When Scowl released Are We All Angels back in April 2025, the Santa Cruz band proved that they were ready to expand well beyond the conventional hardcore scene.
As a group that walked the line of what could be considered “hardcore” ever since their 2019 inception and was (often unjustly) scrutinized by the historically picky genre’s fanbase, Scowl’s sophomore album was a catchy alternative masterpiece that opened themselves up to a much wider audience than even their acclaimed Psychic Dance Routine EP.
In many ways, the progression makes total sense. Vocalist Kat Moss quickly blossomed into one of rock’s biggest rising stars over the last few years, and Scowl has shown its ability to blend heavy riffs with pop-leaning melodies time and time again. The quartet has seemed destined for greatness beyond any subgenre labels the same way that Turnstile has broken into the mainstream.
Now it’s Scowl’s opportunity to show the world that they’re ready for the mainstream limelight by hitting major multi-genre festivals around the world (as well as hardcore and rock festivals like Sound & Fury and Aftershock) ahead of their fall headlining tour with Sunami.
Hit Parader caught up with Moss and drummer Cole Gilbert to chat about the success of the new album, the evolution of hardcore, and more.
Hit Parader: What made you want to go such a different direction on Are We All Angels?
Kat Moss: It’s one of those things that I think all of us mutually agreed on for a long time. We didn’t want to create something that was average — not to say that we think we’re above average or something, but more of a perspective of doing something that feels different to us both internally and sonically. We wanted to create a space for people who are seeking something that’s a little bit more unorthodox when it comes to the hardcore world and punk music.
HP: How has it felt to see the hardcore scene expand and explore new sounds over the last handful of years thanks largely to bands like Scowl?
Cole Gilbert: It’s awesome. I feel very proud of the people getting out there with their music, but I’m even more proud that it’s so much more accepted now. Just 10 years ago, you had bands like Title Fight and Ceremony exploring new sounds, and people were posting online that they were smashing their CDs when Hyperview and The L-Shaped Man came out. People were like “How could you? You’re not playing a circle pit part anymore! You’re not playing a blast beat anymore! What’s going on?” That was silly to me at the time, and I think it’s something that’s always been there, but it’s just more socially acceptable within our world now to experiment. The whole point of making music is expressing your creativity, and the whole point of hardcore is to not follow the rules, so it’s like “What are we doing here?”
KM: The least surprising thing to do is something polarizing in a subculture that is built on polarization.
HP: What’s it like to play some of these massive pop festivals recently in addition to the more traditional rock and hardcore fests?
KM: It’s really fun to be the band where when other artists or the crowd at a big festival see us, they’re like “What the fuck is this?” Then we walk into a hardcore festival and everyone’s like “Oh yeah, you guys again.” It’s fun to have that experience, and I like that we don’t sit comfortably anywhere. The festivals themselves are really fun for us because we all have such varied music tastes to begin with, so it really feeds the soul to be around all of these bands and artists from all over the place.
CG: We’re too hardcore for the poppy festivals, but we’re too poppy for the hardcore festivals, so we’re the odd ones out everywhere we go.
KM: I get a kick out of us being the weirdos, but it also feels like a “weird flex” moment internally. I’m an adult and I have green hair, so it’s like “We get it. You’re weird, bro,” but there’s also this feeling that it’s very hardcore or punk to just claim our weirdness and own it anywhere we go.
HP: Aside from the festivals, you’ve also done some major touring over the last few years, from opening stadium shows to headlining tours. Has anything unexpected changed as the stages have gotten bigger?
KM: Well, it’s gratifying and rewarding for sure, but it’s also like “Damn, my back hurts now!” We’re grateful and it’s fucking awesome, but it also wears on your body to play longer sets and be on the road all the time. We’re getting served the punk pie right now in that we flew close to the sun and now we’re feeling the heat. It gets pretty exhausting, but it’s like when you go to the gym and feel the sweat. It can be hard and dirty, but I’m really grateful on a personal level because I think we’re all growing up in a really beautiful and interesting way with each other through it all.
CG: A lot of it has been moving so fast that it’s hard to even recognize some of the things that we’ve done as a band, so we’ve just been doing our best to mind our P’s and Q’s the whole time. It still feels like we’re that same band from five years ago, even through all of this. We’re still working as hard as ever, and I don’t think we’ve even begun to reach the point where we can look back and enjoy the fruits of our labors. We can see how far we’ve come, but we’re still climbing.
HP: What else would you like to see for Scowl in the future?
KM: It’s funny, because we’re all thinking about that for the first time now. We’re all in our late 20s and early 30s, and finding balance in life is a lot harder and a very different definition than when the band started. Ideally, it’d be nice to just put out more and better music. I just want to keep writing music that feels good and gratifying and like it speaks to all of us on a really deep level. That and playing shows that have insane energy is all I ask. I don’t give a fucking shit if we’re making that much money or if we’re a big band. I just want to play really fun shows and feel like we’re making really good music for ourselves and for the people who care. Stripping it all down has been so good for me, because I was really obsessed with wanting to do this and this and this and this for a long time. Now, it’s not hard to make me happy. I don’t want to make it complicated. I just want to have fun and feel good.
CG: We’ve come way farther than I ever thought we would, so everything else is just a cherry on top. I want to take it as far as it can go. If it gets bigger? Cool. If we’re right here and it stays here? Cool.
KM: I’ll go bag groceries again if I need to, but I still want to go on tour for two weeks at a time. I’ll do whatever I need to do, but I just want to be happy and have fun and for everyone to be healthy and taking care of really baseline shit. I experienced some grief this year, and it made me really think about life on a much larger scale. I realized that I don’t need a lot from this. I just want to be happy, safe, healthy and experience love through this whole thing. Maybe I sound like a hippie, but it’s really not any more complicated than that.
