Independent hardcore music. Uncompromising noise. Breakcore to the point of being obnoxious. Questionable decisions.
Deformat is an independent record label specializing in breakcore, gabber, hardcore, noise, IDM, and other forms of hard and experimental electronic music.
What began as a symbol for distributing music amongst friends eventually grew into an online label, a community, and an extension of an underground electronic music culture that had little interest in doing things properly.
Born out of the DIY spirit of the early 2000s, Deformat has always been about making music, sharing it, and giving artists a vessel to put things that might not fit in the mainstream.
After years of activity, a long silence, and more than a decade away, Deformat is back.
Deformat
Deformat began as a symbol, or sigil, used to release various tapes and CD3s by John Merrik. He used that unnamed symbol to release his own and later even his friends’ music.
These early releases were informal, physical, and just to get the music out into the world.
By the mid-2000s, Deformat had evolved into a mostly online record label focused on breakcore and harder electronic music. Releases were distributed through the internet, music communities, and peer-to-peer networks such as slsk.
For approximately eight years, Deformat released music, collaborated with artists… and then it fell silent.
Ihatebreakcore.com
The music we love to hate.
Alongside Deformat was ihatebreakcore.com, a website and community started by John Merrik.
Originally emerging from the breakcore rooms and communities on slsk, ihatebreakcore was created as an alternative to the increasingly conventional and mainstream online music forums of the time. A way to get off MySpace and share more than we could with slsk’s p2p.
It became a gathering place for misfit producers, musicians, and (unfortunate) listeners of breakcore. Absolutely the most mental people from around the world.
It was anarchy as a website.
The community was deliberately irreverent, uncensored, argumentative, and often completely ridiculous. Contests for music, posting of samples, trading of (totally legit and legal) software, playing pranks on other forums, arguing about “music”, and generally causing trouble.
It was a place where bedroom producers could share their work without worrying about industry expectations, commercial appeal, or whether what they were making was particularly accessible.
But it wasn’t just a place to talk shit.
The website developed into a substantial resource for independent electronic music, with dedicated areas for sharing music, discussing production techniques, exchanging samples, and even making a few VSTs. There were tutorials, contests, giveaways, independent releases, and plenty of other stupidity.
Deformat and ihatebreakcore became closely intertwined. The label provided an outlet for music coming from the community, while the website provided the people, ideas, and culture that helped it grow.
The forum eventually slowed down, as communities migrated elsewhere and the internet changed. But the site and its archives remain a record of that period and the people who made it what it was.
It was never particularly respectable, and that was rather the point.
Goals
Deformat has always specialized in hard music.
Breakcore, gabber, hardcore, speedcore, noise, IDM, experimental electronics, and whatever else happens to fall somewhere in between.
Genres are useful for finding things, but they have never been particularly important to us. What matters is the music itself.
The original idea remains largely unchanged:
- Give independent artists somewhere to release their music.
- Encourage experimentation and creative freedom.
- Support music that exists outside conventional commercial expectations.
- Preserve the DIY approach to making, distributing, and sharing music.
- Keep things interesting, unpredictable, and occasionally unpleasant.
- ALWAYS provide a way to access that music for FREE.
Deformat is not particularly interested in chasing trends or fitting into a particular scene. The intention has always been to release music because of its need to be expressed.
And hopefully, it always will be that way.
Future Plans
After more than a decade of silence, Deformat began releasing music again in 2025, returning with John Merrik’s Deformat EP.
The catalogue has since started growing again, with new releases, compilations, and contributions from artists both old and new.
There is also an interest in returning to physical formats. The original CD3s and tapes were part of Deformat’s beginnings, and something is appealing about bringing that approach back. CDs, tapes, vinyl, DVD, VHS, and other unusual formats all have their place… and they will find their way there.
Beyond that, there isn’t a grand roadmap.
Deformat will continue to release music, support independent artists, and explore whatever strange directions seem worthwhile. Some things will be planned, others will probably happen for no particularly good reason.
Deformat is back.
Praise be to Hastur, the Yellow King.