20 track cassette compiling all of ATF's recorded work starting 2005-present.
48 minutes of aural crust butchery.

Finally, after a long time of preparing, and slacking, the interview with Zoran Cvetković Cvele is ready.
The interview was conducted in March 2021.

Photos by Dušan Mitić Car

1. Let's start from the beginning. I wonder what attracted you to music. I guess that was when you were a kid. What are your earliest memories of music? What did you listen to then and in what way (radio, TV, records)? Did you grow up in a house where music was listened to? Did you go to music school or are you self-taught?

Ever since I know for myself I have loved music. I always discovered some new things in it, got ideas and tied memories, people, colors, smells, tastes to it. As a child, I received a cassette player and a couple of cassettes from my uncle. The first thing I did was connect it to the radio, go search for frequencies and record everything I liked. From that moment, my interest in sampling, mixing and arranging began. Music was not listened to in my house and no one in the extended family was ever involved in music, and the very notion of music was associated primarily with "folk music". I didn't go to music school, but I wanted to. It was at the other end of town, and my parents didn’t have time to “take me away and bring me in”. Maybe it’s better that way because I’ve never adopted “rules”. I just like to wander and experiment with melodies and arrangements, and see where it takes me. In elementary school, I got my first guitar (acoustic) and learned chords. I hated practicing common popular tunes. It was much easier, and even nicer, to play something of my own. That's how I started.

2. Romantične boje (The Romantic Colors) band was formed in 1983 after the break-up of the punk group Elektromagnetno zavarivanje kostiju (Electromagnetic Bone Welding). What can you tell us about that punk band? When was the group formed and who was in it? What did you sound like? Did you play concerts? Are there any recordings of the band?

I bought an electric guitar in 1980 when I started high school. That is when the first group Electromagnetic bone welding (EMZK) was formed. The band consisted of Saša Panajotović Amerikanac (guitar and voice), Boban Veselinović Sulja (drums, ie drums and cymbals), Miomir Randjelović Mima (bass) and me (guitar and voice). I always liked to say that EMZK was a Punk / Jazz band for the simple reason that everyone did their own thing. Pure improvisation, like in jazz. Each rehearsal would end in an argument, but in a few days we would gather again, reconcile and continue where we left off. Unfortunately, after so many rehearsals, we did not manage to survive and record anything.

3. Very little is known about bands from Nish. Many places in Yugoslavia, such as Sisak and Pozhega in Croatia, Prijedor, Banja Luka, Doboj in Bosnia and Herzegovina, had punk bands, but not much is known about it. In the seventies and eighties of the last century, were there other punk bands besides you in Nish?

The first punk band in Nish were Fleke (The Stains), and after them Partizanska eskadrila (the Partisan Squadron), Komuna (Commune), Plišane mačke (Plush Cats) were formed ...

4. It is interesting that after the breakup of the punk band, you founded a slightly different band, Romantic Colors. How and why did this change occur? Was it a big step away from your previous band or was it a natural continuation of a story you started earlier?

I wanted to try something new, and the synthesizers made it possible for me. They totally drove me crazy and pushed me into a whole new world. I think it was completely natural for me, as I had to get one with the appearance of the first samplers. The same thing happened to me with computers. It still holds me to this day. In a word, I became, and remained, a technology addict or freak.

My story wirg synthesizers starts out of spite. The last time we had a heated argument and decided to break up EMZK, Amerikanac explained to me that anyone could play the guitar, but the synthesizer ... and I decided to sell the guitar and buy synth. I bought two Casio gadgets, started playing and ideas were born. Two Gorans, two of my good childhood friends, Goran Veljković Gax (synth) and Goran Radenković Radenko (drum machine) joined in and we start rehearsing. We did a couple of recordings in the studio of Radio Nish (Posljednji tango- The Last Tango, Noć- Night, Krug- Circle). The songs started being played on the radio waves, and we started doing shows.

5. Band Data (from Belgrade) said in an interview that they borrowed synthesizers and other music equipment all over the city and that they went to London to get the necessary musical gadgets. How did you get the equipment at the time? Where and how often did you rehearse?

It was a matter of agreement. You want to join a group, then you have to get a synth. And do you know how to play? Well, you will learn in time ;). That's how I started, and the same was true for the others who joined the group. None of us were musically savvy (except Srda) but we all had a great desire and will to create something and be a part of something. That's how we functioned. As far as I remember, we had rehearsals mostly on weekends due to obligations with the school. We initially had a few Casios, and later we added Roland Juno 106, Roland Alpha Juno, Boss Dr 110, Yamaha DX 11, Casio CZ 101. For recordings we could always borrow DX 7 and TR 707 from Vlada (Trivalia), Korg Polysix from Mane (Fleke).

6. As early as 1983 and 1984, your first recordings were made in Radio Nish, and were considered lost until the release of your LP in 2016. Then Srda, synth player in Romantic Colors, informs you that she still has those early recordings, later published as 1983-84 cassette. It is unbelievable that these same recordings were in Srda's possession all that time, and that the other members of the band did not know about it, But, let’s talk about you recording in Radio Nish. How do you get access to the radio and its recording equipment?

As for Radio Nish, we were interesting to them, and they were interesting to us (mutual benefit). Before us, they didn't have a band exclusively with synthesizers, and we were easier to record than all the other bands from that time. We didn't need amps. We just plug in the studio mixer and start recording. For that reason, our recordings were of better quality than the bands that recorded in that period, so we were played a lot on the airwaves, especially thanks to the sound recorder Miki Maksimović and Saška Dejanović, the then editor of the cult music show Spektar melodija (Melody Specter).

7. What role did SKC Nish (Student Cultural Center Nish) play on the then Nish music scene? Among other things, they released a 7” record by Trivalia and a cassette by Dobri Isak. Was there a collaboration between Romantic Colors and SKC?

We did not have any cooperation with SKC. I don’t think we were to their liking or maybe they considered us a commercial band. Maybe they didn’t even consider us a band. Personally, I had great expectations in that period (labels PGP or Jugoton), so I channeled all my energy in that direction.

8. How did you record the video for the song Tišina (Silence), which was made by RTV Beograd (Radio Television Belgrade)? How did that collaboration come about? What year and where was the video shot? Was it played on television?

In 1985, RTVB were recording a show about the Nish music scene in Nish (at the Music Club). Fortunately, we were among the chosen ones and we got the first and only, at that time, more serious video that was played on state television, the video for the song Silence.

9. In September 1984, the group took a break due to compulsory military service. Many Yugoslav bands disbanded due to military service. Where did you serve in the army? What was that experience like? The break lasted until October 1985. How much did it affect the band?

I served in the army in Kragujevac. From this distance, I must admit that the army remained in my fond memory, primarily because of the people I met there. There were people from all over and everyone had their own story. Simply an invaluable experience. Gax, Radenko and I were in the group then. We left on the same day and returned from the JNA (Yugoslav People’s Army) almost the same day. We corresponded regularly and made plans so that the break did not affect us. When we returned, we continued where we left off.

10. Your next recordings were made in 1986. What can you say about the recording itself? It was done by was Peđa (Pedja) Cvetičanin, singer and guitarist of the band Dobri Isak. Why did he record you? Was it recorded in the same, Markiz's, room as Dobri Isak? Was Dobri Isak a band you hung out with and collaborated with outside of studio?

At the end of 1985, we started preparing demo material that would be offered for listening to a larger label. At the beginning of '86 we rented Tascam, locked ourselves in for two days in Ivan's room and recorded the material. Pedja Cveticanin (Dobri Isak) recorded us, produced us, sang half a song and a few backing vocals. With one of these songs On te voli (He Loves You), we were the first on the Demo-topu ventilatora (Vent demo top, radio show for demo bands) without us even being aware of it, because someone, most likely Zoran Modli, changed our name to Ćele-kula.

11. Have you had concerts? If so, where and how often?

In the period 1983-84, we mostly played in the then Music Club, whenever we had the opportunity. I also remember the gigs at various university clubs (Law, Philosophy, Medical) and they are all distinguished by one thing - we always did well with people who did the sound, for the simple reason that it was enough for us to plug in directly into the mixer. We didn't use amplifiers and we had a phenomenal sound. Everything else was routine. We did well at the gigs. I don't know if it was because of the quality or the unusual performances (the first group in the city with a lot of synths). We mostly wore black shirts buttoned up to the neck. I sang as deep as I could, and sequencers were bursting behind me. After one such gig, I met Predrag Cvetičanin Peđa (Dobri Isak) and a great friendship and cooperation started. He then gave me the greatest possible compliment, that our music reminded him of the early works of Human League, John Fox, Kraftwerk. I had no idea at the time who John Fox was, but later with his help, and with the help of his brother Nenad Cvetičnin Cepi (Arnold Layn), I heard about Fox and a bunch of other bands and people I swear by today. After that, socializing, cooperating, exchanging of knowledge and equipment between all of us (Arnold Layn, Dobri Isak, Fleke, Komuna, Bigoti, Trivalia) started. And then the army. We enrolled in college and parted ways for a year. When I returned home in 1985, Fleke had already stopped working, but they started the Dead Carrington project and the cult gigs at the Medical School. Dobri Isak is releasing their first and only album (on tape), Arnold Layn is preparing an album and they are in contact with Jugoton (in the end only the single Kiša dolazi- Rain is Coming, was released), and I am full of energy and ideas. We are recording a few more song at Radio Nish (Tišina- Silence, Ponekad- Sometimes, Jesenje magle- Autumn Fog), we are guests in a couple of radio and television shows, we continue with gigs and we get another member, Bata Petković (synth), so we become a four piece. After that, thanks to Radio Nish, we recorded one song in a better equipped studio in Belgrade (I don't remember its name) and we were supposed to be on a compilation (which didn't not materialize). At the end of '85, Radenko is leaving us, and Vesna Srdić Srda (synth) and Ivan Zikić joined the band. Srda was the only trained musician (piano) among us, and Ivan (Vlado Trivalia’s brother) played drums and had an electronic Yamaha.

12. As far as I understood, the recordings made by Pedja were supposed to serve as a kind of promotional material, something that you presented to PGP RTB label, one of the largest music publishers in Yugoslavia. You had negotiations with them to release the record. How did these negotiations come about? Did they contact you? What were the conditions like on their part? Do you know why they finally decided not to publish your record after all?

Contacts with the publisher PGP RTB were going well and we were already sure that we would have the record. However, during the last meeting, everything failed (I would not go into the details of a few thousand Deutsche Marks). I reacted by simply giving up from both the band and the music ... we broke up.
I had no more desire to do music, so after a short persuasion with Alex (Stains, Plush Cats, Dead Carrington) I joined the Carringtons and we had a lot of fun (at that time I bought my first sampler Ensoniq Mirage). Medical School club was packed every Friday. The gigs ran from 11 PM to early morning. We played the Stones, Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Ramones, The Clash and other classics. After a while, all these fierce gigs affected me, so some ideas started creeping into my head. In 1988, I rented Tascam again, gathered Srda, Gax, Mali Sava (Fleke) and for the first time I added guitars to RB. I was interested in the combination of guitars and samples. I adapted the songs to the voice of Veliki Sava (Fleke), but he never recorded them and only the working versions (12 songs) remained with my voice and my dissatisfaction with the project. After a while, Petar Usurević (Agnus Dei) sang on five songs and fixed the thing a bit.

13. Some of the synth bands of the time (Videosex, Denis & Denis) became big mainstream pop bands. Many other bands of similar expression like Data, Tužne uši (Sad Ears), Ogledala (Mirrors) received much less support and rarely released records. How do you look at that situation? Were you disappointed that you failed to release a record in 1987?

I was very disappointed. I even wanted to stop playing music, but after a while I came back with a little different ideas. I couldn't hold back. All these events, ie. disappointments pushed me to change and improve, so I have remained in music and sound engineering until today, and most importantly, I live from it and I live for it.

14. After the end of Romantic Colors, you had a solo band called Pasivni posmatrači prirode (Passive Observers of Nature), and released a cassette. How did that project come about?

In the nineties I tried to combine punk with electronics (I've always loved DAF). That is how Passive Observers of Nature was created. The”band” left behind a mini album "Intro" for the publishing house "Dom". I did not consider PPP a real band. It represented my need to get rid of everything that was accumulating in me, and in that I had the help of my friends Điđa and Krasa (Arnold Layn). The album "Intro" (that's why it's called like that) was supposed to be an introduction to the full version of the album next year. That album contained several instrumental versions of the songs that were to appear on the full album next year. That album was supposed to be twice as long, but it didn't happen due to inflation, devaluation and wars.

For the next few years, I hung out with Cepi, Kras, Mima, Djidja and the Markiz (Arnold Layn & Alchemy) and in 1994 we released the album Land Ho for ITV Melomarket. This socializing has continued to this day with another album (2018) Jednom nogom u grobu (One foot in the grave) for RNR Records.

The beginning of the nineties is very important for my involvement with music. Then I got my first Atari STE and I became “self-sufficient.” A few years later I bought an Atari Falcon and then a whole new world opened up for me - I could do audio at home on 8 stereo, ie 16 mono channels, and nicely sync it all with midi channels. My happiness was endless.

The PPP album Elektro-etno from 1995 was not released because there was no purpose in doing so in those crazy years. I worked because I could. The basis of this collection of poems is the collection work of Prof. Dr. Dimitrij Golemović, the then head of the Department of Ethno Musicology at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. The songs were created in reverse, ie. a recordings (from the field) of ethno instruments and voices were used, and then synchronization and creation of music and arrangements was done, all on the Atari Falcon.

In 2015, at the urging of my best man Cepi (Arnold Layn), I went through this material again, played, cleaned, slightly rearranged, mastered and did a couple of new songs, of course, in accordance with the time and technology. And here again were Passive Observers of Nature (Cepi, Krasa and I), but this time the project was called Obredne narodne pesme (Ritual Folk Songs). Four songs were released on two compilations on Outerbass Records - Mad Audio Scientists vol.1 and vol.2, but the album as a whole was not released. In 2017, we had a multimedia concert as part of the Nishville Jazz Festival.

15. What do you do today? Do you make music? Are you still involved in studio work?

Since the nineties, ie. from the purchase of the first computer to the present day, I use my free time to work on instrumental music, Romantic Colors - Music for movies and games. So far, I have finalized over 100 themes. mostly I’m jealously stashing them.

By the way, I am professionally engaged in sound processing, making radio and TV commercials, presentations, documentaries, composing, arranging and mastering sound.

From the equipment I have: PCs, MacBook Air, Atari Falcon, iPad 2, iPad Air 2, Alesis IO Dock II, Arturia Audiofuse, Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 3rd Gen, iConnectMIDI4 +, Akai Advance 61, NI MT32, Ensoniq Mirage, Korg M1, Korg Radias, Roland SC88 Pro, Roland Integra 7.

16. Who is ‘good old Alex’? Dobri Isak mention him in one of their songs and he is listed on you LP thanks list.

As for "good old mystic Alex", I don't know exactly who Pedja meant when he wrote Mi plačemo iza tamnih naočara (We Cry Behind Dark Glasses). I never even asked him. In my head I always saw our good friend Alex (Fleke) behind that bar.

17. Thank you very much for your time and for the unforgettable music you left us. All the best.

Napokon, nakod jako dugo pripremanja i zabušavanja, intervju sa Zoranom Cvetkovićem Cveletom je spreman. Intervju je napravljen u martu 2021.

Fotografisao Dušan Mitić Car.

1. Da krenemo od samog početka. Zanima me šta te je privuklo muzici. Pretpostavljam da je to bilo dok si još bio dijete. Koje su ti naranije uspomene na muziku? Šta si tada slušao i na koji način (radio, TV, ploče)? Da li odrastao u kući u kojoj se slušala muzika? Da li si išao u muzičku školu ili si samouk?

Otkad znam za sebe voleo sam muziku. Uvek sam u njoj otkrivao neke nove stvari, dobijao ideje  i vezivao za nju sećanja, ljude, boje, mirise, ukuse. Još kao mali dobio sam od strica kasetofon i par kaseta. Prvo što sam uradio je da sam ga povezao za radio aparat, krenuo da pretražujem frekvence i snimam sve sto mi se dopalo. Od tog trenutka počinje moje interesovanje za semplovanjem, miksovanjem i aranžiranjem. U mojoj kući se nije slušala muzika i nikada se niko u široj porodici nije bavio muzikom, a sam pojam muzike se vezivao prvenstveno za "narodnu muziku". U muzičku školu nisam išao, a želeo sam. Bila je na drugom kraju grada, a moji roditelji nisu imali vremena da me "odvode i dovode". Možda je i bolje tako jer nikada nisam usvojio "pravila". Jednostavno volim da lutam i eksperimentišem sa melodijama i aranžmanima, pa gde me odvede. U osnovnoj školi sam dobio prvu gitaru (akustiču) i naučio akorde. Mrzelo me je da vežbam i skidam već poznate melodije. Bilo je mnogo lakše, a i lepše, svirati nešto svoje. Eto, tako sam počeo.

2. Grupa Romantične boje je nastala 1983. godine nakon raspada punk grupe Elektromagnetno zavarivanje kostiju. Šta možes reći o tom punk bendu? Kada je grupa oformljena i ko je bio u njoj? Kako ste zvučali? Da li ste imali koncerte? Da li postoje snimci benda?

Električnu gitaru sam kupio 1980. kada sam krenuo u srednju školu. Tada i nastaje prva grupa "Elektromagnetno zavarivanje kostiju" (EMZK). U bendu su bili Saša Panajotović Amerikanac (gitara i glas), Boban Veselinović Sulja (bubanj tj. doboš i činela), Miomir Ranđelović Mima (bas) i ja (gitara i glas). Uvek sam voleo da kažem da je EMZK bio Punk/Jazz band iz prostog razloga što je svako vozio svoju priču. Čista improvizacija, kao u džezu. Svaka bi se proba završila svađom ali bi se opet za par dana skupili, pomirili i nastavili tamo gde smo stali. Na žalost posle silnih proba nismo uspeli da opstanemo i ništa da snimimo.

3. Jako malo se zna o bendovima iz Niša. Mnoga mjesta u Jugoslaviji, kao npr. Sisak i Požega u Hrvatskoj, Prijedor, Banja Luka, Doboj u BiH, su imala punk bendove,ali o tome se ne zna mnogo. Da li su sedamdesetih i osamdesetih godina prošlog vijeka u Nišu osim vas postojali i drugi punk bendovi?

Prvi punk bend u Nišu su bile Fleke, a posle njih su nastali Partizanska eskadrila, Komuna, Plišane mačke...

4. Zanimljivo je da ste nakon raspada punk benda osnovali nešto drugačiji bend, Romantične boje. Kako i zašto dolazi do te promjene? Da li je to bio veliki odmak od vašeg prethodnog benda ili je to bio prirodan nastavak ranije započete priče?

Hteo sam nešto novo da probam, a sintisajzeri su mi to i omogućili. Totalno su me raspametili i gurnuli me u sasvim novi svet. Mislim da je to meni bilo sasvim prirodno, kao što sam sa pojavom prvih semplera morao sebi da nabavim jedan. To mi se isto dešavalo i sa kompjuterima. I dan danas me drži. Jednom rečju postao sam, i ostao, tehnološki zavisnik ili freak.

Moja priča o sintisajzerima kreće iz inata. Zadnji put kada smo se žestoko posvađali i odlučili da rasturimo EMZK, Amerikanac mi je objasnio da svako može da svira gitaru, ali sintisajzer... i ja odlučih da prodam gitaru i kupim sinti. Kupio sam dve Casio spravice, počeo da se igram i ideje su se rađale. U priču utrčavaju dva Gorana, dva moja dobra prijatelja iz detinjstva, Goran Veljković Gax (sinti) i Goran Radenković Radenko (ritam mašina) i krenemo sa radom. Napravimo par snimaka u studiju Radio Niša (Poslednji tango, Noć, Krug), pesme krenu da se vrte na radio talasima, a mi krenemo sa svirkama.

5. Bend Data (Bg) su u jednom intervjuu rekli kako su sintisajzere i drugu muzičku opremu posuđivali širom grada i kako su odlazaili u London da nabave potrebna muzička pomagala. Na koji način ste vi dolazili do opreme u to vrijeme? Gdje i koliko često ste odrzažali probe?

To je bila stvar dogovora. Hoćeš u grupu, e onda moraš da nabaviš sinti. A da li znas da sviraš? E, pa naučićeš se vremenom ;). Ja sam tako krenuo, a to je važilo i za ostale koji su se priključvali grupi. Niko od nas nije bio muziči potkovan (osim Srde) ali svi smo imali veliku želju i volju da nešto stvaramo i budemo deo nečega. Eto tako smo funkcionisali. Koliko se sećam imali smo probe uglavnom vikendom zbog obaveza sa školom. Od sintija smo u početku imali par Casio sprava, a kasnije smo nabacili Roland Juno 106, Roland Alpha Juno, Boss Dr 110, Yamaha DX 11, Casio CZ 101. Za snimanja smo uvek mogli da pozajmimo DX 7 i TR 707 od Vlade (Trivalia), Korg Polysix od Maneta (Fleke).