Hella Pinay: Icons

Some artists make music. Some build entire worlds.

We’re joined by Kimmortal—a Filipino Canadian artist, musician, and longtime Hella Pinay icon whose work moves between hip hop, punk, and everything in between. Their practice is rooted in community, DIY ethics, queerness, and an interdisciplinary approach that brings together music, visuals, and performance.

Steph & Guerrilla catch up with Kimmortal on working through shame, coming to peace with their colonized Christian upbringing, and returning to their DIY roots. We get into touring and connecting with fans around the world, making art outside the PR filter, and what it means to know you’re a star without needing anyone else to validate it.

We also dive into Filipino musical forms like budots and ragatak, connecting with Filipino communities across the diaspora, and Kimmortal’s upcoming collaboration with legendary budots producer DJ Love. 

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ioYxkShKhYOKpQh0ERVFS?si=jzgJT26HQOSXSiP-kaXkjg

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@kimmortaltheartist

Follow: Kimmortal: https://www.instagram.com/kimmortaltheartist/

Read more about budots: https://www.ctm-festival.de/magazine/2026/post-budots-mutation-diffusion-and-vernacular-futures

K.I.T. xoxo 

IG: @hella_pinay 

hellapinay.com

What does it mean to hold multiple selves—and multiple histories—at once?

We’re joined by itcallsme i—a Stockholm-based Filipina artist emerging as a mysterious three-part entity: it, me, and i. Their debut EP CHARCOAL builds a dark, immersive world through left-field electronica, where obsession, devotion, self-destruction, and survival all collide.

Grounded in Filipino heritage and drawing from underground club culture, their sound feels both ancestral and future-facing—an intimate and unsettling reclamation of a history often erased, but still alive in the sound.

Steph & Guerrilla get into the process behind the project, navigating identity across cultures, and building a layered world of selves—including i, the mysterious human architect behind it all.

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/6vhm56QTNFdsW3XUbeVG4P?si=qBVH0IifRgqgPp4x6a5jsA

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@itcallsmei

Follow: itcallsme i: https://instagram.com/itcallsmei

K.I.T. xoxo

IG: @hella_pinay

hellapinay.com

What does it mean to tell stories that actually shift culture?

For our first guest, we sit down with Sarah Burke—journalist, filmmaker, and former editor-in-chief of Them, Condé Nast's LGBTQ+ publication. From her time as special projects editor at VICE—where she built The Gender Spectrum Collection and co-created Transnational, a Peabody and GLAAD award-winning docuseries on trans rights around the world—to leading one of the most influential queer media platforms in the country, Sarah has spent her career amplifying nuanced LGBTQ+ narratives on a global scale.

Born and raised on O’ahu, queer, and mixed Filipino, Sarah spills the behind-the-scenes tea on navigating imposter syndrome, the politics of brand safety in queer media, and what it takes to build work that actually reflects—and moves—the world we live in.

K.I.T. xoxo
IG: @hella_pinay
hellapinay.com

Why are we calling the show “icons” and what makes someone iconic? Steph & Guerrilla reunite in the studio to kiki on the state of Filipino representation, our renewed vision for the Hella Pinay brand, the importance of the creative underground, and of being your authentic self in these trying times. Also, we definitely had wine for lunch. 

K.I.T. xoxo

IG: @hella_pinay

hellapinay.com