East Duo Found the Loudest Way to Talk About War
Punk Head: Chumi means "silent," but the track comes from a very loud and chaotic reality. What drew you to silence rather than intensity?
East Duo: The world around us often responds to tragedy with noise - headlines, opinions, arguments, and constant information. But when we thought about the impact of war, what stayed with us wasn’t the noise itself. It was the silence that comes afterward.
The silence left in homes, in families, and in the lives of people who have lost someone. We felt that silence carried more emotional weight than intensity ever could. Rather than trying to express conflict directly, we wanted to explore what remains when the conflict is over - the silence, the grief, and the absence it leaves behind.
For us, Chumi became a way of giving space to that feeling. Sometimes the quietest moments carry the deepest emotions, and this piece was our attempt to translate that silence into music.
Punk Head: Chubina was born from an iPhone recording and ended up on global charts. Has that story changed your relationship with perfection?
East Duo: Absolutely. Chubina taught us that perfection is often overrated. At the time, we didn’t have ideal conditions, professional equipment, or a carefully planned process. We simply focused on expressing an emotion as honestly as possible with the tools we had.
When that recording connected with millions of people around the world, it reminded us that listeners respond to sincerity more than perfection. Of course, we always strive to improve and grow as musicians, but we’re not obsessed with making everything flawless.
What matters most to us is whether a piece feels genuine. Chubina showed us that an honest emotion captured at the right moment can travel much further than something technically perfect but emotionally empty.
Punk Head: Many artists respond to conflict with protest songs. Why did an instrumental feel like the right response for you?
East Duo: With Chumi we weren’t trying to make a political statement or tell people what to think. We were responding to a human feeling that exists beyond politics, language, or borders.
Instrumental music felt like the most honest way to express that. When words are involved, people often focus on specific messages or interpretations. By removing lyrics, we wanted to create space for listeners to bring their own emotions and experiences into the music.
The feeling of loss is universal. You don’t need to speak a particular language to understand grief, absence, or remembrance. An instrumental allowed us to communicate those emotions in a way that feels open and personal to each listener.
In many ways, Chumi is about the moments when words are no longer enough. Creating an instrumental felt like the most natural response to that idea.
Punk Head: Your arrangements feel minimalist, but the emotions are huge. How do you know when a piece has enough and when it needs less?
East Duo: We don’t really follow a formula. For us, it’s more about listening to what the piece is asking for. Sometimes a single melody can carry enough emotion on its own, and adding more elements would only distract from it.
As instrumental musicians, we rely on atmosphere, dynamics, and space as much as we rely on notes. Silence can be just as important as sound. If every moment is full, there is no room for the listener to breathe, process their emotions, or connect with the music in their own way.
We usually know a piece is finished when every element feels necessary and nothing is competing for attention. If removing something makes the emotion stronger, then it probably didn’t need to be there in the first place.
With Chumi especially, restraint was important. The emotions behind the piece are already powerful, so our goal wasn’t to make them bigger - it was to give them space to be felt.
Punk Head: Traditional folk music often carries collective memory. When you reinterpret those sounds in a modern, cinematic context, what parts of the tradition feel essential to protect and what parts invite reinvention?
East Duo: For us, the most important thing to protect is the emotional truth of the music. Georgian musical traditions carry centuries of history, resilience, and collective memory. Whether it’s the depth of traditional melodies, the spirit of mountain songs, or the emotional richness found throughout Georgian musical culture, these elements represent the experiences, memories, and identity of generations of people. They are part of who we are and where we come from, and preserving that connection is what makes the music meaningful.
At the same time, we don’t see tradition as something frozen in time. Every generation finds new ways to express its culture, and we believe reinvention is part of keeping that culture alive. Modern production, cinematic arrangements, and new textures allow us to present these influences in a way that can connect with today’s listeners around the world.
Our goal is not to change the essence of traditional music, but to create a new context for it. If we can preserve its emotional depth while allowing it to speak a contemporary language, then both tradition and reinvention can exist together naturally.
