TRAMHAUS Talks Chaos, Reverie, and the Pulse Between ‣ CVLTARTES

Tramhaus, the post-punk sensation from Rotterdam, has been turning heads with their electrifying fusion of shoegaze atmospheres and punk rock intensity. On stage, the five members merge into a singular, magnetic force, drawing audiences into a whirlwind of emotion and raw energy. Despite their relatively short time together, they have already toured extensively, from a successful 2023 Japan tour to a month-long European journey in autumn 2024, capturing hearts and earning critical acclaim.

Their debut album, “The First Exit,” released in September 2024, showcases a sound that is both expansive and intimate, reflecting the diverse musical tastes and fiery synergy of the band. Tramhaus continues to push boundaries, promising live performances that are immersive, unrelenting, and unforgettable.

In our interview, we explore “The First Exit,” the inspirations behind their music, the alchemy of their live shows, and their much-anticipated appearance at the Holzstock Indie Festival in Romania.

Tramhaus is often described as a post-punk sensation, but the chaos and control in your sound suggest something deeper. For those who haven’t seen you live yet, who is Tramhaus, and what are you bringing to the stage?

Nadya van Osnabrugge: Tramhaus is basically just a group of friends who enjoy making raw and expressive music together. I think we bring our friendship and our pleasure of making music together with us on stage. A lot of times you can catch us smiling or making weird faces at one another. I think this adds to the controlled chaos we try to create on stage.

“The First Exit” feels like an emotional eruption, precise yet unpredictable. What kind of exit were you seeking when putting that record together, and what did you find instead?

We weren’t trying to seek or pursue any kind of exit when we made this record. We wrote the record in two weeks and recorded it in ten days, so there wasn’t a lot of time to actively think about the meaning, or consider even the potential, of what we were making at the time.

The material that you hear on this record has been secretly building in all five of us for the last couple of years. Material that we didn’t know existed in any of us, but came pouring out when we sat down together and got to work.

Your live shows are known to be electric, almost ritualistic. What happens to you, internally, when the lights dim and the first note hits?

If I may be so bold to speak for all of us, this is probably (roughly) what we’re thinking at that moment: “Yay let’s go! / I’m so happy we can do this so often. / Let’s fucking gooooo / I hope I don’t make the same mistakes as last time / Goddamm it is hot in here already”

But besides those chaotic thoughts we have two main ideals: to have a good time, and to have a good show.

Rotterdam is often portrayed as raw, industrial, in motion — does the city bleed into your music, or is Tramhaus a way of escaping it?

In our first couple of songs, the scenery of Rotterdam seeped through in the lyrics, and maybe even in the sounds that we used. But since we’re on the road quite a lot these days I think that influence has evaporated. I wouldn’t say that we are deliberately escaping it, but our schedule is the main reason why we’re not at home as often as we used to.

You’ve played everywhere from packed European clubs to stages in Japan. What’s the one moment on tour that still echoes in your bones when everything else goes quiet?

There was this one time where we were playing in Amsterdam during Halloween. A lot of things went wrong during the set and I almost peed my pants laughing, because suddenly the songs didn’t make a lick of sense anymore and the absurdity of what we were doing caught up to us. I think afterwards we all said: “well, let’s make sure that never happens again, but that was funny as hell”.

You recently performed at Holzstock Indie Festival, a much smaller, more intimate setting, where music collides with nature. How did you feel that your sound, usually explosive, interacted with that kind of quiet wilderness?

I think it complemented each other nicely and, for the duration of our set, we have tried to break the quiet that the wilderness can sometimes evoke in us humans. And wow, how did the audience react!

What kind of tension or release did you hope to leave hanging in the forest air after your set at Holzstock? What did you want the crowd to carry home with them?

We always try to create a space for people to just be who they are. If people feel a little bit less heavy, or a little step closer to who they want to be, I think we would call that a successful night – and we have had a great night there!

Your music moves between shoegaze and punk rock — dreamlike yet volatile. How do you find balance in that collision? Or do you try not to?

We are a very democratic band, and this also applies to our songwriting process. We all have a moment to weigh in on the song and sounds and the development of the two. Some of us lean more towards the dreamlike music, and others more towards the volatile music. The combination of all of us, together, creates this push and pull between those two worlds.

What’s next for Tramhaus? Is there a new direction forming, or are you still riding the waves of “The First Exit”?

Right now we are still playing off of the first exit but we are slowly making plans for album number two.