A Very Brief History of Punk in Chile
Crudo Soy zine traces the history of punk in Chile from the 1980s to modern day
Los Prisioneros Editor’s note: This piece originally appeared in Spanish in Crudo Soy zine. The author, Giovanni, contacted us about publishing an English translation on DIY Conspiracy. The rough translation has been lightly edited for clarity and updated with additional information.
On September 11, 1973, Augusto Pinochet’s far-right military junta seized power. After violently removing Salvador Allende under the promise of saving the country economically, Pinochet’s regime lasted until March 11, 1990. Around 3,500 people disappeared, more than 2,000 were executed, and thousands of political prisoners were tortured. From the murder of Víctor Jara in 1973 to the emergence of punk rock during the ’80s, Chilean protest music has a rich and bloody history worth exploring.
To begin, it is necessary to mention the geography of the country called Chile. Looking at a map of South America, you will find a long and narrow strip of land bordering Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia.
Note on Chile’s Geography
This geographical form is important to understanding how punk emerged in Chile. At the time covered here, the country was divided into 13 regions from north to south, each centred around its main cities. The central zone remained somewhat disconnected from the far north and south.
The capital, Santiago, lies in the middle, between the other major cities of Valparaíso and Concepción. Most punk bands, and much of the movement as a whole, were concentrated in this central area. Information about what was happening in other parts of the country circulated much less frequently.
For this reason, I want to apologize in advance if the information presented here is too narrowly focused on one part of Chile. Even today, with the internet at our disposal, it can be difficult to learn in detail about the punk movement that emerged across the entire country. Santiago contains more than half of Chile’s population, and the same concentration applies to its underground scenes.
The Early Years
The history of punk in Chile can be traced back to the early ’80s, in the middle of the military dictatorship. The first groups of young people connected to the subculture, however, were more closely associated with street rock and new wave than with punk music itself.
At the time, punk was more a matter of attitude: an angst-ridden youth filled with discontent and immediacy rather than musical aggression. The first “punk” gatherings in Santiago brought together people connected to the arts, from writers and poets to outcasts and upper-class misfits, along with one or two political activists.
It is worth remembering that, during the dictatorship, left-wing groups were depoliticized, persecuted, and physically eliminated, creating a deep generational gap. This went hand in hand with systematic censorship of music, film, and literature.
Standing on the margins between a growing underground rock movement and independent power pop was Los Prisioneros (The Prisoners), a street rock band influenced by The Clash, The Kinks, and other groups. In 1984, they released their first album, La Voz de los ’80 (The Voice of the ’80s).
A useful document showing how punk was perceived at the time is Gonzalo Justiniano’s film Guerreros Pacifistas from 1984. It also captures the emergence of Pinochet Boys, who gave the movement a genuinely underground identity.
Before moving on, it is also necessary to mention another band recognized as one of the true founders of punk in Chile: Los Dada, formed in 1980.
Around 1986 and 1987, the local punk scene finally started taking shape. More bands appeared, improvised venues began hosting shows, and the influence of punk from England and the United States became more clearly understood.
Where the Name Fiskales Ad-Hok Came From
The name Fiskales Ad-Hok came from a position within Pinochet’s dictatorship: the military prosecutor’s ad hoc role, held at the time by General Fernando Torres Silva. The band made its debut in 1987 at the first Biennial organized by Vicente Ruiz Underground. The event was a tribute to “TV Star,” the singer of Los Dada, who also gave Fiskales Ad-Hok their name.
Bands such as Índice de Desempleo, Los Jorobados, Vandalik, Fiskales Ad-Hok, Políticos Muertos, and many others began to cross-pollinate with the extreme metal scene. Chilean metal already had bands that would become recognized internationally, including Pentagram, Death Yell, Atomic Aggressor, Totten Korps, Belial, and Torture.
The exchange between metal and punk helped define the harder sound of Chilean punk bands, moving them away from new wave and pop influences and towards more extreme music. The scene began to catch up with the times and improve its sound. Bands increasingly settled into the classic punk lineup of guitar, bass, drums, and vocals, leaving keyboards and other unusual instruments behind.
Chilean Punk in the 1990s
The next wave of punk bands emerged between 1989 and the early ’90s. Among them were Anarkia, CNI, Los KK, Ecosidio, Los Miserables, Caos, and Ocho Bolas, along with others drawing from the same well as Entreklles, Los Morton, and Villalemanarock.
As the dictatorship came to an end, bands surfaced all over the country, and the urban myth of the punk as a violent, drunken troublemaker was born. Along with other misconceptions, this image of “the punk” became ingrained in Chilean society.
These prejudices were not entirely detached from reality, as the early ’90s were unstable years. Violence was common in the streets of Santiago, with fights between football hooligans, widespread alcoholism, and clashes between rival groups. In general, everything seemed lost for the punks. The growing movement had a rough time.
It is difficult to identify many notable records from that period. Most surviving material consisted of homemade recordings or live tracks from gigs. In fact, it took a long time to recover recordings by the oldest bands that can now be heard more easily.
It was not until 1994–1996 that the Chilean label Alerce released some of the first tapes in a decent format. Alerce was a left-wing label historically dedicated to popular music opposed to the dictatorship.
Some Early Punk Releases on Alerce
- Los Miserables – Futuro Esplendor
- BBS Paranoicos – Incierto Final
- Clásicos del Punk Chileno, two cassette volumes documenting early recordings by Los KK, Caos, Anarkia, and Ocho Bolas
Meanwhile, Fiskales Ad-Hok released their first work through Culebra Records, a subsidiary of BMG. Over time, the tape gained the status of a classic Chilean punk record.
During 1995 and 1996, an unknown number of punk rock and hardcore bands appeared, strongly influenced by the Spanish and Basque punk records distributed on cassette by Alerce. Kortatu and La Polla Records became part of everyday life for local punks, alongside other Spanish bands, especially Eskorbuto, and Argentine groups such as 2 Minutos, Flema, and Attaque 77. Peruvian bands including Narcosis and Leuzemia were important too.
Argentine bands had already been fortunate enough to release proper albums. The first band generally recognized in the rise of punk in Argentina was Los Violadores.
A small hardcore scene also began forming in the mid-’90s. It brought together people from different social classes and a wide range of influences, from New York hardcore and the Washington, DC scene to straight edge. This group also planted new political seeds within the scene.
Some of the bands from the first period of Chilean hardcore included Silencio Absoluto, Disturbio Menor, Alternocidio, Redención 911, Justicia Final, and Crisis Extrema, among many others.
Many of these bands were also heavily influenced by the Argentine hardcore scene, which was ahead of its time and had developed sounds and styles that influenced the whole South American underground, from punk and hardcore to experimental music, indie, post-hardcore, surf, garage, and beyond.
By the second half of the ’90s, as hardcore became more politicized, many punks became involved in issues such as antimilitarism, anarchism, the squatters’ movement, and other struggles.
Over the years, this helped shape what became known as anarkopunk, or anarchist punk. Vibrant during the final years of the ’90s and taking a more definite form at the beginning of the 2000s, Chile’s anarchist punk and hardcore scene built connections with similar communities in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, and Colombia. These countries already had rich experience with the almost symbiotic relationship between punk and radical politics.
New Beginnings
Bands such as Malgobierno and Sin Apoyo were among the most active participants in the radical and political hardcore punk movement.
At the turn of the century, several US bands, including Catharsis, Los Crudos, Fugazi, and Better Than a Thousand, played DIY shows in Chile. In 2003, the Spanish anarchist punk band Sin Dios also played two shows in Chile, helping revive interest in the history of the Spanish Revolution of 1936.
From then on, history kept writing itself. With the spread of disc-copying technology and greater exchange with the rest of the world, Chilean punk became almost too vast to chronicle.
This overview is therefore generalized and superficial. I am aware that I have rushed through thousands of details, as well as many bands and other important developments. I did not want to go too deep because there is enough material for an entire book, and several books about punk in Chile have already been published.
Today, almost everything can be found within the DIY scene. But if I have one criticism, it is that contemporary punk in Chile seems too enclosed within its own bubble. Very few bands are brave enough to send their message into the world through anything other than the internet.
Punk has a rich, decades-long history in Chile, but it already feels dated and unable to become a threat again. It has conformed to its own existence.
The author can be contacted at [email protected]
