29. 5. 2014. Nightclubbing: Belgrade’s Industria Was The Soundtrack to the Bosnian War in the ’90s | Red Bull Music Academy

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Nightclubbing: Belgrade’s Industria Was The Soundtrack to the Bosnian War inthe ’90s

By Vuksa Velickovic

20.12.2013 opinion

belgrade

nightclubbing

vuksa velickovic

29. 5. 2014. Nightclubbing: Belgrade’s Industria Was The Soundtrack to the Bosnian War in the ’90s | Red Bull Music Academy

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Vuksa Velickovic tells the story of how, as war raged around them, one Serbian club became more and morewild.

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You’ve probably heard it already: Belgrade is Eastern Europe’s “ultimate party destination.” Unlike the“over-polished” Prague or Budapest, it is a place beaming with “realness” and subcultural flair, its nightlife

apparently closer to that of Berlin than Bucharest. But it would be unfair to reduce the Serbian capital’sreputation solely to the media hype of Lonely Planet and New York Times articles. Some twenty years ago,

in times of violence and political repression, Belgrade was as much of a party haven as it is today. Only backthen, it was a different kind of party.

Much of the story about Serbian clubbing boils down to one name: Industria. It was the club that defined a

generation of Belgrade youth and permeated the consciousness of every party-goer that roams the city today.However, it was the socio-political context – alongside some hard-boiled techno and a few flamboyant

characters that made it a very special place indeed. The days when bullets were fizzing around in nightclubs,and gangs of thugs adorned in gold chains patrolled the streets will be remembered as some of the darkest in

recent Serbian history. Oddly enough, in a bizarre interplay of urban idiosyncrasies, they were alsoBelgrade’s most extravagant.

At the peak of Milosevic’s power, Industria was opened.

A bit of background: In 1994, Serbia is run by Slobodan Milosevic and his oligarchic entourage with thegenerous help of the military, contract killers and gangsters. The country is not officially at war, but it sends

troops mixed of conscripts and paramilitary divisions to neighbouring Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia.Sarajevo is effectively under siege and the Srebrenica massacre is less than a year away. Internally, the

government is wrestling with the largest economic inflation in Europe since 1930’s Germany; amidst UNsanctions and international isolation, petrol is sold on the black street market, as is pretty much everything

else.

The regime keeps a tight grip on the national media through a network of fabrication and lies, and aside fromthe official propaganda, the cultural landscape is dominated by “turbo folk” – a hybrid music genre mixed up

of Balkan folk, soft porn and fantasies of glamour, providing an artistic backbone to the regime’s nationalistideology. It seemed as if decades of Belgrade’s vibrant urban culture have been swept away. The same year,

at the peak of Milosevic’s power, Industria was opened.

29. 5. 2014. Nightclubbing: Belgrade’s Industria Was The Soundtrack to the Bosnian War in the ’90s | Red Bull Music Academy

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After a bleak first season, new management took over and put the club on its feet. The “Cosmic” residence

on Thursday nights, pioneered by DJs Boza Podunavac, Gordan Paunovic and Vladimir Janjic, featured a

sophisticated blend of acid house and early techno, pretty much unimaginable in Belgrade up until then. If the

competing Soul Food club around the corner was catering to the softer, funk crowd, Industria bercame therefuge for a more courageous clientele.

If you were a regular, coming to the club was no different then arriving home to your living room.

It had everything you would expect from a world-class underground club. Situated in a basement of a large

city bookshop, the 400-strong venue was just about the perfect size, never too big or too small, scarcely

decorated, with pulsating stroboscopes, a banging soundsystem and a cozy lounge area. If you were aregular, coming to the club was no different then arriving home to your living room. Especially on a Sunday

night. It also boasted one of the most charismatic door people in the history of clubbing: Loona Loo, today a

well-known Belgrade TV journalist, whose cult status within the Industria’s provenance was only surpassed

by the legendary “baba sera” (literally, “shit granny” – the old lady who’d supply additional toilet paper in thebathroom to needy clubbers).

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Loona Loo After two steady seasons, in 1997, a younger, more energetic crowd was about to step in. And

they needed a heavier sound. Kids brought up on a hefty diet of turbo folk and nationalist propaganda, were

switching to hardcore techno. Teenage Techno Punks, a DJ duo made up of Marko Nastic and DejanMilicevic who were yet to reach their drinking age at the time, quickly developed a cult following.

For the first time in Belgrade, 18-year olds were playing music for 18-year olds. Nastic’s straight-forward

4/4 techno set the pace for the city’s early electronic scene, while his technical competence in mixing earnedhim a God-like status in the eyes of fellow teenagers squeezed around the decks, following their idol’s every

move in sacred devotion. Around this time, the parties were ending at 6 or 7 in the morning and Industria’s

energy was soon to be channeled through the city’s repeating mantra of harder, faster, stronger.

Industria was the meeting point, a breeding ground if you wish, which could have turned your every all-nighter

into an act of political resistance.

While escapism was part of Milosevic’s package, one should not underestimate the political potential of

Belgrade’s youth. After all, the city created a public disobedience model for all subsequent revolutions to this

day from Ukraine to Egypt – initially through three months of continuous protest in the autumn of 96-97 and,

finally, in October 2000 when Milosevic himself was toppled. One of the most exciting things about Otpor –

the student movement that proved instrumental in bringing down the regime – was the fact that its creative

pool was not comprised of political managers but restless, creative spirits who popped pills on weekendnights. For many of them, Industria was the meeting point, a breeding ground if you wish, which could have

turned your every all-nighter into an act of political resistance.

On the other hand, style and social leverage were always more important for the Belgrade youth than being

part of any political agenda or cultural movement. That’s partially the reason why Industria never lived up to

its political promise. After 1998, the atmosphere in the club started to change. Some of the frequent guests

were not only Belgrade’s future officials, artists and independent-media personas, but increasingly, dubious,

grim characters.

29. 5. 2014. Nightclubbing: Belgrade’s Industria Was The Soundtrack to the Bosnian War in the ’90s | Red Bull Music Academy

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Industria opened its doors for the last time in 1999, the same year NATO bombed Serbia for almost three

months. Belgrade was under curfew and drones were hitting targets in the city centre. DJ Vadim of Ninja

Tune had to cut a gig short and play an encore the following day because of chronic power shortages. An

apocalyptical mood was descending upon the country. When the chief of Milosevic’s special secret police

units started frequenting the club and waving his gun out of amusement at teenagers, it become clear the party

was over. A year later, both the regime and Industria would be assigned to the annals of history.

When the chief of Milosevic’s special secret police units started frequenting the club and waving his gun out of

amusement at teenagers, it become clear the party was over.

As journalist Vojislav Tufegdzic noted in his 1995 book Crime That Changed Serbia, Belgrade in the ’90s

“epitomised Chicago of the ’20s, the economic crisis of Berlin of the ’30s, the intelligence intrigues of

Casablanca of the wartime ’40s, and a cataclysmic hedonism of Vietnam of the ’60s.” Milosevic himself ruledwith a combination of iron fist and a certain authoritarian permissiveness perhaps most reminiscent of the

Roman emperors. As long as his own power was not questioned, he allowed you to play as much as you

wanted. But unlike some of the more flamboyant Neros and Caligulas, he would rarely step into the public,

preferring to command from the TV screen like a true Orwellian character. Ubiquitous, but nowhere to be

seen. He’d also let you imagine that everything you did – even dancing – was subversive.

After the regime was ousted, there was little left for subversion. Corporate money started rolling into Serbian

clubbing, and the management of Industria decided it was time to move on. The club lived through oneunsuccessful attempt at reanimation, and that was it.

In the meantime, Belgrade’s dance scene succumbed under the wave of sponsored entertainment and mass

benders of all sorts. The city at last became “the ultimate party destination” everyone was talking about, at

least in the eyes of the western tourist, fascinated by the endless strip of riverboat clubs and access to

beautiful women. But Belgrade’s underground nightlife – the one that once spelled more than a Friday night

29. 5. 2014. Nightclubbing: Belgrade’s Industria Was The Soundtrack to the Bosnian War in the ’90s | Red Bull Music Academy

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binge – has been in a steady decline over the last several years. Some say the city has lost its flair, but

everybody will tell you it can always spark when least expected. Maybe it’s time to start over again.Belgrade’s urban culture is ripe for a renaissance. Or even better, a revolution. It’s never too late.

Image credit: Srdjan Veljovic

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