8 Essential Producers From Tbilisi’s Electronic Underground

Coverage of the exciting rave scene emerging in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, often revolves around the mammoth local club Bassiani; we published our own feature on the techno temple last year. Yet as we learned in the course of creating a photo tour of the city’s other clubs and nightlife venues, there’s a legion of house and techno heads soldiering just under the radar to make their scene one of the most fertile in the world. In the interest of deepening our knowledge of the Georgian underground, we tapped a native producer—Gacha, who has returned to the R&S sub-label Apollo under his first and last name, Bakradze—to give us a rundown of some of his most respected contemporaries.

Nika Machaidze

https://youtu.be/jzw5eRQj1qY

Nika Machaidze was one of the first musicians to start making ambient music in Georgia. He’s also a composer and a filmmaker, and he’s best known for his electronic music projects Nikakoi and Erast. He started making electronic music in the mid ’90s in Tbilisi. There was no electricity, the country had little food and the economic situation was at an all-time low. His music captured the mood of this period. I’m really proud that I had the opportunity to release his latest EP, Raise Your Head And Smell The Air, on my label Transfigured Time.

Natalia Beridze

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOpcUdNmFnY

Natalia Beridze’s music is really touching—she’s no doubt one of the most interesting musicians in Georgia right now. Sadly, I missed her live performance at Tbilisi’s SOU Festival as I was playing somewhere else, but hopefully I’ll get a chance to hear her live in the future. She’s collaborating with artists such as Japanese composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, German techno producer Thomas Brinkmann and the film director Nika Machaidze. I’m happy that we’ve also had a chance to work together on multiple projects. Natalie released the album Guliagava last year on German label Monika Enterprise.

Ana Jikia

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Ana Jikia is an artist based in Berlin whose sound is influenced by post-internet culture. She’s sincere in what she’s doing. I think a lot about trying to make art using inspiration from digital media and the internet.