Documenting the Punk Underground in Tbilisi

My name is Alex Herbert, I am the author of What About Tomorrow An Oral History of Russian Punk from the Soviet Era to Pussy Riot, and Fear Before the Fall Horror Films in the Late Soviet Union. I am an academic historian and professional researcher, but I started out a punk.

I am going to Tbilisi, Georgia, to document the Russian punk diaspora that emerged with the onset of war, and I hope to produce a book from it.

Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukraine war, average working-class people in both countries have been put on the edge: if their city wasn’t being bombed, then they were being arrested for protesting or conscripted into the war. As a result, many Russian men fled their home country, seeking asylum in neighboring states that are relatively easy to travel to like Georgia and Kazakhstan.

Many of those who fled are prominent members of Russia’s punk scene in Moscow and St. Petersburg—people who I have personally interviewed in the past. As they fled to the small Caucasian state, they brought with them a desire to continue writing original music and performing in DIY venues. What has emerged is a fully-fledged scene that is forced to exist in a foreign space.

I am appealing to friends, friends of friends, acquaintances, family, and strangers for help.

Hence, I am asking many questions: What led people to flee? How did they get established? How did DIY venues emerge? What is their relationship with locals? How do locals perceive them? Do they stay in touch with people back home? Other questions include inquiries into the spreading of punk culture beyond music: restaurants, venues, and stores—what impact the diaspora has had in exporting culture in Georgia’s capital. Of course, the process is tied to the gentrification of the city, which will also be a topic explored.

Broader questions will examine what it means to be a part of an anti-establishment subculture outside of your own establishment, how the changing environment has impacted the music and performance, and what the scene represents to them. What role does punk play in geopolitics more broadly?

Documenting such a historical phenomenon is necessary for the global history of punk, and the history of Russian post-Soviet relations. I think punk can serve as a case study for understanding how certain ideas are exported and appropriated, and how new environments engender specific forms of ideational practice. If there were more time, I could apply for academic grants and funding opportunities, but unfortunately, those can take months to be decided, and they usually come with a whole bunch of restrictions on the duration of travel. I would like to circumvent academia for this project, and I believe now is the time to document what is going on, in the middle of its development, not after it fades.

In exchange for your financial support, I will put your name in the credits (if you want it to be). Other than that, it is difficult for me to promise any tangible items because I am not sure what form of media will emerge from this project. On the most basic level, I am sure that I will make a documentary. If any other forms of media come out related to the project—books, albums, or anything else—you will be the first to get access.

Below is an itemized list of estimated expenses:

1,700.00 Round trip flight Boston-Tbilisi.

700.00 Two weeks Airbnb.

300.00 (travel within the country—dependent on taxi).

500.00 high-resolution portable voice recorder.

400.00 Food/living expenses.

Total: 3,600

Special thanks to Jason from This Revolution Podcast for putting together a killer video for this <3