Borusiade

"I believe that in the end, everything shapes us"

© Dan Beleiu

Born and raised in Bucharest, Romania, Borusiade aka Miruna Boruzescu started dj-ing in 2002 as one of the very few female DJs in the city’s emerging alternative clubbing scene. Influenced by a classical musical education, a bachelor in film direction and fascinated by raw electronic sounds Borusiade combined these universes in the construction of her DJ sets and starting 2005 also in her music production. Her sets encompass elements of dark disco, minimal wave and house with a touch of acid. We had a chance to talk to her, so enjoy your reading and check out her latest releases.

Borusiade! Where can we find you right now? How did you start off your day?

Hi! I am In Bucharest in my parents house. They stayed stuck in Paris because of the lockdown and I came luckily here to be with my grandmother, otherwise she would have been alone. I guess every day starts the same in the past weeks, waking up doing home activities, then trying to get some creative juices flowing - sometimes it works, sometimes it just doesn’t. The atmosphere is too bizarre and it feels like an imposed reality. It is I guess. On the other hand I remember that everybody is in this place and I am still in a very privileged position and then I have to calm down and stop complaining. It will pass. How, we do not know but it will.

How did you first get into electronic music? Was it your first real musical love or were you a keen listener of all sounds when you were younger?

Well first there were the records of my parents that I grew up listening to since before I even knew what music was. Then there was the choir where I spent 12 years of my life and that definitely shaped my whole being. I grew up with a lot of types of music from preclassical choir music to contemporary and then I discovered what we call generically ‘pop’ and in this term I refer also to electronic music.

What is your music criterion?

It is simple: it has to touch me somehow - the only criterion is the resonance it has to my emotions.

How would you define your sound?

Honest, Personal.

How much has your sound changed since you started your dj career?

Well, I would say it didn’t really change. I still like the sound I was playing when I first started playing music. But of course it evolved, like I did as a person too.

What inspired you? What was your production criteria? What did you want to transmit?

Well I guess everything that I encountered in my life has somehow inspire me. I think my musical expression is an outlet of what i meet. I have this image that the artist is like a filter of their reality. So I guess everything can pass through the filter and come out as artistic expression, in this case as music.

Are you particularly permeable to your environment, creatively speaking? If so, how does it influence your DJ focus? And producing?

Well, I must say I am characterised in the scene as a DJ and producer, and don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy playing DJ sets a lot but if I had to choose then I would want to underline more the fact that I am a producer, musician, more than a DJ. I enjoy my time making music and sometimes, in the busy times of the year (which is not the case right now at all...), I long for more time in the studio. But then when I have too big gaps between gigs, I also get impatient and want to play…I am never satisfied :)

What was the making of Fortunate Isolation like? Did you set out with a specific idea in mind?

Not really. I usually think my music is time-stamped by the period of time when it was made and thus creates a story, a coherence in this case an album. Most of the tracks on this album where sent in the first bulk for listen to Dark Entries, before we even knew that there is going to be an album at all. And then the coincidence of the title with the current situation was completely unexpected.

Would you like to share a set? Can you tell us more about it? When and how was it recorded?

My last Dreamcatcher from the Radio Cómeme series…it has come to the 36th edition - I have been doing this for 5 years now and it is one of the expressions I love the most when it comes to music sharing. There are no rules for me when doing this show, I once called it my ‘musical playground’ and so it is. I share here the last show:

What makes a good mix to you?

Well, first of all I am not at all a fan of mixes that are to ‘even’. I get bored very quickly. Also I must confess that I don’t like so much to listen to sets at home. I can appreciate a radio show or podcast or a dj set in the environment of a club, where it serves its purpose. Otherwise I find it quite redundant…

What have been the most influential factors on your career so far?

Well I would start with my upbringing, the privilege of being exposed to art and music from a very early age has definitely played an essential role in my formation. Then all the other encounters that were based on interests and attractions of different kinds. Then of course the encounters. I believe that in the end, everything shapes us. As for a career, I think it is again about encounters and opportunities that arise and one’s capacity to see them and to use them.

Where was your favourite place to play, what was your most interesting gig, and for what reason?

Hmm, that is a hard question to answer because I have had so many different experiences playing but I definitely enjoy playing more in small clubs than in big stage festivals and this is something that promoters also understood because That doesn’t happen so often anymore. But can name some venues where I had a great time, every time I played: The Waiting Room in London or Ankali in Prague…

What makes you happy?

I think real happiness is in the really simple things that we sometimes don’t even notice. We only realise that we were happy then, when unhappy.

What’s your favourite “save the dance floor” song?

I don’t function like this. I don’t like to ‘save dancefloors’. :)

What was the last record store you visited and what did you keep there?

If we also count digital record shopping, then it was Hard Wax and just to name a few a recent release from Mechatronica: L.F.T - Red Pyramid EP, Arnaud Rebotini - Minimize Contact Between People, Parasols - Diaz…

© Dan Beleiu

What’s your studio comprised of at the minute? And is there a special piece of gear you’d never get rid of?

Right now I am relocated in Bucharest for the lockdown and I only have my laptop, soundcard, microphone and a synth. And to be honest I find there limitations very exciting. They bring a lot of good results because I don’t get too distracted. I can’t really say what piece of gear I wouldn’t get rid of, also since I use gear in a very functional way, and less as a ‘fetish’.

Say, limiting yourself to certain hardware?

I have of course some favourite synths that give me the sound that I feel I identify with most, in this case I like a lot Moog synthesisers. But I can do with others as well. Every instrument is an endless well for sounds once you embark on that journey.

How do you deal with C19 confinement with your work?

I was quite productive in this times of confinement, I must say but also because it all made me very unwell at the start, so making music was definitely my outlet. Now I started to relax and to loose my patience.

Has this situation influenced your creative perspective? What social and musical implications do you think this situation can lead to?

For the moment I find it hard to tear conclusions but what I know for sure is that all my upcoming gigs got cancelled and that is already a shift. Then, the way things look I don’t see how it will take over again, the clubbing circuit. All I have now is hope. So to answer your question: I don’t know.

What tracks would you recommend us to liven up the confinement?

Borusiade - Fortunate Isolation :)

What projects are you working on at the moment?

I am close to finishing the material for a new EP for the French label Tripalium Corp and making mixes and podcasts for different platforms. I have other ideas but for the moment it is hard to think in too much perspective.

Borusiade

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