Tarek Ahmed is the vocalist of New Haven-based noise rock quartet, Intercourse. Established sometime back in 2014, Tarek set out on this feedback-slathered journey after spending a myriad of years in bands across accosting spectrums of auditory malaise during the aughts. Metalcore, grindcore, punk; he has dabbled in each, providing snarls, growls, and screams. Most of these bands never really expanded beyond the local scenes they subsisted in and after participating in these genres until literal burnout, he found no other way to sate his vocal deliveries. Then barreling in came Intercourse. The band dropped their first self-titled EP in July 2014, following this up in April 2016 with another succinct EP, Enablers. In this approximate two-year time frame, the outfit was experiencing a rotating door of musicians. And as it stands, Tarek is the only remaining member of Intercourse since the project’s birth.

Back in March 2018, they dropped a new LP entitled Everything Is Pornography When You’ve Got An Imagination—a visceral, unhinged, and rather experimental concatenation of delectable riffs and frothy ramblings. What’s most striking (to me) about Intercourse is the lyrics and the way they are uttered. It’s almost like subconscious thoughts, morose and outcast, mangled by ingenuity, are made flesh through their biting, fed up with life prose.

In this conversation, Tarek muses about his love for noise rock and how he founded Intercourse, citing the bands and motions he went through to get there. He also delves into his lyric composing process, divulges some of the stories underlying Intercourse songs, and reflects on the strange inquires his band receives for having its name. Thank you so much for listening.