Words by Kevin Diers / Photo by Alexis Gross

If you follow any sort of hardcore related social media accounts, chances are you caught a glimpse of the madness that is GEL back in 2022 when the band played a Guerilla pop-up show outside of a Sonic Drive-In in New Jersey.

While the moment ultimately worked favorably in the algorithm and served well in getting the band in front of more eyeballs, the viral moment only affirmed what many in the know were already convinced of. GEL was the kind of band that didn't live up to their hype, they far exceeded it. 

Fast forward to the first quarter of the following year. The Jersey aggressors would deliver their rightfully celebrated full length debut in Only Constant - an effort that landed on many year-ending best of lists and positioned the band as one of heavy music's most refreshing new prospects. Gel's brass tacks brand of bombast curried favor with the hardcore contingent, the punk purists and the metal circles with the same effectiveness. The combination of style, execution and energy affirmed that the band was no flash in the pan, no viral moment - but rather - a force to be reckoned with. 

Following a couple years of subsequent touring, earning converts and maximizing the breadth of Only Constant, GEL is set to further prove their ability to level up, defying already lofty expectations. The band's Blue Grape Music debut with their Persona EP is just hours away and arrives as GEL continue to jockey for position in the landscape of modern heavy music. 

Just weeks before the band heads out on a headlining US tour which includes a high-profile spot on the carefully curated Dia De Los Deftones festival later this year - Knotfest linked with vocalist Sami Kaiser for a conversation that frames the band's trajectory. The conversation dove into the new EP, the expansion of the band's sound, what it was like growing up in a strict household and what the forecast suggests for GEL.

When were you first exposed to punk and hardcore or just underground music altogether?

Sami Kaiser: I kind of heard whisperings of it when I was still in high school, but I had a very strict upbringing, I wasn't really allowed to explore. I heard people talking about basement shows, but I didn't actually start going until I was 18 and out of my childhood home. That's when I really kind of discovered underground music. I would go to New Brunswick basement shows. Also, there's a place in Trenton called the Mill Hill, and it's just the basement of a restaurant bar that would host really late-night shows. 

You said you had a strict upbringing. Did you go to a Catholic school? Were you home schooled?

Kaiser: No, nothing like that. I went to public school. My parents are from Europe. My mom came over to the states from Latvia when she was, I think, 16, and my dad came from Romania when he was 18. So, I'm first generation American. I feel like that cultural difference kind of lended itself to the strict upbringing.

Who was the first punk or hardcore band you fell in love with?

Kaiser: That's a tough one. I'd probably say Ceremony or Touché Amore. Our bass player, Bobby, showed me both of them. I was like 18 or 19. I think it was just CDs in his car. I can't even tell you which albums were the first ones, but it was eye opening.

Then reading the lyrics, too. Afterwards, it was like, “Wow”.  Not only can this music be aggressive, it can emotionally vulnerable and articulate lyrically. That really ignited a flame.

Is this your first band you've ever done vocals for?

Kaiser: No. So let me see… Three of us were in a band prior to this called Sick Shit. It was a power violence band. I did vocals. Bobko (Matthew) played guitar at first and Anthony played bass. But then both of them ended up playing guitar for a while and we didn't have a bass player, yeah.

We would try to do a bunch of different things to make up for the lack of bass player.  We had like, a robot…well, not like a real robot. We would have tracks and pedals and shit.

We were in that band for a while... for like five years. There was a little overlap between that band and GEL. Then we kind of just phased that out. Gel was playing more and more, and we were more into writing and playing those types of shows and less like grind shows. So, it was just a natural progression from there. So yeah, I've been doing vocals for like nine or ten years now.

Did you always know you had a knack for this?

Kaiser: I was never a singer. I did try. I dabbled when I was really young, but I was more interested in visual arts and drawing in my childhood. I didn't actually start until Sick Shit had a former vocalist who didn't work out. They were like, “Oh shit, we need a vocalist now.” I was friends with everyone already. I would go to their band practices and go to the shows. I was like, ‘Okay, I'll, I'll give it a go.”

I was listening to Punch at the time and I was like “I'm just gonna try to do something along those lines.” And I had never screamed before. I just kind of went down into the basement of the house we were living in South Jersey at the time…I just put headphones on and just started screaming and making noises. I was trying to figure out what sounds and mouth shapes and throat like tensions could yield what results.

I just experimented with it. I just went straight to recording a demo. After that short trial period of being, like, “Okay, I guess I can make this work. I'll figure it out,” we recorded in that same basement close to 20 songs.

What kind of direction did you guys want to take on the new EP?

Kaiser: Prior to this, our other releases were more straightforward, hardcore. That's our bread and butter. We love that shit and we even have elements of that in the new release. But I think we tried to be a little different and like channel influences outside of just straight forward hardcore.

Elements are different. There's more rock in it and more… the flares are more abstract. And lyrically I tried to kind of center around the themes of facets of self, with persona being the one facet. But then there's the ego, the self, the shadow…all that, all that good shit. All the parts that make the whole.

Some of the songs are more specific, but overall, they center around the theme of perception and how that can skew one's behavior both inwardly and outwardly. How you perceive yourself in the world and how you perceive the world around you and that relation and how that lends to how you treat other people or how you treat yourself. The physical behavior that follows that mental and emotional process.

Looking ahead a year or two, do you think the current state of hardcore is sustainable?

Kaiser: I think it's gonna just keep on blooming and blossoming. I think it's gonna veer more punk, if anything with the more underground stuff. I think it's gonna get freakier in the underground as a response to straightforward groove and rock and hardcore being bolstered to the top. Like, it's all connected in some way, but I don't know. I haven't even thought about that, really, but there is such a cause and effect with it.

What are you looking forward to in the next 12 months?

Kaiser: I'm looking forward to touring more. It'll be nice to tour in the states. We had our run in Europe most recently and that was a great time. Some of the best experiences of my life. But it'll feel very good to get back to playing shows domestically. I like the flow of that day to day and city to city.

And then also writing. I'm very much looking forward to experiment further. I feel like this release, even though it is awesome on its own, I feel like it's kind of a bridge to a full length in a lot of ways. I look forward to seeing what we cook up. We're already kind of brainstorming that

I'm also excited and want to make more art for the band. I did the cover for this release. I'm excited to maybe design some shirts or work on some more art that we could utilize in some way.

So…the Sonic Drive through show. How did this come about?

Kaiser: We have a friend who had previously booked some shows at the Sonic. Like, low key inside the Sonic.

I think the general manager and all the staff liked metal. I don't know about hardcore, but they went to him and were like, “Yo, how about we do this outside? And how about it be these bands.” And he was so down.

It was in a secluded area. I think Toms River, New Jersey. There was a warehouse to the left. It was in kind of an open field where no one would bother us. And no one did bother us surprisingly. I think over 300 People ended up coming. People were like shooting fireworks off the top of a school bus and our friend Jeremy was blowing fire.

It was chaotic, but it seemed like it came together very naturally, like it just, he asked us if we were down, and we were like, “Absolutely.” The you know what happened was what happened. No one could anticipate the gravity of what was going to happen. We knew it was going to be crazy, but it was fucking nuts. And they were still serving corn dogs and stuff, too.

There was just chaos, fire and a wild, wild time. But yeah, no issues. Surprisingly we didn't encounter any issues, minus maybe Sonic being a little mad in the aftermath of it. Like asking “What was that? What happened?” But I don't think there were any real repercussions to it.. And it was a beautiful time. Just a crazy, strange and weird thing, but awesome.