When Scowl says mosh, you mosh. When they tell you to stage dive, you plummet into the crowd. And when they say to dance, you dance like your life depends on it because when Scowl shouts, San Antonio listens.
Scowl is a hardcore punk band hailing from Santa Cruz, California. When you think of hardcore, a female lead singer with neon green hair is probably not the first thing that comes to mind, but since their conception, Scowl has been subverting all previous notions of what hardcore is. At its core, hardcore punk is loud, angry and fast-paced, and Scowl embraces all of these characteristics while still remaining true to their glittery individuality.
They stopped in San Antonio on Sept. 16 for their fourth time to celebrate their most recent EP, “Psychic Dance Routine,” and the attendees at Paper Tiger were not disappointed. Several members from UTSA’s Musicians of Business could be found doing cartwheels in the middle of the mosh pit and sailing on top of the crowd.
“It was amazing,” sophomore digital communication major Liseth Rodriguez said. “I got my ass kicked, and I think Scowl is the greatest band of all time.”
Treston Balboa, a sophomore computer science major, added that “the crowd’s energy was unmatched.”
Opening up for Scowl was the San Antonio-based band U.N.I.T and the LA-based Militarie Gun.
“U.N.I.T.” was definitely a good way to prepare for the rest of the night,” Raul Martinez, a sophomore computer science major, explained. “It’s always fun when you can stage dive and nobody will get mad for it.”
Ernest Garcia, a freshman architecture major, chimed in, expressing his appreciation for the “diverse, good mixup of variations of genres.”
While UTSA students loved the performance, Kat Moss, the lead singer of Scowl, loved the crowd.
“I love San Antonio, I love it,” Moss said. “This is my favorite place in Texas to come hang out, because I feel like there’s a genuine sense of community here, and it’s a tight community, and I always feel extremely welcomed.”
Her favorite part of her performance was playing “Seeds to Sow.”
“That’s a song that I feel very, you know, tender and sensitive and close to, and playing that song live is intimidating, but it was really special because I had a technical difficulty and I had to stand really close to the monitor to hear myself, but everyone was vibing with it and singing along, and you know, cheering me on, and that just felt really cool and supportive,” Moss explained.
But her advice to the students of UTSA, or really anyone who is interested enough in music to read this article, was “don’t expect to get involved with music, or get into playing music, in a traditional way. I was hopeful that when I started playing music, I’d have a lot of structure, but instead, I actually had my gateway through DIY, which is extremely unstructured, and I think it gave me a lot of confidence to try new things and to step out of my comfort zone.”
Lastly, she said, “Try to get involved with your local scene.” Attending local shows is a great first step to getting involved with San Antonio’s music scene. You never know, one day you could have three EPs and a full-length album under your name, and you could be headlining your own tour across the U.S. Or, you could be having the time of your life, singing your heart out in the pit at a local show.
