„Don’t let the thing you love destroy you” – Tramhaus on art, trust, and avoiding punk clichés

Tramhaus isn’t here to follow the rulebook. Their music cuts through post-punk, noise rock, and indie with an uncompromising edge, constantly morphing with diverse influences. But beyond the chaos, there’s an ethos of trust, openness, and raw emotion. As they put it, “Don’t let the thing you love destroy you”—a sentiment that fuels both their intense songwriting process and the balancing act of life on the road. In this interview, the Rotterdam-based band reflects on their rapid rise, artistic philosophy, and why punk’s easy anger isn’t enough.

Your music has been described as a blend of post-punk, noise rock, and indie rock. How do you navigate these genres to create your unique sound?

I feel like we take tastes from these different genres and add it into our own special blend. We know very well we stand on the shoulders of the ones who came before us, it would be vain to not say so. However, we definitely give our own twists to these sounds and techniques, in a way which sounds refreshing. 

Each band member brings different musical tastes, from US hardcore punk to 70’s soul and Scottish folk. How do these diverse influences converge in your songwriting process? 

By bringing in these different influences our sound keeps on morphing and evolving – due to this songs can take weird twists sometimes. It can happen that one guitar plays a strong almost ‘poppy’ chord progression while the other is playing something completely dissonant and unhinged on top of it. It keeps the edges sharp so to say. In that sense we are uncompromising: if we think it is cool, it will end up on the record. 

You’ve mentioned a desire to avoid punk clichés. Can you elaborate on how you achieve this in your music and image?

We stray more and more away from the punkrock cliches about the easy choice of being angry at the world without having to look within. I feel that smoke screen of outward anger can be withholding for real change. We try to make our music to be an inward as well as an outward journey. Our last album has moved away from a materialistic paradigm, to a more holistic point of view.

Within just a few years, you’ve played major European festivals and international gigs. What have been the biggest surprises or challenges of this fast-growing journey?

Time is always a challenge, you basically want to do everything at once, but combining playing live a lot and writing a new record can be quite a struggle.

Many emerging bands struggle to break out, but Tramhaus has quickly built a strong following. What do you think sets you apart from other post-punk and indie bands today?

We had the luck we came straight out of Covid; people were hungry and we provided what they wanted. In the end I think this ‘success’ has to do a lot with luck as well. Nontheless, we take our music very seriously, we set high standards to ourselves and to the people we work with. 

Your debut album, “The First Exit,” has been described as a “statement of intent.” What message were you aiming to convey with this album, and how does it reflect the band’s ethos?

It’s a record about opening up, trust, friendship, love and growth. Making and sharing art can be very, very scary and only with the right people you’ll be able to open up enough to be able to make good art. I feel like this record is a proof of that, the writing process was very intense and intimate and could’ve only be done while completely  opening up to each other. In that sense it 100% reflects us as a band. When you’re on the road most of the year you have to be able to trust each other and give everyone their space to share their feelings and ideas. If you ask me it’s a necessity within a band. 

The album cover features blue skies torn by the intrusion of a naked hairy leg. What is the significance of this imagery, and how does it relate to the album’s themes? 

This image is open for interpretation, as we like most art to be. I like to think its art for art’s sake. 

The album features tracks with intriguing titles like “Semiotics” and “Ffleur Hari.” Can you share the stories or themes behind these songs?

As mentioned earlier The First Exit is about opening up, trust, the lack of it, feeling safe, feeling unsafe, love and pain. I could go on about the themes and feelings we sing about but I’d rather leave that for the listener to unravel. 

The album is loosely centered around themes of coming out and liberation. How did these concepts influence your songwriting and the overall narrative of the record? How did you approach translating such personal experiences into your music?

Being able to share these topics within the band has been part of that approach, although I must say this wasn’t intended at all. We just started writing because we felt like it was time to do so and after a few weeks and a lot of intense work in our practice room we had written a record which turned out to be very personal. Though I do think that the emotions and topics on the record are universally applicable.

Your music video for “Once Again” utilizes random, untitled YouTube videos from lockdown. What inspired this concept, and how does it relate to the song’s message?

Almost all our videos are made by Peter Marcus, he’s been a friend of the band since the beginning. We love his creativity and he always comes up with the most interesting ideas. When we told Marcus about the song and its meaning he almost directly came up with the idea to use nameless YouTube videos. He told us that a lot of people use YouTube as an archive and that it has thousands and thousands of quite personal videos on it. How it relates to the song and its message is all up to the viewer.

Reflecting on your journey from formation to releasing your debut album, what have been the most significant challenges and triumphs for the band?

Being able to do what we love is the biggest truimph there is. In another universe I would be depressed as fuck working a nine till five deskjob. The challenge is to stay sane while doing this; touring is exhausting and takes a big toll on you, physically as well as mentally. It’s all a balancing act. Don’t let the thing you love destroy you.

Brace yourself for a night of raw energy and unfiltered passion—Tramhaus is bringing their explosive live show to A38 Hajó on February 16th. Expect sharp edges, relentless grooves, and a performance that hits just as hard as their music. Don’t miss it!