With their debut album, Kill Your Darlings, out now, we took some me to hear from GUNMOLL. Read below to learn more about GUNMOLL, the story behind Kill Your Darlings, and what’s to come.
Hi! Let’s start with how did the band’s name come about?
Jolien was always was a big fan of gangster movies like Casino and Good Fellas. I’m someone who can hide as a moll fully disappear with my myself and my music. Gunmoll comes from the word Ganaf, means thief in Jiddish. So, that’s how I found and discovered the word Gunmoll. It refers to a woman who is the companion, girlfriend, or accomplice of a gangster or mobster.
What city are you all from, and where are you all based now?
We are all from different cities in The Netherlands. As a global band, GUNMOLL aims to take their music beyond borders, performing and connecting with fans worldwide. Everybody’s welcome to the Gunmoll family.
How and when did the band form?
Jolien started with song ideas in 2022. To bring the band to life, Jolien reached out to Bram Bol, with whom she had already developed a strong connection during a previous project (Miss P*ssy). Although the writing sessions remained a kind of “playground” for a long time, they gradually created their own musical language together. They actively explored Balkan music and other Eastern sounds to incorporate Jolien’s Romanian background.
Bram: Those writing sessions were often truly hilarious — we had so much fun diving deep into those stories and translating them into music. We often left the studio completely stoked and wildly energized. Surf rock can also be heard in their sound, but with the intensity and wildness of a brutal storm surf session — no Malibu vibes. With a rock-solid rhythm section consisting of Koen van Bemmelen (bass) and Bas Janssen (drums, who replaced Pim de Roij halfway through 2024), GUNMOLL is complete.
How would you all describe your band’s sound to readers who may not be familiar with you all?
Energetic mix of (surf) alt rock, Balkan colours and pop. The music wouldn’t be out of place as a sonic backdrop to the most bloodcurdling chase scenes of your favorite (cult) movies.
Who are some of your band’s main musical influences?
Queens of The Stoneage, Dick Dale, Dead Weather, MIA, Wanda Jackson, Black Honey, The Cramps, Patience & Prudence, etc.
Who would be a dream to collaborate with?
A dream collab would be with Josh Hommes.
What’s one of the proudest moments of your group’s music career so far?
We played Pinkpop the biggest music festival in the Netherlands and we just released our debut album on vinyl and all online platform services.
What would you all say are the greatest lessons that you’ve all learned so far?
Try not to have expectations about what the future may bring, and even if the press doesn’t give you attention or writes harsh reviews, keep doing what you love. Follow your heart.
Now onto Kill Your Darlings. What inspired this album?
The first inspiration for GUNMOLL came to Jolien when she was flipping through an old photo album from the Romanian side of her family. It radiated a certain cinematic, dangerous, “mobster” atmosphere; the portraits looked like characters straight out of a film noir. This cast events from Jolien’s own youth in a new light. From this emerged the idea to write songs from the perspective of the “gunmoll.”
Jolien: I felt like a story needed to be told through me. The cinematic and dark atmosphere is partly inspired by the films of Scorsese, Tarantino, and Lynch, as well as the music of Morricone and Dick Dale. Black humor and a sense of “cult” are therefore elements that certainly recur in GUNMOLL.
What is the overall theme of Kill Your Darlings?
The debut album, Kill Your Darlings, portrays twelve action scenes from the life of the “gunmoll.” It is not a chronological story, but rather a mosaic of moments that together sketch this complex character and her world. The album opens in the middle of the action with “Chasin’,” a high-adrenaline chase scene. In “Tata’s Lie,” the gunmoll loses her childhood innocence when she finds a pistol in her father’s closet. In “F*ck Everything Up,” a reunion spirals into a vengeful reckoning. “Bitterness” is a head-on collision with the father figure, while the closing track “Joan” is intimate and tender. The picture that emerges is of a gunmoll struggling with her environment, with her role in her mafia family, and perhaps even trying to escape from it in search of authenticity and autonomy. The band deliberately leaves it ambiguous whether these scenes are real moments from her life or a symbolic battle taking place in her mind — a fight against her own demons and imposed roles.
Jolien: The songs offer glimpses into her life; they’re fragments. As a listener, you get puzzle pieces, but you have to fill in the bigger picture yourself.
Is the gunmoll then a layered alter ego? Perhaps. Jolien partly draws from her own experiences, but at times she also gives voice to her personal demons.
What was the inspiration behind the cover artwork for Kill Your Darlings?
We wanted to create a retro movie poster because we felt it matched the atmosphere of the album. The images on the cover reference several of the songs on the record. For example, the car could be a nod to “Chasing,” and the dog to “Feed You to My Dog.” The eyes you can vaguely see in the background could refer to the gunmoll I channel. It’s quite a weird, but really fun cover art — exactly like our music sounds.
What was the creative process like when making Kill Your Darlings?
It was fun — even hilarious. Nothing depended on it. We just wanted to make cool fun music, shape nice sounds and create strong melodies with playful, funny lyrics. We really enjoyed writing about the killings and the way they happen. It was a wonderful time; the songs just followed and everything came very easily. It’s not meant to be taken too seriously either — there’s definitely a big wink in the music.
How long did it take to complete Kill Your Darlings?
It took a little while because we ultimately wanted to develop it with a full band and re-record it. We had a team around us, and we had to perform it live. It took quite a bit of time to get everything up and running.
Is there a specific song on Kill Your Darlings that speaks to you all the most? If so, why?
Jolien: Not really, I think every song has it’s value on the album. I do have songs that I like to listen to because I personally enjoy the tunes, and those are probably “Tata’s Lie” and “Chasing.” Also because they most strongly convey the idiom of the mobster world, and carry that tension and aggression.
What message or messages do you all hope fans take away from Kill Your Darlings and your band’s music in general?
The band uses this dark story as a mirror for the audience. Think of the masks that we all wear, the struggle against limitations imposed on us — whether from within or from outside — and the fundamental search for authenticity, for your true self beneath all the layers. It raises the question: aren’t we all a kind of gunmoll? Are we hiding our true self?
Musically, GUNMOLL seeks tension without frills: wild riffs, deep grooves, memorable melodies, Balkan-inspired colors, all in a powerful alt-rock setting. Dark humor keeps the edge sharp: dark, yet danceable. Live, the band translates the concept into a ritual. GUNMOLL is above all music where you can completely let yourself go in your own madness, and in doing so, relax and recharge.
What’s next for you all? Are you all working on any upcoming projects, or do you all have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?
We have a little tour coming up in the Netherlands. We will add the tour poster. But, we aim international, we really would love to tour outside of NL.
Where can we follow you all on social media?
Please follow us on Instagram, Spotify, Bandcamp, and TikTok:
https://www.instagram.com/gunmollmusic
https://open.spotify.com/artist/58JjVQf1svduEYcR9y3jba
https://gunmoll.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.tiktok.com/@gunmollmusic
Before you all go, let’s ask you an off-topic question. Favorite food?
Jolien: I can eat anything actually, haha, but if I have to choose, it’s gonna be Italian and Sichuan food 🙂 or Indian, ahhhh I don’t know.
Thank you all for the great interview; wish you all much continued success!
