TunaShark: Crossing the Atlantic to Make a Splash in Georgia’s EDM Scene
The electronic dance music (EDM) scene in Georgia is infamous for being awesome, in the classical understanding of the word. It offers a safe haven to many of the marginalized minorities to express themselves, as well as an escape route for anyone looking to break from the notoriously conservative cultural norms and expectations of the country. It is a social movement fighting for change and a more tolerant society. Be it as participant or performer, Tbilisi’s nightlife has drawn in many a local and foreigner alike. TunaShark, duo Jack Hub Hubbell and Saba Iordanishvili, took the unconventional route of coming back from America to become a part of Georgia’s unique social revolution.
Tell us about your background, how you met, and what you do
Saba: We met at a computer art class at Denison University in Ohio, where we were both stu-dying. At the time, I was in a band playing the bass guitar, and in the second year we got Hub to join us on the lead vocals and guitar; we played together until the end of college, and we also lived together for our final two years.
Hub: Right now we’re mostly just writing songs. It’s difficult to pigeonhole the exact genre of our tracks, but definitely it falls under the umbrella of EDM. We’re exploring a variety of different styles within EDM, so it’s difficult to put a label on it just yet; it’s hard to tell what’s what these days.
Why Georgia?
Hub: Our time together in that band during college saw some of the best moments of my life, and I think I just kept on chasing that. Initially, we started collaborating online: I’d send Saba something, he’d send something back and we’d put it together and play around with it on Logic or Apleton. We’d make tracks just like that, but they weren’t very cohesive; back then, we were even more scattered about our genre.
Eventually, I was just like “this isn’t good enough; I want to be a part of this in a more holistic manner”. I’d seen this documentary about Berlin in the 1980s, which reminded me of Tbilisi today, and it spoke to me. I thought that I could live like that, that we could be in the same room again combining our creative energies working on these tracks together. It was really just about our friendship and our mutual love of music that brought me back to Georgia.
Where did the name TunaShark come from?
Hub: The name actually came from a playlist that Saba was making. I liked it a lot because it’s a playful name and we really don’t want to take ourselves too seriously.
What are your impressions of the Georgian music scene? How would you compare and contrast it with what you have/had in the US?
Saba: For the kind of music that we make, the situation in Georgia is perfect. The music scene here and the one in the US are completely different. What they lack is a proper electronic culture; I mean they do have many good artists, but it’s not really popular.
Hub: Exactly. It’s not that underground electronic music doesn’t exist in America: some of the best artists have come from the US. Unfortunately, it’s just very spread out and hard to reach the people. This isn’t something that the internet can spread to the masses because you really have to go to an awesome club to get the full experience and there just aren’t enough underground clubs there.
Saba: In Georgia, on the other hand, we pretty much only have electronic music, though now that’s changing too. We’re starting to get more concerts, more live bands- rock, jazz, et cetera -but not nearly as much as in the US.
Hub: I really miss going to jazz clubs or rock concerts on the weekends. You just can’t do that here: it’s only techno!
And how does that reflect on the competition that you’re dealing with here?
Saba: I really don’t see it as competition; it’s more people working together towards a shared goal. One big family, if you will. The fact is that you can’t make a lot of money out of it, even out-side Georgia; few do and become crazy rich and famous. So I think that that has a lot to do with the cooperative spirit here.
Hub: There definitely is a huge difference. Stateside, bands can get really competitive and hostile with each other — it’s very much an “us vs. them” mentality. Here, it’s the opposite: one big community of musicians looking after each other, and that’s beautiful. I don’t think that anyone is trying to get famous, especially in the electronic scene; it’s not about that. From what I’ve seen, in Georgia it’s more about the experience: capturing a moment of time in some kind of orb that you can just hold and look at and enjoy. It isn’t about crushing your competition, and preventing others from enjoying success. So in it’s own right, the music scene in Georgia is more of a social movement, a way for people to express themselves.
As a Georgian man, Saba, do you experience any cultural conflicts or prejudice as a result of being involved with EDM? Is there a negative image associated with it, a form of cultural subversion if you will?
No, definitely not. Everyone in my family and all my friends support it. It isn’t looked at as a form of cultural subversion; I think it’s the opposite. In Georgia everyone loves music.
That said, where do you see yourselves in the near future ? What are your goals?
Saba: Our first goal, and will see where we go from there, is to have 10 or more top quality tracks that we really like, in a more or less similar style. This would gives us a platform to start performing at clubs or festival. What happens after that, we’ll see.
Hub: Another short term goal that I’d add is to move to away from the computer a little bit more. We’ve been working on that, ordering a new synth that I’m really excited about. More live music and less DJ-ing: instruments, synths, analogues, drum machines, things like that. We’re slowly working towards acquiring all the necessary equipment to be able to do that and wean ourselves off the laptop.
Máté Földi