Popxcu

Vlad Popescu (born November 6, 1989) known professionally as Popxcu, is a Romanian electronic music producer. He primarily focuses on techno music, cultivating a distinctive style that weaves uncanny lyrics into his compositions.

Career

2011-2016: Advertising soundtracks and film scores

Popescu began his career in the music industry in 2011, when Romanian director Iulian Stanciu offered him a job scoring promotional videos for an advertisment company. Over the subsequent years, Popescu produced more than 100 advertising scores.

In 2012, he composed the score for Tremurul Liniștii, a surreal thriller written by Laurențiu Gligor and co-directed by Gligor and Iulian Stanciu. The film garnered multiple awards, including Best Screenplay and Best Special Effects at the Future Movie Galați film festival (2013), as well as the Geo Saizescu Trophy for Best Picture at the Geo Saizescu Film Festival (2014). He was credited as Moondust.

Continuing his collaboration with Stanciu and Gligor, Popescu scored Somnul lui Richi (2015), a surreal comedy featured at the European Film Festival (2016), written and directed by Iulian Stanciu and Laurențiu Gligor.

2018-2023: Educational hiatus and VR

After several years of working as a freelance sound designer in Bucharest, Popescu relocated to the UK in 2018 to further his education. He graduated with a BA (Hons) from the University of the Arts London in 2024.

In 2023, he ventured into scoring various VR projects, including indie games such as Space Quest, which was recognized at the 2023 Rookie Awards' Draft Selection, and VR experiences like Astro Odyssey and Into the Virtual.

2024: Blândețe

In 2024, Popescu collaborated with Romanian interdisciplinary artist Laurențiu Zloteanu to release his debut album, Blândețe, through Shuhari Records under the moniker Mirabela Power (a homage to Romanian pop singer Mirabela Dauer). Originally conceived as a collection of 12 poems by Zloteanu intended for publication, these poems formed the lyrical foundation of the album. Popescu produced the record as a cinematic experience, with each track serving as a musical score to the vivid scenes depicted in Zloteanu’s poems, covering a wide range of genres, from hip-hop to minimal techno.