Q&A: Hit Like a Girl Strikes Again with ‘Burning at Both Ends’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
Photo Credit: Mol White
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO GIVE? — Hit Like a Girl has always understood that queer heartache carries its own weight. The songwriting project of Nicolle Maroulis, Hit Like a Girl channels these lived experiences into music that is as intimate as it is explosive. Joined by a rotating live lineup featuring Mol White and Mike Davis, the project blends pop, emo, indie, and hardcore into a sound that feels emotionally unguarded yet undeniably infectious.
That emotional clarity is front and center on Burning at Both Ends, Hit Like a Girl’s forthcoming album due March 27. The record arrives alongside its stunning lead single, “Keepsake Theory,” a song that wastes no time in making its intentions known. The track captures the ache of missed romantic connections and the resentment that lingers when love is forced to exist in the shadows.
The album’s title, borrowed from the familiar phrase “burning the candle at both ends,” speaks to the relentless effort Maroulis pours into every aspect of their life. Burning at Both Ends documents what it means to live in a constant state of emotional output. It’s a record that doesn’t just acknowledge exhaustion — it interrogates it, asking what happens when there is nothing left to give?
Beyond its emotional depth, Hit Like a Girl remains deeply committed to representation. As a trans and queer-led project, the band strives to create space for artists who don’t always see themselves reflected in alternative music scenes. That mission is embedded not only in the lyrics, but in the visibility and honesty of the project itself. For listeners who have loved deeply, quietly, or painfully, and for those still finding the courage to pursue their creative lives, Hit Like a Girl offers both solace and solidarity.
With Burning at Both Ends, Maroulis has crafted a record that embraces the messiness of love, the cost of giving too much and the beauty that can still be found in the wreckage.
Photo Credit: Mol White
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
NICOLLE: I think what inspires my artistic style and sound is I grew up in the early 2000s New Jersey, New York punk scene. I started going to shows when I was 16 and I would go to VFW halls, and there would be a nine band bill of hardcore bands. It just always really fascinated me, the community and culture around hardcore and punk. As I started getting older and more interested in playing music, it was more accessible to me at the time to play slower stuff, because I was still learning how to play. Then I got really into emo and indie, and was early on very influenced by bands like Into It. Over It., Tigers Jaw, Balance of Composure and that fourth wave of emo.
LUNA: Your newest single “Keepsake Theory” is a sneak peek into your upcoming record. What is the inspiration behind the track and why did you choose this to open the world to your record?
NICOLLE: “Keepsake Theory” is about a very specific thing that happened to me at a fest in 2023. The fest happens in Gainesville, Florida every year on Halloween weekend, and it's so much fun. We've gotten to play so many times, and I'm so grateful for that. In 2023 we played a full band set, and the next day we played an acoustic set, and the day that I played the acoustic set, I just played back-to-back with my ex. Everything that the lyrics say is like what happened. It was quite an experience. I just wrote about having a mental breakdown at the fest.
LUNA: “Keepsake Theory” is accompanied by a music video which adds another layer of depth to the song’s themes. How was your experience filming it and what did you want to capture?
NICOLLE: The music video is about imposter syndrome which is something that I definitely struggle with a lot. I'm personally interested in concert photography, and here in Philadelphia, there's just so many talented local concert photographers that are all so good. I see all these bands around me that are maybe my age or younger, maybe bands that started years after Hit Like a Girl started, and how they’ve all taken off. I feel like I've been stagnant in the same sort of position, not to say that being in a band is some contest and there's no milestones.
Everyone's journey is different. I'm totally acutely aware of that. But when you have a goal, and you've been pursuing the same goal for years and years and years, and don't really see too much progress, but you see other people around you, all taking off around you, and you're like, why? Is it my turn yet? It gets to you, and then you start to wonder, like, am I not good enough? Is the music not good enough? Is there something we're not doing right? Why is everyone else able to do it and we can't do it? Just a lot of that imposter syndrome sneaks in and intrusive thoughts and things like that. The song and the music video are all in relation to that.
LUNA: Burning at Both Ends feels like an exploration of both emotional intensity and release. How did the album come together, and what themes and emotions did you set out to explore?
NICOLLE: Historically, how I tend to write records is it takes me a couple years to write enough songs that are enough for a record, so that usually is what happens. I'll write 15 songs that are by myself, just a guitar and lyrics, and then usually I'll just pick the best ones, go into the studio, I'll hire musicians and we'll bang it out. That's what I've always done, but for this record, since I've actually had the same people playing in my live band for a long enough time to actually be able to do this together. I did the same rigamarole, and I presented the songs to my current live lineup. We picked the eight best ones of the bunch that I had. We practiced them live before going into the studio, and then really just made things happen together in the studio. This is the most collaborative album I've ever gotten to write, and doing it this way was so much more fun than what I've done in the past. In the past it has always felt like a surgical cut and paste produced thing, but this felt more like a punk band album that we wrote together as a band, and that's what I've been chasing for the past decade.
LUNA: Did you experience any personal or creative breakthroughs or lessons while working on Burning at Both Ends that have shifted how you view yourself or your artistry?
NICOLLE: We recorded the record at a studio called The Bunk in Poconos, Pennsylvania, and the producer, Matt, was really great to work with, because they definitely helped me work in a way that I've never worked before. Like I said, I'm used to that surgical cut and paste, overly produced way of doing it, whereas they're used to the more we're a live band that actually plays real music in real time. So the vocals, for example, I've recorded them one way and they were really suggestive on trying it a different way, and really just got me to break out of my comfort zone and try new things. I really appreciate it, because I feel like the record does sound like a band played it together live, because we did. I think that it feels just a lot more authentic. It feels a lot more genuine. This one is more personal to us all as a band, and I think it's also going to make my bandmates more excited to play with me because they got to write their own parts. The whole thing overall, just super real, super genuine live is something I haven't gotten the chance to experience before as a musician, so I'm really excited about it.
LUNA: Do you have a personal favorite song on the album — one that feels closest to your heart or most revealing who Hit Like a Girl is right now?
NICOLLE: “Keepsake Theory” was definitely one of all of our top favorites, really. That's why it's the first single, because I was so excited to get that out right away. My favorite song on the record is the opening track called “You're Giving Up,” which you guys will hear on March 27 when the album comes out. That one is my favorite, which is why the album starts with it.
LUNA: Have you taken any risks or experimented more — whether that’s lyrically, emotionally or sonically — with Burning at Both Ends compared to your previous releases like Heart Racer and what does that look like?
NICOLLE: I think allowing myself to be in a collaborative environment is a big risk for me personally, just because, historically, I have always done everything myself, and not that I am a control freak or anything, but relinquishing that creative control can be scary to a lot of people, but I was so excited to do that. It was fun to hold back a little bit and just be like, this is a live band record, and this is a good representation of how the songs will sound live. I feel like with this record, you get what you get. What you hear on the record is 99% of what you're going to hear when we play live.
LUNA: Hit Like a Girl strives to inspire other trans and queer artists. How do you hope listeners — especially your queer audience — can connect with or find power in this new era of music from you? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?
NICOLLE: I don’t often write lyrics about my experience as a trans person. I did once with our song, “No More Dysphoria,” and that was very cathartic for me, and a lot of people have connected with that song. I'm grateful for that, but at the same time, I also don't want to only be known as a trans or queer artist. I want people to respect me and appreciate the band and listen to the music, resonate with the music and the lyrics. It's important to me that people see me as a band or musician first, and then all my other personal identifiers after. I want people to resonate with the music because they've experienced heartache before, and if you've experienced queer heartache before, then you will extra understand, you'll extra connect and resonate with the lyrics. And that, I think, is also important to me too. I do want to cast a wide net, but I do want the queer and trans community to know it's actually for you. I also want everyone to be able to resonate and relate to the words as well. I do try to keep the lyrics vague enough in that realm, so that more people can relate. Subliminally, it's very specifically about a queer experience.
LUNA: What is fueling your fire right now that’s pushing you into this new era of the band?
NICOLLE: Moving to Philadelphia three years ago really sparked this new creative passion and flame, and it gave me a whole new, fresh outlook on being in a band. The first couple years as Hit Like a Girl, I was living in North Jersey, and that was fine. It was cool. I love my community there, but you're not near anything or anyone. It was really hard to create any semblance of a community when you know the only other musicians all live an hour away. It was really hard to feel connected to other musicians and bands.
But here in Philadelphia, everything's a lot more condensed, and everyone's a lot closer. It's a lot easier to connect with the community here and just seeing all the talent in the city, and going to shows every night and just seeing all these other bands just absolutely kill it and blow me away every single night is so inspiring. The Philadelphia music scene is completely unlike any other scene. I've been touring non stop for the past eight years, so I've gotten a good glimpse into a lot of other scenes in other cities in this country, and hands down, Philadelphia, takes the cake.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the upcoming year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
NICOLLE: I feel motivated. I feel so inspired. Our team over at Cryptid Records really believes in this project, and having people in your corner that really believe in you feels so good. I'm just so historically used to pursuing this thing by myself. Finally, having a group of people in my corner that are rooting for me just feels so good and drives me to want to do my best. I always wanted to do the best for me, but it's also really nice to do the best for the people that are rooting for you. That's a big motivator for me right now.
Next year, we've pretty much got the books full between February and May. In February, we're going on tour in California for five days to support our parents at this little festival at 924 Gilman called Valentine's Gay, so that'll be really fun. We're hitting up the Bay Area. We're hitting up San Pedro and we're also going to hit San Diego. In March, I booked a big benefit show for the nonprofit No More Dysphoria here in Philadelphia on March 6, at the First Unitarian Church. In April, we're playing a super sick fest that I can't talk about yet. In May, we're going on tour for two weeks to support our appearances at Stoopfest, and then we're playing Midwest Friends Fest.
LUNA: Is there anything I didn’t ask that you would like to add?
NICOLLE: We run a nonprofit organization called No More Dysphoria, and pretty much the whole mission is to help trans and gender non conforming and non binary people pay for different aspects of their transitions. Currently considering the very scary political climate, with Trump, RFK and the administration personally attacking trans people, I just want to let people know that things are scary right now, things are bleak, and the headlines are atrocious and they're very fear mongering, but I want trans people to remember that it's easier said than done. Believe me when I say that we'll get better. There's more of us than there are of them, and as long as you stick together and stick within your communities and ask people for help, please reach out to the people closest to you, because they will not see you as a burden, and they will love to help you. Right now, the FDA is trying to disband companies that sell chest binders, such as TomboyX. They're sending them cease and desist letters. If anybody is in need of a chest binder and you can't afford one, please reach out to me at nomoredysphoria@gmail.com.
Photo Credit: Mol White
