Q&A: Scowl’s Kat Moss Reflects on “Psychic Dance Routine” EP and Empowering Femme Voices in Hardcore
HARDCORE MUSIC HAS ALWAYS BEEN SYNONYMOUS WITH – raw emotion, defiance, and vulnerability, and Scowl continues to prove that their voice in the scene is as powerful as ever. A year after releasing their critically acclaimed EP Psychic Dance Routine, the Santa Cruz-based hardcore band has only grown in their ability to challenge the status quo and empower listeners who, too often, are made to feel unseen.
Psychic Dance Routine showcases Scowl’s sonic evolution, fusing hardcore aggression with sharp melodic elements, while maintaining the authentic grit that first captivated their fans. Tracks like “Opening Night” and “Shot Down” deliver Scowl’s signature intensity, but it’s the lyrical themes of self-reflection and defiance that hit hardest.
The EP takes hardcore’s rage and urgency and channels it into something far more complex than the genre often allows – delving into themes of self-identity, emotional turbulence, and the struggle for authenticity in a world obsessed with surface-level appearances.
Reflecting on Psychic Dance Routine, frontwoman Kat Moss expresses how transformative the past year has been, both for the band and for herself personally.
“The thing that I have thought about a lot lately, about hardcore, is the fact that anger is a secondary emotion, and usually it stems from some sort of frustration or sadness or grief or some sort of pain. It's important to dig deeper in that,” Moss says. “It's definitely been this constant goal to pull a really visceral emotion out with my own music. I have succeeded.”
The band's latest project is a collaboration with Destroy Boys and Mannequin Pussy on their new single, “You Say Yes,” a fiercely unapologetic anthem of empowerment. The track speaks directly to the experience of viewing unfamiliar male presence as a potential threat, something Moss feels is often unspoken but deeply felt by many. With raw intensity, “You Say Yes” confronts this often-overlooked reality head-on, channeling discomfort into strength. Beyond its personal impact, the song also serves as a wider rallying cry for femme and queer listeners who often find themselves sidelined in male-dominated spaces. In the track’s explosive chorus, Moss reclaims their narrative, chanting lyrics that speak to reclaiming bodily autonomy and space.
“This is a really unapologetic, direct communication about how fucking frustrating and painful it is to have this experience and to see people around you who you don't want to view as a threat, but you have to for your own safety,” Moss says. “I took it like that, and it's very empowering.”
Luna sat down with Scowl frontwoman Kat Moss for an exclusive deep dive into Psychic Dance Routine’s impact a year later, the band’s powerful collaboration with Destroy Boys on “You Say Yes” – a track that serves as a battle cry for femme and queer people reclaiming their space – and how the band stays grounded amid festival season and relentless touring.
LUNA: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar yet, what kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
KAT: That's such a good question. I honestly really want to create, especially when it comes to writing music and the space that I wrote Psychic in, and the headspace I had when recording the Destroy Boys feature, it's a lot about imagining my younger self. I'm imagining that kid who was totally obsessed with bands like My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and AFI, and really wanting to be part of that crowd because I didn't really have a tribe or a crowd. When it comes to making music and recording, the kind of headspace I'm in when I'm writing – whether it's about something that's awfully personal or not – it's always a thought about how can I make sure that this is relatable to younger me, or people who would relate to younger me, and also open to those people that I'm not shutting the doors on them necessarily, while still telling my story with a level of of an invisible boundary. I feel like that's a tricky thing to do when you're writing lyrics. I definitely have had some moments when I'm writing lyrics where I'm literally melting down because I just want to hit that point of connection with the crowd and with the possible audience and with that young version of myself, but also show up for current Kat.
LUNA: Are there particular moods or themes you find yourself gravitating towards when writing and performing? How do you channel these into your music?
KAT: I obviously am screaming my head off on stage a lot, and so I feel like even with our earlier discography, a lot of my songs are very classic in the style of the musicality and the vocals and the lyrics. It's very angry, just so textbook hardcore. But the thing that I have thought about a lot lately, about hardcore, is the fact that anger is a secondary emotion, and usually it stems from some sort of frustration or sadness or grief or some sort of pain. It's important to dig deeper in that. For me on stage, I'm thinking about all my heroes. I'm thinking about the people that I feel inspired by and want to emulate, but I also am making an effort to connect with my body through movement. So not only am I screaming my head off and I have this angry, almost tongue-in-cheek persona that I like to display, but it's also, how can I move in a way that's engaging with the crowd? I've noticed so often that if I'm standing there like a statue, the crowd's going to be statues. For me, it's always like, how much can I move and also sing well and also not hurt myself? And that for me, in between there and being able to still convey more emotion than just anger, is when I lean into the theatrics a little bit. That's really what I like to play around with. Obviously, I don't want to be a total theater kid up there, but it is really fun to just really get interpretive with it and to be an emo kid with it and be dramatic.
LUNA: You released the Psychic Dance Routine EP last year and I love how Scowl continues to push boundaries within your own sound and it stays true to your voice and vision. How do you feel you’ve matured as artists and storytellers since the release of this record?
KAT: I feel like, again, it's funny touching on like emotion and trying to dig deeper and still seek connection through the emotions. I would say, since Psychic, something that I've really wanted to do was write songs that really pulled the feeling out of me and made me cry. So since Psychic, some of the context behind the songs will make me cry because it's so personal. There's some material we've written since then, it's unannounced, so we're in the in between right now. It's definitely been this constant goal to pull a really visceral emotion out with my own music. I have succeeded. I have cried now listening to some of the new songs.
LUNA: Were there any specific breakthroughs or lessons you learned while creating Psychic Dance Routine that have carried over to your future releases and projects?
KAT: Definitely both. I would say, on a physicality level, since that EP, I've really come into my voice live, especially because I really love to sing my head off in the shower, around the house and the car, but when it comes to on stage, there's this level of nervousness and anxiety. It's normal for any performer, but I feel like through this EP cycle, broken through that, and I can finally sing my ass off on stage, versus being afraid and reserved. That's like a physical manifestation that I've noticed and I'm really proud of myself for. I would say a breakthrough that's more personal, is just starting to understand how Scowl songs can really break a mold. I don't mean that to say that we are just this really special thing that's doing something different, it's more so for me personally, it's like breaking what my idea was for what our music would sound like. It's never been what I expected. I'm starting to really fall in love with that, because the surprise really is the best part. When we were writing Psychic, I was afraid of the songs a little bit as they're coming out. Now, I've built such a relationship with them, from playing them live over and over again, and developing different little things that I like to incorporate live that aren't present on the recorded music.
LUNA: Looking back at Psychic Dance Routine a year later, how do you feel about the EP and its impact?
KAT: I feel like the EP is a launching point from what the band we were before that, following How Flowers Grow, to the band that I think we're going to be, or what we want to be sound-wise. Sonically, I think that it's funny because I do have a little bit of that because I'm so personal with the EP. I do have a little bit of resentment and disdain for it at this point where I'm so sick of those songs. I'm so sick of this whole thing. I really did pour my heart into it and really opened up in a way that I hadn't pre that EP. It's funny, because by opening that door a year and a half ago when the EP came out, now I'm so far out of that house, like I have opened the door and gone through and now I'm like,’oh, that's nothing.’ At the time, it felt like everything. I'm eternally grateful for it. Definitely ready to hit the new height.
Photography Credit: Alice Baxley
LUNA: Are there new directions or elements you’re exploring in your current work?
KAT: I think there's things sonically going on that we've never done before, but always wanted to. There's certain inspirations that we've always wanted to utilize, but we just weren't there yet that now we are starting to incorporate, which has me giddy as fuck. I am very excited because it's refreshing. There's a level of vulnerability that's scary, because there is an aspect of telling a story, but there's a level of vulnerability in the stories that I chose to tell, and that's totally terrifying, but also I wouldn't want to do it any other way. I feel like there's a sense of honesty that's coming through that has not happened before.
LUNA: You have recently collaborated with Destroy Boys and Mannequin Pussy on a new song called “You Hear Yes” off Funeral Soundtrack #4. Can you walk us through how this collaboration came to life and how your experience recording it was?
KAT: Scowl and Destroy Boys have been homies for a minute. We had the incredible opportunity to go on tour with them two and a half years ago. We did a full U.S. tour with them, and we really bonded. We got very close and tight with them and realized that we're both the same concoction of psychopathic. We're just both really down to have a good time and chaotic as fuck. We immediately bonded super hard, and since then, have played various gigs together and hung out. I love those people in that band, so when it came through that they wanted me to feature on a song, I absolutely was like, ‘yeah, without a doubt, whatever you want.’ I also heard that Missy from Mannequin Pussy was going to be on it, which is another band that I fucking love so much, so that was really exciting. The cool part about it, for me, was the privilege to get in the studio with Carlos de la Garza, who produced the record. It was really cool to get in and work with Carlos. He's someone that I really respect and really love his work. He's done a lot of great stuff and I loved working with him. He was a great time and I got to scream my head off on a song that wasn't a Scowl song.
LUNA: I love how “You Hear Yes” carries such a fierce message. What is the inspiration behind the single?
KAT: When I first heard the bits and pieces, I started to gather that this is like a fuck men kind of song, which I'm down for. It is fuck men. I have to walk the streets and carry myself in public, and I'm sure most all femme bodied individuals or femme presenting individuals have to relate to this. I view any unknown male presence around me as a threat. I think that this song is so cool because it's unapologetic about discussing that. I think that one thing that we as feminine people or queer people tend to do is minimize ourselves when talking about these things, and try to really be delicate and not trigger or piss off the men in our lives who we love and respect, because we don't want them to take it the wrong way. But the thing is like, why? We're afraid to communicate these things because of our safety, what the fuck? That's just the vibe I got, is that this is a really unapologetic, direct communication about how fucking frustrating and painful it is to have this experience and to see people around you who you don't want to view as a threat, but you have to for your own safety. I took it like that, and it's very empowering. I think the young people who are going to hear that song, who are fans of Destroy Boys, I think it's a great thing for them to listen to. I hope that there's young people who are listening to that on their headphones. I hope it's radicalizing young people and young femme people specifically.
Photography Credit: Alice Baxley
LUNA: This has been a busy year for the band with non-stop touring and playing major festivals. How do you stay grounded and maintain a sense of stability while on the road?
KAT: We spent the last three years practically non stop touring, and that was a blast, but I also spent probably 90% of that time sick. I would get a sinus infection, and then I would get better, and within a week of getting better, I'd start getting sick again with some chest shit. I'd get bronchitis. I think I had walking pneumonia. At some points, it was just really, really hard, and most people aren't stoked when they get sick. I get really depressed because I want my body to keep up with how intense my brain is. I am a high energy person, and I really like to give it my all, especially when I'm performing, and I also want to sing my best. The thing is, getting sick really doesn't fit in with that. So for me, the way that I've tried to find some semblance of balance is mainly just prioritizing my health, and it has taken a lot of work. Sleep is huge, and it's very tough to say that when this is the work that sleep is not prioritized much. I've had to really put my foot down and find ways around that, even if that means I'm sleeping in the middle of the day, in a van, or in the green room at a show or something. Eating is huge. I struggled a lot with my diet the last couple years, and I think that probably perpetuated the health issues. Even though it can be challenging with the schedule, I have to be in that routine. Otherwise I will just forget and then I will feel like shit. I really make sure that I'm taking care of my very simple bodily functions; eating, sleeping, drinking, water and vocal rest.
LUNA: Do you have any specific pre-show or post-show rituals or routines that help you prepare for a big performance?
KAT: Before any performance, I always take a deep breath with our front of house guy. His name's Justin, he always comes up to me and we just hold hands and slowly inhale and exhale with our eyes closed. He always tells me to have fun. I say it back to him. For me, the big, deep breath and recentering my body is really important. I have a lot of anxiety, so breathing is really helpful for me.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would like to share with Luna?
KAT: I'm feeling excited. I'm really ready to step into what might be the next era of Scowl. I'm really curious to see what it looks like. I have visions for myself and my outfits and the motifs, but I don't know what it's going to look like when it comes to our opportunities, or fans, or the public perception. I just hold a lot of nervous excitement about that, mainly just a lot of ambitious excitement. I currently feel very comfortable right now. I think that a lot of the hard lessons that I've had to learn the last couple years have become fruitful for me while they were really challenging and painful. Now I feel like I have a full toolbox that I can take onto the road next year. I can't wait to sing these new songs when that happens.
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