Ungulates (label)

Ungulates (stylized as ungulates) is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan and was officially established in 2017 by Kou Nakagawa.

Ungulates specializes in cassette tape, CD and vinyl record releases for emo, indie rock, hardcore, punk, and post rock independent artists in Japan.

As part of its philosophy to provide indie bands a means to reach a wider audience, ungulates also does digital distributions online, especially through bandcamp.

As well as being a label, ungulates also functions as an event and tour organizer in Japan for independent Japanese bands and foreign artists touring in Japan.

Also in line with its philosophy to enable independent musicians to expand their music cross-border, ungulates runs a distro distributing releases by independent bands from Japan and abroad and has collaborated with other independent labels from outside of Japan for split-album releases.

History
ungulates was first conceived in 2013 by Kou Nakagawa, the drummer of san visage, for the band Clayman Clayman. It derived its name from the hooves of the Okapi.

Event Bookings
In 2017, the label was revived as an event organizer for foreign indie bands touring in Japan.

That year, ungulates organized the Tokyo show of the Japan tour for the American hardcore band, Graf Orlock. The Australian artist, Sam Haven, also toured Japan under bookings by ungulates in the same year.

Adhering to its philosophy to provide opportunities to indie bands, ungulates continued organizing Japan tours for indie bands.

In 2018 alone, ungulates organized and hosted the tours of three bands from various countries. Starting with the joint tour for the American bands, Hemingway and Walter Etc. in March, and continuing with the Swedish shoegaze band, Mystery Language, in May, and finally capping off the year with a 6-show tour by the Malaysian emo punk band, Social Circuit, in November.

In 2019, ungulates organized the Japan tour for the New Zealand band, Carb on Carb.

Music label and distribution
A pivotal point for the label came in 2020, when due to a lull in the live music scene because of the COVID-19 pandemic, ungulates redirected its efforts to music releases instead, focusing on digital music and also small-scale production of albums on cassette tape and CDs.

In 2020, ungulates released its first digital release and the cassette tape version for the emo band, as a sketch pad, led by the Andy Schueneman of the American band, Worst Party Ever.

Since then, ungulates has continued to release both physical and digital albums, EPs and split albums for independent Japanese emo and indie rock bands such as downt, Kudaranai1nichi (くだらない1日), ANORAK!, togaru (とがる) and more,  and has become one of the leading independent labels at the forefront of the Japanese emo scene.

In addition to releases for Japanese bands, ungulates has also been involved in collaborative releases with independent labels in Asia and Europe.

In 2020, ungulates collaborated with 6 other independent record labels to release the vinyl of the Japanese version of the album Nya Slussen by the Swedish hardcore band, Det Är Därför Vi Bygger Städer. Also in 2020, ungulates, along with the Chinese label QIIISNACKS and the Taiwanese label, 22 Records, released the CD, 10-inch vinyl, cassette tape and digital version of the album HATE/LOVE by the Chinese hardcore band, Bennu is a Heron.

In 2021, ungulates collaborated with the label Tired Records in Singapore and KAT Records in Indonesia to release a 3-way split album with the bands Cue (from Singapore), Hulica (from Indonesia) and Kundaranai1nichi.

Other activities
Ungulates distributes its physical releases mainly through independent online stores and also through selected independent music stores around Japan. However, in order to help independent bands to reach a wider audience, ungulates does its digital releases mostly through bandcamp and music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music.

Notably, in 2022, two bands under ungulates, downt and Sonic Grandmother (音速ばばあ), performed in Fuji Rock Festival.

Artists
The following are artists with releases by ungulates:

Japanese bands

 * as a sketch pad
 * Shapeshifter
 * POINT HOPE
 * downt
 * Kudaranai1nichi (くだらない1日)
 * ANORAK!
 * togaru (とがる)
 * soccer.
 * Sonic Grandmother (音速ばばあ)
 * Injury Tape
 * Ayumi Nakamura
 * Curve
 * Lac(rima)
 * 7th Jet Balloon
 * Japanese Football
 * STARSHIP
 * Rasen.(らせん. )

Asian, European and North American bands

 * Det Är Därför Vi Bygger Städer (Sweden)
 * Bennu is a Heron (Taiwan)
 * Hulica (Indonesia)
 * Cues (Singapore)

Releases
The following are releases by ungulates: