"A future with O-Zone simply does not exist anymore"

A rough translation of the interview with Dan Balan in the ADEVARUL, the 15th of January 2005

Dan Balan, leader of O-Zone, explains to "Adevarul" his motives for breaking up the band irrevocable and reveals, for the first time, his  thoughts and feelings.

ADEVARUL: You are prepearing a project that will be launched in the USA this autumn. Can you tell us something about it?

DAN BALAN: This is a very serious project. Live music. By the way, that's one of the reasons why to start it in the USA. I'm going to prepare myself for it, by studying for the duration of spring. In autumn I will start the new project.

ADEVARUL: And then? Who will launch the project in the United States?

DAN BALAN: I will. Fact is, I was a rocker all my life. Up until O-Zone started, I was doing rockmusic. But nobody wanted to listen to it. Generally, I compose a wide range of music: Classic, pop, dance, even folkmusic. For me, it's not a problem to change styles. Then, at one stage, I decided to do something commercial. A "Boyband" which I named O-Zone and which I started in '98 with a different cast as the actual one. I guess, I was a bit hurt by the fact, that I had to give up the idea of rockmusic, which in fact, would have pleased me far more. To be honest, the success of O-Zone took me by surprise. The piece became totally popular. I had not expected that. Also, I never ever thought about launching it in Europe. My plan had been, for O-Zone to become popular in Romania only and after that to enter the European market with another, far more serious project. But with O-Zone we beat every European Record. For me, it became clear, at this height of success, that I must break it off.

ADEVARUL: As to what percentage were you responsible for the success of O-Zone?

DAN BALAN: I worked in a team. I would like to point out that I was the producer and author of the piece. Basically, I was the creative part. But I must give credit that the success came from teamwork. The contribution of Radu and Arsenie is indisputable. Then of course, Dan Popi from Media Services, Time Records the recordcompany who took care of launching the production in Germany, France, Spain, Great Britain. Igor Luascu did his part in the team to contribute to the success of O-Zone. My deepest heartfelt thanks to all of them.

To be continue

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dan_Balan/ - thanks for the translation!

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Dan about... Harry Potter

Lucky [Harry Potter Romanian World]: Have you read the books or seen the movies from the Harry Potter series? If yes then what impression have they given you?

Dan: Of course we have seen the Harry Potter movies! Unfortunately we haven't had a chance to read the books... but if we get one, we will read it. The impression that the films have given us is super. It is a very interesting story for all ages, most people love it. It's the same thing as our songs, because we wanted to create a positive world, full of joy.

Lucky [Harry Potter Romanian World]: Would you enjoy living in a world like that imagined by the writer of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling?

Dan: We all live like in that story.  All is in our hands, it depends on us, and who believes in what he does, he can create a world like in the stories. It depends on us to make our world better.

Lucky [Harry Potter Romanian World]: What do you think about the Harry Potter phenomenon in the world?

Dan: The people needed stories. Until not long ago, the most appreciated films were the dramas and the action films. All this craziness about Harry Potter and the series of Lord of the Rings shows that the world needed beautiful and optimistic stories. The same thing is with our song, Dragostea din tei, because most people appreciated the optimistic messages that makes everybody happy.

Lucky [Harry Potter Romanian World]: Who is your favourite character?

Dan: Hermione, because she is really sweet.

Lucky [Harry Potter Romanian World]: Do you think that imagination is important in what you are doing?

Dan: Imagination is very important for every human, because without imagination you can't create something new and interesting. Everybody can be very good in a domain, but first he must find that domain.

Lucky [Harry Potter Romanian World]: What do you do in your free time - supposing that you still have free time?

Dan: In our free time we read. We take books with us everywhere we go, because when we have half an hour - or an hour - break we like to read. We still have a lot to learn. And we will read Harry Potter for sure very soon!

Lucky [Harry Potter Romanian World]: Can you send a message to your fans of our sites (Harry Potter Romanian World and O-Zone Fanclub)?

Dan: We send them Dragostea din tei (love from the linden tree) pure and special for the fans of your sites, and we hope that this love will get to their hearts.

Lucky [Harry Potter Romanian World]: We thank you for this interview, you are in our hearts and in our souls, and in another million peoples hearts that are believing in you, from wherever they are, those hearts are thanking you for existing, you are fantastic!