PAUL SELING

First, a musician

Born in 1977, in the former communist East-European state of Romania, I was drawn to music and technology from early childhood. There wasn’t much technology around, it’s true, but at the age of about 6 or 7, I heard two songs on the radio that would change my life forever: “I Just Called to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder and “Hello” by Lionel Richie. I decided on the spot that I was going to become a music composer.

One year later, I enrolled in the local art school and studied classical music—piano and clarinet—for the next eight years. In the meantime, at around the age of 9 or 10, I stumbled upon an electronic keyboard and was amazed by the eerie sounds it could produce, promising myself I would create electronic music someday in the future. I graduated in 1992, but before, after a visit to Paris, amazed by the sight of the Grand Arche de la Défense, I had a new secret dream in mind: to pursue my artistic education even further—perhaps to become an architect.

( actually this picture of me at 12 years old, in june 1990, was taken by my beloved hosts in our school trip to France. )

Then, an architect

After four years at the National College “Gheorghe Șincai” (1992–1996), where I earned a couple of prizes in national physics competitions, I was admitted to the renowned “Ion Mincu Institute of Architecture” in Bucharest. I had decided, after watching a TV program (Teleenciclopedia, narrated by the late Florian Pittiş) about the architecture of F.L. Wright, to truly become an architect – now that I understood I could personally make an effort to change the gray atmosphere we were still in, even though we had come out of communism.

Around 1997, I got my hands on a computer and a workstation (Korg Trinity), and I’ve been hooked ever since. I expanded my sonic arsenal with a Roland MC-505, and soon after, I produced a few successful tracks for my sister Paula, who had already become a local celebrity by the end of 1996. For the next six years, I divided my time between architectural studies and music production.

I also developed a strong interest in digital 3D design and created some of the first 3D commercials on Romanian television at the time, using software like TrueSpace and Bryce.