In parallel, like other artists on the Romanian folk scene, he was pursuing his interest in non-pop ventures, from experimental rock and minimal music to biomusic, and exhibiting his installation art.
Born in Satu Mare, Mircea Florian began his musical education as a pianist and saxophonist, before turning to guitar, blockflute, mandolin and various other instruments.
[5] Florian first came into contact with the burgeoning hippie movement of the West, and met Romanians who, despite facing tight scrutiny from the communist authorities, wanted to replicate it locally.
"[4] Elsewhere, he also noted that hippie culture was essentially becoming more accessible to Romanians by the end of the 1960s: "I remember that, once a record came out, fresh off the Western market, no more than a week would pass before it got to Romania, brought over by some sailor or an acquaintance who had been visiting 'out on the outside', or through heaven knows what channels..."[6] Among the decade's pop acts, Florian was most impressed by Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Leonard Cohen.
[4] As noted by Florian, Lotus appeared alongside the "first wave" of Romanian folk singers, among them Mircea Vintilă, Dorin Liviu Zaharia and Doru Stănculescu.
[4] At around the same time, Florian joined the Luceafărul literary club,[8][9] and provided the avant-garde jazz background to the Surrealistic poems recited live by Valery Oisteanu.
[6] He was officially employed by the computer industry from age 22, supplementing his salary with semi-compulsory dispatches "on location", which allowed him to invest his own money in various cutting-edge musical instruments.
Its often-changing membership included: Beno, Căciulă, Chifiriuc, Ristić, Zaharia, Andrei Oişteanu, Alexandru Beno, Valentin Andronescu, Günther Reininger, Andrei Cristea, Eugen Gondi, Dietrich Krauser, Mihai Creţu, Costin Petrescu, Alexandru Mitaru, Alexe Conta, Mircea Dordoi, Ortansa Păun, Sorin Baroţi, Gheorghe Popescu and Mihai Pintilie.
[6][12] From its choice of name, this new project also reflected its leader's mounting interest in Ancient Greek philosophy, the ideological source of his psych-folk, which he describes as more profound than generic folk rock.
[6] As noted by critic Marius Chivu, Florian's opposition to the communist regime led him into "the great quad of folk protest singers", with Nicu Vladimir, Valeriu Sterian and Horia Stoicanu.
The singer later stated that he was one of the club's founding members, together with poet Adrian Păunescu, his colleague at Luceafărul, and that he intended to create "a movement to bring together people interested in poetry and music.
[15] Literary critic and folk music fan Dan C. Mihăilescu suggests that these disagreements reflected a larger cultural conflict.
He describes Florian, Marcela Saftiuc, Sterian and Zaharia as fundamentally different from the "Maoist" agenda of Romanian communism, and notes that they also became irreconcilable with Păunescu when the latter committed himself to "embarrassing" indoctrination.
[16] Reflecting back on his childhood attendance of Cenaclul, writer-politician Varujan Vosganian noted a similar issue: "I liked Marcela Saftiuc, [...] Mircea Florian, Doru Stănculescu and many others, I did not like it when we were made to stand up clapping and chanting.
"[17] As asserted by literary critic Ion Bogdan Lefter, "Few authentic artists of the [folk] genre could prevent its rapid absorption into the melodious, lyricaloid and often jingoistic kitsch promoted by the propagandistic Cenaclul Flacăra.
"[3] Like Nicu Vladimir, he gave concerts at the "fires on the beach" gatherings in the remote Black Sea resort of 2 Mai, a hippie hotspot, before such events were altogether banned on grounds of border security.
[4] As noted by his former promoter Florin Silviu Ursulescu, who was working for the Radio Company, his supervisors had simply banned some of Florian's songs for containing what they called "inane lyrics".
[4] In reference to this phase, Lefter includes Florian among the young men who reached out of the folk and hippie scenes and into the field of multimedia experiments, in what was largely an attempt to circumvent the official art of communism.
This "pre-postmodern" transition, Lefter notes, was also affected by the Sfinx, Transsylvania Phoenix, "the weird" Dorin Zaharia and Nicu Vladimir, but Florian's work remained the "most interesting".
[3][6] Plămădeală argues that Tainicul vîrtej follows its composer's "metaphysical" inclination, being notable for its "shock element",[13] while journalist and musician Maria Balabaş describes the record as "psychedelic" with an "electronic sound".
"[6] Although short-lived, the act became known on the underground scene for both its music and the conceptual art of its live performances, drawing comparisons with Tangerine Dream, Popol Vuh and the Third Ear Band; during such events, Florian would appear dressed up in a hazmat suit.
[6] His concerts abroad were probably the reason why his Tainicul vîrtej was never on general release: the communist government allegedly presumed that he would not be returning, and tried to prevent the public from glorifying his departure.
[4] Florian also contributed the preface to Vlad Arghir's book, the first Romanian-language monograph on Leonard Cohen, published in Hungary by Pont Kiadó.
[28] Florian and DeR KuB have organized several events reuniting Romanian folkloric ensembles from Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine with bands representing the various traditions of minority groups in Romania.
[12] In addition to opening for Phoenix and Covaci at reunion concerts in 2003,[3] Florian has performed with the Shukar Collective project, which mixes electronic music with Romani tradition.
He and Shukar's DJ Vasile remixed several Ursari renditions of old songs, "some five out of eleven" entries on the Collective's album, and including the single Anna e Manole.
[1] Florian was also invited to sing at the Stufstock event of Vama Veche, in 2004, but refused to perform on stage, and gave an impromptu concert on one of the side alleys, in hopes of addressing only his real fans.
It was received with interest by film journalist Mihai Fulger, who described Solomon as a "trendsetter", for attaching Florian's original music to animation and archive footage.
[34] He was additionally working with Cătălina Buzoianu, arranging the music to her various productions, including a 2005 version of August Strindberg's Father[35] and a 2008 staging of Mircea Cărtărescu's Dream.
Theater manager and poet Ion Cocora was impressed by the latter show and its "fairy tale state", describing Florian's music as "a continuous oscillation between the real and the unreal.