Again gang, I’m back from the woods and waters of California, and I’m here to bring you some fresh noise rock straight out of Connecticut. Intercourse have been on a release-per-year pace going back to their formation and 2013, and earlier this month they gave us How I Fell In Love With The Void via Brutal Panda Records. It’s for outsiders, it’s intense, and I most certainly dig it. Partly hilarious, partly disturbing/depressing/self-loathing, it’s an album that sure does give us a lot to unpack. But to help us do so, vocalist Tarek Ahmed offered up some of his time to respond to our questions. Give those a read and hit the embeds immediately after the jump.

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How and when did you first get into playing music, or metal more specifically, and how did your band get its start? Any pushback from family/those close to you?

I started my first band when I was 17. It was fun but never really went anywhere. I more or less spent my 20’s in several metal / metalcore bands to the point where I found myself extremely bored with the genre. I had fallen into noise rock heavily around the time I was 26, mostly due to a Deadguy MySpace profile that name-dropped Cows and Unsane. Shortly after I got HEAVILY into the Butthole Surfers so when I turned 29 I realized it was time to finally start something like that as 29 is like 50 in punk years so I was almost dead. My mother has always been crazy supportive; she played me Black Sabbath when I was 5 and I owe most of my taste to her. My dad is from Egypt, and I don’t think he understands it.

How would you describe your band and what you play to someone who is completely in the dark?

I describe us as noise rock / heavy punk / hardcore. To someone unfamiliar with extreme music I might say we suck on purpose. What song we play someone completely depends on their taste. If they aren’t into heavy music I’d probably start with “Iceman’s Tears”. If they aren’t into this latest LP 100% or maybe even “Egyptian Democracy” because it shows everything we do in 5 songs.

Is there anything about your latest album or about your band that no one will find in any interview or review that you care to divulge?

Death and grief weighed heavy on my mind as I was putting together lyrics for this release. My dear friend Pete Kowalsky passed away from cancer right when I began writing and that was awful for pretty much everyone that knew him as he was the best dude ever, just very loved. Then towards the end a young man I used to work with as his staff at a day program passed as well as my friend Richard Chimera who was a big part of my friend group growing up. He just died suddenly, the same age as me. It felt like death was just lurking around me and the people I love. Life felt really pointless and unfair at times around the writing of these songs.

Any funny stories from playing shows / tours / festivals, etc?

This one time we opened for Deadguy and everyone was REALLY nice to us. It was weird we thought they were gonna hunt us for sport.

Most folks have passions for a cause or causes that are close to them. What, if any, are some of the most important issues (social/political/humorous/etc.) for you / your band and how do you insert those issues into your music?

The absolute greatest thing about metal lately is how out of vogue it’s become, to me that’s a sign it will become cool again because now it’s mostly real nerds that are into it and making it. The worst thing happening is Ozzy dying 100%. Honestly, I think there’s a lot of overproduced bad metal out but like I don’t listen to it so it doesn’t bother me too much and all those bands serve as gateway bands so it’s not so bad, is it? Like was anyone born being into true CVLT music? I mean I basically was because of my mom but lots of people got into this shit through fucking Linkin Park or some so I’m not going to gate keep. As for politics we want a free Palestine and for people to be paid a living wage, America not to suck shit so bad like wtf are we doing here? I work 6 days a week and still live paycheck to paycheck it’s bullshit. We used to be a lot more political until it became a sort of hack personality in underground music with countless bands just doing a bunch of brainless sloganeering. We’re obviously leftists and all about the underdog, we just don’t really beat people over the head with it. If you read between the lines, you can see it 100%.

Do you have day jobs or hobbies you want to share?

We all work day jobs but considering the shit we talk about in our music we should probably keep those private. As for hobbies Sean likes movies, Caleb plays WoW, Pete tinkers with pedals and shit. I have no other hobbies; this is all I’m really interested in.

What advice do you have for music critics and outlets out there? How can we all better serve the genre in the eyes of a hard-working musician?

My advice to music critics is to pay attention to bands doing interesting things and to push them instead of talking about whatever top 40 metal every outlet is talking about.

When you’re not obsessing over your own material, what are some of your favorite albums to listen to
currently?

Currently listening to My Wife Is An Angel – “Yeah, I Bet” is one of my albums of the year. Crippling Alcoholism – “Cam Girl” is another one, that will blow people’s minds when it comes out. Also Prostitute – “Attempted Martyr” and I’m also spinning “Ozzmosis” a lot right now.

Any specific long term goal(s) in mind?

Our long term goal is to continue to evolve and make noise rock until we die or kill each other.

What is the near future outlook for you or your band? Any specific events on the horizon that the masses should be aware of?

Based on the things going on around us in the world our outlook is not sunny. The planet is fucked and Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Summarize your band in one word.

One word? Gross.

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Many thanks to Tarek and Intercourse for the time!

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How I Fell In Love With The Void is out now through Brutal Panda Records. For more information on Intercourse, jump over to Facebook or Instagram.