Now you can order ATF long sleeves from DTE Records
Shirts come in size S, M, L
Front design by 072 of Disturd
Sleeves design by Riki ATF

An anti-war and anti-military themed release. 
All music and lyrics written and recorded during six practice sessions, Spring 2021 in San Francisco, California.
Bosna '93 originally by Proces- Beirut '83 ( Proces / Stengte Dorer - splitt EP, X-port 004)

Listen at https://nekropolisiluzija.bandcamp.com

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.