Scowl’s Kat Moss on Activism & Industry Struggles: “We Need to Be Diligent About Questioning These Things”

Melodic hardcore outfit Scowl has faced its share of skepticism from the hardcore community. Back in 2023, the band directly addressed accusations of being an “industry plant,” standing firm against the criticism. While high-profile opportunities—such as collaborations with Taco Bell and a performance at Coachella—helped expose them to broader audiences, they also fueled skepticism from purists.

However, Scowl has remained politically and socially active, holding firm to their punk and hardcore ideals. In 2024, the band withdrew from SXSW due to sponsorship involvement from the U.S. Army and a private military contractor, citing ties to Israel and the war in Gaza. They later dropped off ‘Welcome To Rockville‘ for similar reasons.

Their activism extended to last year’s Download Festival, where they pulled out due to Barclays’ sponsorship, citing the bank’s financial ties to Israel. Instead, the band played a benefit show supporting Palestinian victims of the conflict.

In a recent interview with Kerrang!, vocalist Kat Moss opened up about the challenges of navigating the music industry while staying true to their principles.

“Art for me is really important, and I want that to take precedence—within reason. But I also need to be alive and functioning. It can be exhausting to exist in that space at times, and reckoning with it feels impossible.”

Two songs from Scowl’s upcoming album, Are We All Angels—”Cellophane” and the title track—explore the downsides of consumerism and capitalism. Moss reflected on the pressures of content creation as a musician:

“I never wanted to be a content creator. I didn’t want that job, but that is a part of this job, unfortunately, with the state of how the music industry works. And that’s hard. But I’m still doing something I want to do so much. This is what my dreams are made of, but my dreams are made of also having to post on TikTok…”

Expanding on her frustrations with the industry’s consumer-driven nature, she added:

“We’re subjected to it and victimized by it by design. I was struggling so much with being perceived and consumed and being this item for entertainment at times. I don’t like being possessed. I don’t like being owned.”

Moss also spoke on broader systemic oppression, particularly in relation to capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy:

“It sucks to be a victim of these systems of abuse. It sucks to be a woman in America. I can only imagine how scary and painful it is to be a Black woman in America, or a trans woman. Those things are so pertinent and fucking intense and terrifying and real. To a degree, I have to accept that I don’t have control over the narrative that is being fed about me, or these systems. I kind of have to fly through it a little bit.”

She emphasized the need for awareness and resistance:

“We need to be diligent about questioning these things and not being fucking sleeper cells about it. But on a greater scale, we need to look around us and question these systems and recognize how we’re being abused and how our narrative is being mutilated. Let that exist and honor that, but also go fucking fight.”

Despite backlash from some corners of the hardcore community, Moss believes Scowl remains true to the genre’s ethos, even as their sound evolves.

“It’s so important for me, personally and for this band, to practice this radical expression, whether that’s writing breakdowns and two-step parts, or writing choruses and poppy bubblegum hooks. We’re going to do it, whether people like it or not, because it’s personal. I love hardcore, but it’s not my prerogative, and I’m okay with that. I think that, in and of itself, is very hardcore, on the ethos side of things.”

She continued:

“We want to consistently embody a hardcore mindset, to whatever degree is possible. But also, I love music as a whole. It’s not just about punk and hardcore for me. Music and art are so vital to my existence, so why wouldn’t I honor that?”

Are We All Angels arrives April 4th. Read the full interview at Kerrang!

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