INTERVIEW. “How do you get them to read 'Cocks Old and New' in 10th grade?” Why does a well-known artist from Romania think that young people are no longer attracted to reading

“The only solution I see would be to stop teaching young people literature that is completely inappropriate for their age,” believes Dan Byron, lead singer of the rock band Byron, in an interview with the HotNews audience. The artist spoke very often about the importance of reading for people and even founded a book club. “We would be much wilder and poorer without reading,” says Byron.

• 20 years after its founding, the band byron, one of the longest-lasting bands in the domestic music landscape, released the song “Why should it be simple if it can be complicated?”, a logo that brings into discussion the contemporary social and political context. Pieces contain lines such as “only to me it seems that the leaders of the world are old men / who keep insisting on ostentatiously measuring their dementia and impotence” or “she would be history / she doesn't want to teach us anything.”

The song urges listeners to look carefully and lucidly at the reality we live in, and although it may seem pessimistic, it has an energy that does not oppress you, but can actually make you do something. “There are certain subjects that keep affecting me and at some point they tend to turn into songs,” Dan Byron tells HotNews.

The piece was written two years ago in Sicily after a discussion about trash and recycling, as the artist describes in the interview below. “I thought it was a momentary thing and wouldn't be relevant later, but it seems to fit more and more with what's going on now,” he explains.

The end of the piece includes the audience in its structure, as we can hear a chorus formed by the voices of the audience present at Byron's “Wonderful New World” performance at the Palace Hall, which took place in November 2025.

“The Romania of 2026 is somewhat better than the Romania of 1990”

– How did the song “Why be simple if it can be complicated?” and with what intention did you decide to release it now, at the beginning of this year?
– Dan Byron: “Why keep it simple when it can be complicated?” was born two years ago in Sicily, following a discussion and a party, later transformed into a meditation on the past that still colors all our present.

I know it sounds weird, but the discussion centered around trash and recycling. I think it's the perfect demonstration that inspiration is all around us, you just have to want it and know how to collect it. By sheer coincidence, we launched it on the last day of the Davos Economic Forum in January. Everything in its right place (“Each thing in its place”).

“The remnants of the past still affect us, both in our mentality and in our actions”

– How do you see the responsibility of an artist to signal the important problems of society? Do you wish there were more voices in the arts speaking openly about these themes?
– I don't think artists necessarily have to have any responsibility like that, at the end of the day we all talk about what we feel comfortable talking about. It is true that I like those who become a kind of reflection of their reality, but that does not mean that those who opt for other themes are not equally valuable.

– The new piece talks about leaders, about history, about the inability to learn from mistakes. How do you see Romania in 2026 and how do you see Romanians in this context?
– The Romania of 2026 is somewhat better than the Romania of 1990, but the residues of the past still affect both our mentality and our actions, and more than likely they will for a while. Now it depends a lot on what else happens to us, that it's not just up to us.

– In recent years, nostalgia has pushed a part of society towards speeches and politicians who question democracy, on the idea that “before was better”. How do you see this nostalgia and how do you think we should relate to it?
– Whoever says that it used to be better either did not live those times, or is malicious. I can't help but think of my grandparents, whose house was confiscated by the communist party and moved to an apartment block, or to my mother, who was the only one in her office working. Oh, yes, probably her former colleagues are nostalgic, because now the trend is to be put to work for the salary you receive.

– You said that history seems to teach us nothing. What would you like, concretely, for Romanians to understand from their own history?
– First of all, I'm sorry, but we don't really know our history. How the hell can you eulogize the murderer Zelea Codreanu or say that Ceaușescu was a patriot? Not to mention all the Dacopians who read and regurgitate that prehistoric Dacia aberration and think we invented hot water.

“Romania doesn't really have an export office for artists”

– You stated that the albums “Noua” and “Ephemeride” represent you more than the older materials. On the verge of 20 years of byron, what does the music that represents you mean to you today?
– All the music we've released over the past 20 years represents us, but let's say “new” and “Ephemeride” are more representative because they're more recent and because we're not in a hurry anymore. In the first part of my career, I released one product a year, be it an album or a filmed concert. For each of the two mentioned above I worked for around four years. The funny part is that there are some who have the impression that “New” is our first album.

– How has Byron changed in these 20 years?
– In the first years, we kind of walked on a tightrope — the income was low, as a result the composition was very unstable and each new step was a chore. With the first albums we didn't really manage to get traction, especially because I was stubborn to write in English, hoping that we would be able to sing in other countries.

There are many new artists from Romania who make the same mistake. It's a vicious cycle — you dream of singing for the outside scene, but all the while you're ignoring your own community, which, in turn, ignores you, while the outside scene is oversaturated with international and local artists, of which, at the top, you're not a part of.

In addition, Romania doesn't really have an export office for artists, because well, that's all you can do. The moment we turned the page and addressed our own community, singing about and in its language, our careers also took a 180-degree turn. And we were able to go deeper because we started talking in our own language about our own world, which we still understand a little.

– What does it mean, in 2026, to be a musician with a lasting career in Romania? What are the things that have improved in the music industry and what do you think is still missing or should be changed?
– There are still big problems with the infrastructure, there are not enough performance halls of various capacities, so even the big bands still rely on the club circuit. Okay, 20 years ago there wasn't even this circuit. Instead, there are a lot of open air festivals in the summer, much more than when we started, and some are organized better and better every year.

– “Brave New World” was Byron's largest show to date. Are there any chances that it will be repeated in Bucharest or are you preparing other special formats in the context of the new album?
– More than likely we will not do “Wonderful new world” in Bucharest again, given how complicated and expensive it was to organize something like that, but there will be performances around the country, probably at several philharmonics. For example, in March we have two performances at the Brașov Philharmonic — the first one was sold out in four days, and there are still a few seats for the second one. For the upcoming album we haven't thought of a special show yet, but there is still time, because we plan to release it in 2027. This autumn we will do an anniversary tour, because once the band turns 20 years old!

– The end of the song “Why be simple if it can be complicated?” includes audience voices. What did this gesture mean to you?
– The vocals are recorded at the end of the show “Minunata lume nouva” from Sala Palatului, a show that started with me going on stage from the middle of the audience and ended with the whole hall taking over the final song and taking it home in thought, gestures that were more than symbolic.

“How the hell do you get them to read 'Cocktails Old and New' in 10th grade?”

– Over time, you had a book club and often spoke about the importance of reading. Does this project still exist today? What are you currently reading and what kind of reading are you interested in right now?
– The club still exists, I just read Ulysses by James Joyce. I'm usually interested in fiction and non-fiction, but I'm not one to shy away from a good comic book, and I also read history or psychology books from time to time. Reading has always been important because language and rational thought really make us human. Without them we would be much wilder and much poorer.

– How do you see Romanians' relationship with reading today and what do you think could be done, at family and state level, to bring young people closer to books? Do you see any realistic solutions?
– The only solution I see would be to stop teaching them literature completely inappropriate for their age. How the hell do you get them to read “Cocktails Old and New” in 10th grade? How can they like that at that age? There is no fault in the book, I re-read it a few years ago and it cracked me up, but in the 10th grade I would have thrown it out the window. I think the interest is to teach them something they could understand, to absorb, to start reading for pleasure, not forced by a program from another century. If they read for pleasure, they will find the books worth reading on their own.

– You said at one point that one of the biggest misfortunes would be if “this country goes down the drain and we can't do anything”, and that you want to stay here. What gives you hope today and how do you see the future in Romania in 2026? Do you still believe in change?
– Of course I still believe, it seems to me that Romania is moving forward, even if still quite slowly. As I said earlier, we are far from the situation we were in in 1990 and, if nothing serious happens to us, in ten years we will be even further. And leaving doesn't seem like a solution to me, if it ever was. There are problems all over the world, not just here.