In the Age of Digital, These Filipino Punk Labels are Doubling Down on Vinyl, CDs, Cassettes

Vinyl has increased in popularity across the globe, accounting for nearly three-quarters of physical format revenue in 2024, according to Engadget. In the Philippines, two independent labels are helping pioneer this resurgence, particularly in the punk and hardcore music scene. 

Neither faddish nor opportunists, Still ill Records and Mutilated Noise Records are not only dedicated to putting out punk and hardcore music by local bands on vinyl, but also compact disc, and cassette. There are other independent labels scattered all over the country, but the aforementioned two have shown the way for not only other independent labels, but also major record companies that physical formats are here to stay.

Even at the height of the popularity of streaming and digital, Mutilated Noise and Still ill kept the faith; punk and hardcore music embody so much of the do-it-yourself ethos, where even “dying” mediums (at least in the eyes of the music industry) won’t stop anyone from getting things done.

With wider accessibility of the vinyl format today, with punk and hardcore labels increasingly embracing the raw, DIY ethic, a cursory look at back seller prices today of punk and hardcore bands will find titles fetching for a king’s ransom.

Relentlessly DIY

For Noel Francia (who also goes by Noel Punxia) of Mutilated Noise and Dangie Regala of Still ill, it meant a continuation of the format they listened to as kids.

Mutilated Noise, the record label, was a logical extension of Mutilated News fanzine, another format from punk music’s DIY culture,  that Punxia put out in 1988. Punxia’s first cassette — Biofeedback’s unrelenting rager, Hardtimes — was released in 1994.

“I was inspired by Twisted Red Cross [TRC],” said Mutilated Noise’s head honcho. TRC was a trailblazing label in the 1980s that put out all original music by Filipino punk bands on cassette. “Starting out with a cassette release was also paying tribute to TRC.”

During its five-year run from 1985 to 1989, TRC put out 17 cassette albums from Filipino punk bands like Dead Ends, Urban Bandits, Wuds, George Imbecile and the Idiots, Philippine Violators, Betrayed, I.O.V., R.D.A., and Deceased, aside from a couple of compilation albums. The music not only inspired future generations of bands, but they are also considered the “holy grails” of Filipino punk and hardcore music. 

Most of these releases have been reissued on vinyl over the last 10 years by various independent labels. But it was in this new millennium when Mutilated Noise found its stride by releasing four tapes, four LP records, seven 7” records, and a bunch of albums on compact discs.

Some of their releases have had a huge impact (new grails, if you will) — from The Jerks’ self-titled extended play featuring songs first played on DZRJ-AM in the early 1980s; the vinyl reissue of Betrayed’s classic Then and Now; Dead Ends’ Mamatay sa Ingay, and The Exsenadors’ incendiary extended play release, Kamatayan o Kalayaan. But more than the punk legends, Mutilated Noise also makes it a point to put out records from under-the-radar bands such as Naga’s The Class, as well as The Ericsons from Legazpi, Albay, just to name a few. 

Mutilated Noise is also a physical record shop located rather unobtrusively inside San Antonio Village, Makati It is the only one of its kind in the country – like a long lost cousin of New York’s punk and new wave venue CBGB, and when you enter, it feels rough around the edges in all the right places. It is a must go-to for fans of punk and hardcore — not just for the music, but for the vibe and how it looks and feels. 

“It isn’t about the profit,” clarified Punxia. “It’s about helping these underground bands be heard by more music fans.”

In Good Hands

And it is a costly endeavor. With the closing of the compact disc pressing plant F.A.S. during the pandemic, and local record pressing plants being obsolete since the 1990s, Mutilated Noise, Still ill, and other similar punk and hardcore labels go to the United States, Czech Republic, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to have their cassettes, CDs, and records made. While local punk and hardcore have occasional bestsellers, they are, at best, characterized as niche. But that doesn’t stop them.

Still ill Records is hell bent on putting out music from underground hardcore bands from all over the Philippines. Named after the song by The Smiths, one of the most important independent bands from the 1980s, the Still ill imprint owes its inspiration to American labels like Dischord and Revelation Records. Still ill is also a spin-off from another legendary label, Take Four Collective, which has put out some of the finest punk and hardcore classics this country has ever heard — from Feud’s Battling Bastards of Freedom; Half the Battle’s What We Have; Sauna’s Deeper It Goes, and Richard Collier’s For the Love of Death. 

“It is a love for the music,” says Still ill’s Regala. “Goal namin ay ipakita na buhay na buhay yung hardcore na eksena sa buong bansa,” pointed out Regala.

Unlike Mutilated Noise, Still ill opts for an online shop with their products promoted and sold via social media, and they’re more than held the fort down on their own. Since 2010, they have put out more than 40 releases; some collabs with fellow independent labels. Their Pilipinas Hardcore series – three volumes so far – is perhaps the best example of their goal of showcasing talent from all over the archipelago. 

Their latest release, Still Hostile, a collaboration with Cebu-based underground label, Hostile Youth, features bands from the Queen City of the South like Stab, Grip, Sift, Sephtis, and Nervineturbine — a testament that the level of talent outside the nation’s capital is rich and in capable hands. 

Other notable Still ill releases include the compilation album Movin’ Up Movin’ On, The Skeleton Years’ four extended play albums, Nonentities’ Autonimbus, the namesake album of Veils, Killratio’s Erehe, Barred’s Bloodstained Existence, and Badwave. 

Recently, Still ill has begun promoting live shows that feature visiting foreign bands. They are also collaborating with Mutilated Noise for an undisclosed project.

“Tuloy tuloy lang,” Punxia sums it up.