What were the worst sounds?
Irena: For me, the worst was when the bomb on Straževica fell. The sirens were troublesome, also. Because they would warn you and you'd start anticipating what's going to happen. They were extremely uncomfortable. They would touch a nerve and actually inspire fear.
When the bomb fell on Straževica, it wasn't just a sound, everything shook from the impact. It was those vibrations. If the windows weren't open, glass would be flying everywhere.
You would also hear the airplaines flying overhead, cutting through the sky.
Was there any music that shaped this period? What did you listen to often?
Irena: We listened to Cocteau Twins. Kiza would switch the cassete sides. He would wake up and change the cassette with one eye open. Also, 'Heaven or Los Vegas'.
What do you think of the remaining ruins? What do you think should happen to them?
Irena: I think those ruins should be repurposed. It should have been renovated immediately, I don't think it should stay as a monument. That's ridiculous.
Seba: They could build a plaque monument in front of it.
What would you like people who don't know about the bombing to know?
Seba: You reap what you sow. If you sow bombs, that's what you're going to get. That's just the cosmic energy. 'Every twitch of the mind becomes a habit' (Darkwood Dub Lyric). But seriously, from that point of view the planet gets polluted. It doesn't matter how small the planet is, not at all. Doesn't matter whether it's in Europe. It's a shame that they let it happen. It's their disgrace. You know how much of it was set up.
Irena: Well, I wanted to mention what came after because of the polluted uranium. They sowed disease. That's rough. Back then those were just bombs and that ended quickly, and now we have the aftermath. NATO interjects itself in every country's business. As if they're a peace unit, but people know what it really is.
What is one of your most important memories of the time?
Irena: Seba went to get some things and I felt a wave of panic, who knows from where it seized me. I ran out onto the balcony, he was by the container and I shouted 'A bomb will fall on your head, get back inside!'. In that same moment the bomb on Straževica fell and I just saw a cloud in the shape of a mushroom. And I lost it. I started to run around hysterically and said 'Lets get out of here!'. Because I was expecting for it to continue on the same place, so I thought we had to leave.
The same night we went to Siniša. A few of us gathered there. At one point the air hazard siren announced itself, so we went to the shelter. We stayed there for barely a minute. When we saw how crowded it was inside, Seba began to panic. He said 'I'd much rather have a bomb fall on me, than the whole building'. So we returned upstairs. It was quite a sinister atmosphere.
Seba: It was that same dead end street on which I didn't know how to play football well. I couldn't play with the boys- so I played basketball. The girls played on their own. And then in that same street I went out and like a fata morgana, the bomb falls. In slow motion. I was watching it, you see, and I felt indifferent.