your head was when you made it?

I make loads of different kinds of music, from dubstep and more commercial-oriented club bangers to much more hypnotic and stripped-back stuff. It just happened that Pawsa picked this particular record from a bunch of tracks I’d been making, so the direction of ‘Secrets’ wasn’t really a conscious reaction to what happened with the previous record. I honestly didn’t expect it to gain the hype that it has. It’s a really satisfying feeling to see a track connect with such a wide range of artists, from respected underground names like Craig Richards and Cezar Lazar to bigger stage names like Michael Bibi and Pawsa. For me, that’s probably the most rewarding part: seeing something that came quite naturally in the studio resonate with completely different parts of the scene.

WWD: You split your time between Bucharest and London, two cities with very different relationships with underground dance music. What do you take from one that you probably wouldn’t find in the other?

I think they give me very different things. London has such a deep-rooted dance music culture, and being around that environment constantly exposes you to so much history, knowledge and different perspectives. There’s also a certain level of discipline and attention to detail that I really appreciate. Bucharest, on the other hand, feels much more instinctive to me. There’s a lot of freedom, and because the scene is smaller, you can experiment without feeling like you have to fit into a particular box. I think that keeps me curious and hungry. So I wouldn’t say one is better than the other. London gives me perspective and inspiration, while Bucharest gives me freedom and a bit more of that raw energy. Having both around me is probably quite important to how I make music.

WWD: ‘Secrets’ is a very economical record: there aren’t many elements, but everything seems to have a job. When you’re producing something this stripped back, what are you listening for that tells you an element deserves to stay?

I don’t think too much when I make music. But from what I’ve come to understand over time, the most powerful tracks are usually the ones with a small number of elements, and where every element has a very clear function. The sounds on ‘Secrets’ came quite naturally. After finishing the first version of a track, I usually do a kind of meditative listening session where I try to detach myself from it and remove anything that feels optional. If an element doesn’t really add something to the track, I’ll probably take it out. I think that process of subtraction is really important to me.

WWD: Your breakthrough record travelled far beyond the underground spaces where people might have first discovered you. Has having that wider audience changed what you feel responsible for when you put a record out?

Honestly, I think it opened my mind and made me realise how far a good record can take you. I used to live in a bit of an ‘underground bubble’, but now I feel completely detached from that. I’m much more open to music that I probably wouldn’t have even considered before. It also made me want to experiment more with different genres and different approaches to making music. I make a lot of music, and now I’m thinking more about how I can get as much of it as possible out to people, rather than feeling like everything has to fit into one particular scene or identity. I think that’s probably the biggest change. I don’t feel the need to define myself so narrowly anymore.

WWD: Romania has produced a remarkably distinct electronic music culture, but artists from the country are now increasingly visible on a global stage. Do you feel like you’re part of a particular Romanian lineage, or are you more interested in what happens once those borders disappear?

I grew up listening to all the Romanian artists, and when I was younger it almost felt like a cult to me. Nothing made me feel the way the sound of ARPIAR, Praslea, Priku and the other artists around that scene did. I used to dream about being able to play alongside them and eventually become part of that circuit. That happened gradually, especially with the help of Priku, who really took me under his wing and gave me the opportunity to be around that world. I’m very grateful for that, because it shaped a big part of who I am as an artist. Nowadays, though, I feel like my perspective has become much broader. I still carry that influence with me, but I don’t want to be defined by it anymore. I’m interested in becoming a standalone artist with the freedom to explore whatever I’m into, much like artists such as Four Tet, who can move between different worlds without being confined to one particular scene or sound.

WWD: You can tell pretty quickly when a record has been designed around what a DJ thinks people are supposed to want. What separates a genuinely functional club record from one that merely ticks all the right boxes?

I think you can feel when something was made with a certain formula in mind. For me, a genuinely functional club record is one that makes you want to move without having to think about why it works. I don’t really believe there’s a checklist for making a good club track. It can have a very simple groove and only a few elements, but if those elements interact in the right way, it can be much more powerful than something that has all the typical ingredients. And I think finding an extraordinary vocal sample can be a huge plus. Sometimes a voice can completely change the character of a track and give it an identity that you can’t really achieve through production alone. If you find the right one, you can build the whole record around it. For me, the best club records have a certain personality. They don’t feel like they’re trying too hard to be functional, they just naturally create a reaction on the dancefloor.

WWD: Solid Grooves has a very recognisable relationship with groove, but the label’s catalogue is broad enough that there isn’t one formula. What did you want to preserve from your own identity when you approached a label with such a strong musical character?

I think the most important thing for me was not trying to make something specifically for Solid Grooves. I already had my own identity and my own way of making music, so I wanted to preserve that rather than adapting myself to what I thought the label might be looking for. ‘Secrets’ is quite stripped back and groove-focused, but that’s something that comes naturally to me. I make a lot of different music, so I never want to feel like I have to stay inside one particular sound just because it worked once. What I really like about Solid Grooves is that, even though the label has a very recognisable relationship with groove, there’s still a lot of personality and variety across the catalogue. For me, the best situation is when your music fits into a label’s world without losing what makes it yours.

WWD: If ‘Sitting In The Sun’ was the record that changed how other people saw DumitrEscu, what do you think ‘Secrets’ says about how you now see yourself?

I think ‘Secrets’ represents a much more open-minded version of myself. ‘Sitting In The Sun’ showed me what can happen when a record reaches the right people, but ‘Secrets’ feels more like a reflection of where I am now as an artist. I don’t feel as attached to one particular sound or scene anymore. I’ve realised that I can make something very stripped back and hypnotic one day, and something completely different the next, and both can still be me. So I think ‘Secrets’ says that I’m becoming more comfortable with not having to define myself. I’m more interested in exploring, experimenting and seeing how far I can take the music, rather than trying to fit into a specific idea of what DumitrEscu is supposed to sound like.

DumitrEscu: Instagram / SoundCloud