Wil Andruschak

When did you get the idea to start your blog?

MC: About a month-and-a-half ago. We went out for an impromptu girls’ night right before our first post. There was pink champagne, party dresses and bicycles.

EB: We were talking about how we always talk about boys, that we know so many nice boys and that we need to feature them somehow.

MC: We needed to find a way to make a project where we could meet all the nice boys in the city.

EB: Pretty much.

So what characteristics constitute “a nice boy”?

MC: A nice boy is the kind of guy who you would want to take as your date to a wedding. He’s the kind of guy you would want to meet your mom. A nice boy would be one who you’d be proud to have on your arm.

EB: There were some other characteristics as well.

MC: They all have really amazing support systems and they really care about their families and friends. They’re all really passionate, really care about something and they’re driven. A lot of them are really involved in their community too.

EB: They all have really nice watches. Every single nice boy has a really nice watch.

What per cent of boys in Calgary do you think would qualify as nice?

MC: It depends on where you’re hanging out. I don’t know how many nice boys you’re going to find at the Roadhouse.

Let’s just say Kensington for the sake of the question.

EB: There’s probably quite a few nice boys.

MC: And there’s nice qualities in every person too. You just have to look for them. But math has never been my strong suit. I have an art degree.

EB: I have no idea what the percentage would be. Half and half.

MC: Next question.

How do you go about finding these boys?

MC: Mostly referrals. On the day we came up with the blog, we wrote down a list. Elyse always has a notebook and a pen on her. Off the top of our heads, we started to think of nice boys that we wanted to show to the Internet. It came so quickly. Before we knew it, we had a dozen guys. It was really cool to think about all the nice boys in our lives.

EB: We each had a list of 10 boys off of the top of our heads. We would talk to our girlfriends, and they would all have other ideas. It seemed like everybody that we talked to knew a nice boy that we could feature. It’s really cool.

MC: So most of the guys we have on our blog right now are guys who we know, and one was a boy that we stalked on the Internet.

Which guy was that?

MC: I don’t want to talk about it.

Define stalking.

EB: I saw him at a party once.

MC: Elyse-creepy-stalking.

EB: The typical girl stalking. Facebook profile pictures and Twitter.

At what point did you realize that this person was a nice boy?

MC: We were going through his profile pictures and we were like, “How does this guy have the Olympic torch in one picture, a violin in another picture, holding a cat in the next picture and rock climbing in the next?” He just seemed like a very well-rounded, super handsome and interesting person. We were like, “We have to meet this guy.”

EB: We also knew that he was friends with a couple of our really close friends, and they were like, “Yeah, he really is a nice guy.” So we got that confirmed.

What’s the process once you meet up with these guys?

MC: Basically, we choose a location or have them choose a location or they skateboard past my balcony and we yell for them to come upstairs.

EB: We do a lot of yelling at nice boys.

MC: I have a bunch of pre-set questions on my laptop. We ask them to talk about themselves first or they answer questions. A lot of times, they want to answer questions because they’re not used to being put on the spot. It’s really hard to just go up to somebody and say: “You’re going to be on the Internet. What’s your deal?” We talk, and it’s kind of like we’re all on a date. You’re getting to know somebody, but on a deeper level. I think that they’re more honest and it’s really about who they are and celebrating their niceness. We go through the questions, and Elyse jets in with her hilarious questions now and then. After that, Elyse and the nice boy go off and do a mini-photo shoot. And sometimes she takes photos while we’re talking.

EB: And it makes them feel really uncomfortable.

MC: Most of the photos where they’re smiling really big is because they’re laughing at something stupid I just said.

EB: It’s a great combo.

On that note, how do you get over the awkwardness that the nice boy will probably feel after meeting two randoms for the first time and getting all these questions thrown at them?

EB: Making fun of ourselves.

MC: We don’t get over the awkwardness.

EB: They see how awkward we are and realize that they’re probably not quite as awkward as we are.

MC: By the end of it, we all end up being friends. What’s cool about what happens is that these guys start out as strangers or acquaintances or whatever, and now we run into them all the time. We spend time together. It’s really, really cool.

One of my colleagues, who is not going to be named, suggested that this blog could just be an elaborate dating website. What do think about that?

MC: No.

EB: We’ve heard that before, but it’s not.

MC: A lot of people are like, “Is this is a matchmaking site?” People have been texting me and saying that they really want to meet Chris Schroeder. I text back and say that we’re not a matchmaking site and that we’re not trying to objectify these guys. We’re trying to place them on this pedestal and say, “Look at how wonderful this nice person is.”

EB: And just saying that: “Look, there are really nice guys in this city. And they’re out there. So let’s look at these boys and say: ‘Awesome: Those guys are great.’ Let’s celebrate that and leave it at that.”

So would you perhaps be looking for one of these nice boys to hook up with?

EB: We get first dibs.

MC: I was talking to one of the nice boys about having a nice-boy picnic at the end of the summer with all the nice boys and Elyse and I, and he’s like, “You and Elyse would just love that.”

Have you had any boys decline the opportunity to be interviewed?

MC: Yup.

What reasons did they give?

EB: I think some of them feel awkward about having something so public about themselves on the Internet. That’s definitely a big one. And then some of the boys don’t feel like they’re actually a nice boy.

MC: That’s a common response. I think we have pretty good judgment when it comes to guys in our lives, but a lot of the guys we think would be nice boys say that they’re not nice.

EB: I think they’re also afraid of the nice-boy label because it has such a stigma associated with it. Like, “Nice boys don’t win,” and all that stuff. And we’re trying to change that. But I think that a lot of guys still feel like because they’re the nice boy, they’re going to be last. They don’t want to be featured as a nice boy because they think that girls won’t like them.

MC: But girls like nice boys!

How many posts have you had so far?

MC: Six. No, seven including the streets. Rob, Jon, Chris, Evan, Chris. Wait. Who’s six? Oh. Shane. And the streets.

So when you’re walking down the streets, how do you figure out who’s a nice boy?

EB: It’s something in their eyes.

MC: We yell at them. If they respond without yelling back at us then they’re a nice boy. Just kidding. We roll around on our bikes. We’ve only done one street feature so far, but I think we’re going to do one every few weeks. We were going to try to do it every week, but I don’t think that there are enough neighbourhoods. We both have full-time jobs. Elyse is a full-time photographer, and I’m an artist. So we just don’t have the time to do it every week.

EB: It’ll be a special feature.

MC: The first time we did, we just got on our bikes, picked Seventeenth Avenue, and rolled around determined to find nice boys. The first place we went to was Beano but we didn’t find anybody there. So we kept rolling around. We went to Tubby Dog and we found our friend James, who is a really, really nice guy but does not want to admit it. We harassed him into letting us take his photo. We kept rolling, and found guys that were break-dancing. They were so sweet to us. They were doing a video for their blog too. They were so cute, and were so nice to us. One of them offered to teach me how to dance too. And then we came here [Kawa Espresso Bar] and met Kim — who works here — and met his friend — who Elyse knows — and she’s just like: “This is the nicest guy. He’s never said anything means about anybody.” He was so sweet, and we took her word for it. And then we rolled down and met some guys who worked for Sled Island, who were just super enthusiastic and really, really kind.

EB: I think we usually just spot guys who look like they’re having a good time and smiling. When we saw the guys from Sled Island, I think the reason we approached them was first of all, we thought they were really cute, and second of all, they looked like they were just chilling. They were smiling and enjoying the sun, so we went and talked to them. Once you talk to them, you can kind of get a gauge.

MC: But the street feature comes with a disclaimer that we can’t verify whether they are actually nice. Or single.

EB: Because all the other boys are single.

MC: For now.

What’s going to happen when you run out of nice boys in Calgary?

MC: No. Never. There’s always nice boys.

EB: It’s true.

MC: And how many people are born every day, James?

EB: We can go younger if we need to.

I don’t even know how to follow that one up. Do you think there’s a perception in Calgary that there’s a lack of nice boys?

MC: I think that there’s a perception by single women that there’s a lack of nice boys.

EB: Definitely. And that there’s a lack of nice boys who are creative and interesting and passionate and well-rounded and who care about our city. I think if we’ve seen anything in the last little bit, it’s that there are a lot of nice people who care about the community and are in Calgary.

MC: For the longest time, I was adamant that boys are either nice or exciting, but never both. But now I’m starting to learn that there are nice guys who are doing exciting things and that you can get excited about a nice boy.

How many hits have you had on the website?

MC: We’ve got a few thousand from over 200 cities.

How are people coming across it?

MC: Twitter, maybe. Some Facebook. There’s all the hashtags on the post. I tagged “Nutella” on Chris Schroeder’s post. Maybe that’s why he got so many hits. People are Googling “Nutella.”

EB: Nutella and nice boys.

Sounds like a good combination.

MC: There was some girl in Germany who was so excited to find Chris.

So how would you say that the reception to the blog has been so far?

MC: I think that it’s been really good.

EB: Yeah. I’d say that 98 per cent has been postitive feedback.

And the other two per cent?

EB: It hasn’t been negative, but just been like: “What? I don’t get it. So you’re just putting nice boys on a blog and putting them on the Internet?”

MC: We’ve even had single guys who are really excited about the website, who are just like: “I can’t believe I’m excited to follow a blog about single guys.”

EB: I think that they’re excited to see positive articles about nice boys.

MC: I love our blog.