This is the first part of 'No Such Thing As A Stupid Question'. We couldn't wish for a better dialog partner to roll out this new categeory.

Nicole: Hi! I am doing very well. My name is Nicole Boychuk, I am from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I do vocals in ‘I Hate Sex’.

For me, you live in one of the most beautiful parts of this planet. Alberta is known for its gorgeous landscapes. I definitely want to visit this region in three or four years. Edmonton would be conceivable starting point for a Canada/America trip. Apart from the wonderful landscape: what does Edmonton have to offer in terms of music? Could you give us a description of the scene you're active in?

Nicole: Edmonton has a really great music scene for all genres in my opinion. The promoters here really work hard to hook up local bands. We don’t really get a ton of touring bands here unless they are HUGE (example: Taylor Swift, Mac DeMarco, ect.) So I feel like there is a lot of hype in Edmonton, around Edmonton (and Canadian) artists. It’s really neat. We don’t have a large ‘emo, screamo’ scene here, so often our sub-genre’s get grouped together. Everyone who participates in the music scene become close friend because of that! We have a really supportive scene in Edmonton, and around Alberta all together.

With Circle Thinking your band recorded a fantastic debut EP. Released past summer, from our perspective the record has been and still is hyped (positively) quite a bit. How did you perceive the audience’s reaction and the overall feedback? Would you agree that there was/is some kind of hype around it?

Nicole: Honestly, it’s been incredible. We weren’t expecting this kind of reception, and we are really grateful for all the attention we have been getting. I do agree that there is hype around it, I don’t know how or why – I think maybe due to our band name. Either way, it’s been super cool, and we are so thankful! This is some of our first time being in a band, so it’s been a humbling experience.

Can you imagine if this has an effect on the way you approach writing in the future, compared to a situation where “Circle thinking” wouldn’t have gained that much (international) attention?

Nicole: I wouldn’t really say it will effect our writing style in the future. We just write whatever sounds good. We were just lucky that people were and are into what we created and I think that’s not going to change the way we write.

One of my highlights of Circle Thinking was San Francisco. According to you, the lyrics of the song are dealing with mentally and emotionally abuse by someone you love. I couldn’t help but think of the whole Driftwood situation, which emerged a few weeks back. I’m well aware that with the following question we might add to the delicate situation and gossip that has been going on about it. Nevertheless, since you have worked together with the label for your first release: Do you have an insight about what has been happening? How do you feel about the events and the accusations? What was your experience working with the label?

Nicole: I haven’t heard anything since it initially happened. We wrote a Facebook post following what happened, that you can still find saying how we feel about the situation [Note from the Editor: click here ]. Our experience working with the label wasn’t great, we had to change our initial demo art, and they ended up sending us the wrong amount of tapes to a church in the area instead of the given address. They send the remaining tapes they forgot, with another Edmonton band’s tapes in the mail sometime afterwards.

Now back to a (possibly) less serious topic: What time in your life did you start writing? What inspired you initially?

Nicole: Personally, I started writing poems and lyrics when I was 13. For I Hate Sex what inspired me initially is just life, daily relationships and the people around me, their daily relationships with others, feelings, material items, emotions, songs, etc.

If there is a story behind it: How did you guys and gals end up as a band? How does the songwriting work for you as a band?

Nicole: This is actually a great story. I met Ashton (guitar) in university last year, we quickly became friends and were both interested in starting a band. We started looking for members, and I made a post on some social media platform requesting a bassist and a drummer. I wasn’t really expecting anyone to be interested, but Jibirl (bass) replied (we barely knew each other) and said if we were serious, he was in. I then put in my instagram bio, “looking for a drummer for my emo band” and within a day, Curtis (who we didn’t know at all) was in the band. So basically I Hate Sex just fell into place. We had our first band practice December 6th, 2014. We quickly wrote ‘one by Metallica’, and ‘January 24th’. Song writing is easy for us; we work really well as a team. I usually come up with lyrics for the songs once I hear the music and get a feel for it.

You call yourself a Morrissey Fan. Being a fan myself I would love to know what your favorite The Smiths / Morrissey songs are and why?

Nicole: Thank you for this question!

The Smiths:

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
Hand in Glove
That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore
What She Said

Morrissey:

Everyday Is like Sunday
Ouija Board, Ouija Board
I Don’t Mind If you Forget Me
You Say You Don’t Love Me (Buzzcocks cover)

Thinking about the future: what plans do you have with I Hate Sex? When can we expect new music?

Nicole: You can expect new music this winter, on a split that we have coming out with another Edmonton band, Low Level. We are aiming to record a full-length, or another ‘EP’ early this spring! We are all extremely busy, but I hope one day we get to do a larger tour.

Last question: Any bands or projects you’d like to give a shout-out to?

Nicole: All of our local friends and bands we have played with in our year of being: Cold Lungs, La Luna, Anna Phorra, Wares, Strange Fires, Pyramid//Indigo, Open Letters, Flint, Lunatique, You Take The Bus When You’re Dead, Heavy Weather, Low Level, Black Knight Satellite. Everyone that has supported us, thank you so much!

Shout out to Form Und Leere for the most fun, and thoughtful interview I have done. Much love.