Interview + words by Lady Godiva

On day two at this years Levitation France, MOOF met up with Nadya Van Osnabrugge (guitar) and Jim Lujiten (drums) from Rotterdam-based five piece Tramhaus. Over the past few years the band have gained a solid fan base and media attention due to their incendiary live performances. Tramhaus live up to their reputation onstage and even exceeded expectations.

MOOF: You got kind of famous before releasing anything, do you think it’s the new normal to gain momentum because of your live shows or is it specific to post-punk where you need to be dramatic on stage? I’m thinking of some parallels between you and Deadletter, you drew attention with your performances first and both put out an EP in November of 2022. You played together, didn’t you?

Jim: Yes, they played a festival in Rotterdam, where we are from, Left of the Dial. We both played but not on the same day, so we never met. 

Nadya: Well, we played on the same day at The Great Escape.

Jim: To answer your question, how it started for us was not planned at all, because we started during the pandemic, it was lockdown, we had a lot of time to make a set, we did our thing and then things started opening up so when shows were allowed. We were the new band in Rotterdam,  so we got shows. We made an impression and that word of mouth went around super quickly. I think that’s the way and that’s why we are here now. The timing is right, people want to party and have loud live music and they want to go wild.  And us delivering that and something new, that combination was a surprise but also important to take us where we are. 

MOOF: There is a very active scene in Rotterdam. Which bands do you feel most akin to or do you actually like the diversity in the scene? 

Nadya: Well, I feel people really have their own sound in Rotterdam and most of us play in loud bands. But that’s maybe the only common thing that we have but everybody has their very own songwriting, structure, sound and presence on stage.

Jim: Alisha, we really respect her, she makes something we would never do. I can always hear when she makes something because it’s her own style. That’s what makes the Rotterdam scene fun. 

MOOF: What are the all time favorite artists that are really the inspiration for Tramhaus? 

Jim: Oh that’s such a hard question. 

Nadya: We come from such different backgrounds musically. 

MOOF: That’s how you make something that stands out, with each member’s touch. 

Jim: Everyone adds their spice to it, it’s super fun! I play drums but I grew up listening to a lot of American hardcore, emo and metal bands. I copied that a lot, we listen to Titify on the bus a lot. To Nadya: you’re more of the rock side. 

Nadya: Yeah more stoner, sludge, heavy. 

MOOF: How do you write? Does everyone come up with their own bits and then you discuss it?

Nadya: We don’t really have one formula, it depends on the song. Sometimes a person comes up with the whole thing and then we learn and add our spices to it, other times we’re just jamming in the rehearsal space, we’ve got five minutes until we need to go and something exists out of nowhere. Other times, we’ll go: “Oh I have this cool riff!” We start playing around and then molding it together. There’s not really one person or one way that we do it. It gives it freshness. 

MOOF: Go with the flow…

Nadya: Exactly. Sometimes we have two people running together at home, or three and then maybe someone has a voice recording that they send and we can mold it over a bit. 

Jim: Also, it gives us, I think, a very relaxed way of writing songs because if someone has to make all the songs, there’s a lot of pressure on that one person. Because we do it all together or someone has an idea, whenever it pops up, it feels really relaxed. 

Nadya: And also very equal, like everybody is respected in songwriting and ideas. It would be undemocratic if nobody had their say. 

Jim: And giving tips, that’s really nice! I feel like if we make something really nice and cohesive, like a group project, we do it all together and we help each other out and that’s the best of what we can make together. 

Nadya: Teamwork to make the dream work. 

MOOF: Being in a band is like family, like a relationship. Commitment to the band comes first. 

Nadya: Priorities ! 

Jim: Yeah, priorities. What I really like about the Tramhaus family feel is that we are on the road a lot together and we spend a lot of time together and it’s nice. We also respect each other’s boundaries. When someone is tired out, we say, “sit down, don’t worry, we’ll fix it!” So when we’ve had tours where someone becomes ill half way… “Just sit down, only do the show, you don’t have to clean up.” So we’re really helping each other out and it’s a lot of fun. 

MOOF: It must be exhausting too, you’ve been on the road a lot. 

Jim We counted last week. We’ve been playing shows for two years exactly. We’re over a hundred shows. Seventy of them were in 2022. I would say I love meeting new people, that’s what makes it fun for me and trying new foods and seeing new cultures. Especially festivals like this with nice weather, it’s ideal.

MOOF: The the perfect setting! 

Nadya: You’re on holiday and you do your favorite thing, which is playing music and talk about music with other people and see how they do their stuff, what equipment they use, how they sound check or what they do on the tour, in the van and you can just share experiences and learn so much from other people. Seeing new bands, get inspired by them, like yesterday we saw the Psychotic Monks. 

MOOF: We love them! One of our favourite live performances of Levitation. [I] was in a trance, having an out of body experience. They were the craziest band I’ve seen, in a good way. 

Jim and Nadya concur. 

Nadya: Really cool! And to experience moments like that with people who know you on a musical level is really nice cos you can look at one person and go, “I know!” Meeting new people can be really exhausting for me so it’s also a way to see, how can we function the set that we do? How can we do it in such a way that we hone in on our skills. Every time you can tell that the show after this one is going to be better than the one we did today or yesterday. 

MOOF: Are you looking forward to any bands tonight? 

Jim: I wanna see Porridge Radio. I’ve seen them once before in Rotterdam.

Nadya : Clemm, I haven’t seen them. 

Nadya: And Dandy Warhols, I didn’t even know they were still playing. I mean I know one song, guess which one ?!

Jim: It’s gonna be a “Bohemian” experience. 

Nadya: I’m curious to see how such a band moves on stage, if it feels like they’re still having fun. 

MOOF: Yeah sometimes when you see bands that have been around too long, they can be really mechanical. I understand it can be draining to perform but I can’t stand a band that looks bored on stage. You are fortunate to deliver your music. 

Nadya : Also, you’re an entertainer, it’s one of your jobs. 

Jim: I saw The Strokes last year at a festival last year and they had that automatic thing as well because they do this show a lot but I thought Julian Casablancas, when he talks, during the set, he’s still enjoying it because he was taking the piss at the audience. Their music is static, so they can do the bored look. 

MOOF: After three decades, performers should be still grateful to be around! 

Jim: It’s in my opinion the best job you can have. 

Nadya: For sure, it’s hard work but it’s so fun! 

MOOF: It’s living the dream but there’s definitely so much work behind it. 

Nadya: The further you go, the longer we’re in this band, the more you see there’s a whole team behind the band. So many people that you’ll never see on stage. You have no idea, you can only imagine and it’s only a tenth or a hundredth of the whole team. It’s insane! 

MOOF: That’s what The Psychotic Monks said in our previous interview, for a band to actually be able to perform, there are so many people behind it and a lot of people underestimate that because they ignore the full scope. 

Jim: And the amount of technicians that will clean this place tomorrow… the amount of technicians you will see walking around taking off the stage. It’s insane! If you’re just a visitor, it’s hard to comprehend. So much is going on backstage and it’s not just an open bar. 

MOOF: Do you have any favorite festivals in The Netherlands cos I know you have some great concept festivals. Not necessarily to perform but to attend? 

Jim: I really like Valkhof Festival in Nijmegen. It’s a free festival, they have a lot of parties around, going on in the city. A festival they do in the park. Parquet Courts played there. They do metal, grindcore but also rock, indie rock. We played there last year with Crack Cloud and Lumer. 

Nadya: I’m also really curious about Misty Fields cos we’re playing there and I met someone two days ago who was wearing a Misty Fields tee shirt and they said, “Oh you’re going to play there, it’s so cool!” It’s like a very small festival, kind of, considering bigger festivals. They have such big names but it’s very intimate, as far as I’ve heard. It’s almost a little secret that they have. People know about it but it’s not commercial. 

Jim : It’s only 1200, 1500 people. And they have bands like Shame, Gillaband…

MOOF: Tell us some things you like to listen to in the van.

Jim: When I’m sitting in the back with my headphones, I play a lot of ambient or Japanese hip hop and rock but if we’re driving and we’re listening together, we go tasteful ways, bands like Titify, new rock bands we like, Turnstile, the last record and sometimes we play a lot of hardcore bands. It goes all over the place and if we’ve had a lot of drinks and we go back, we play Captain Jack and the Singalongs and Scatman John.. Diverse, I would say. That was really funny, we had Aleem, the keys player of Crack Cloud in the van and we had a few drinks and we played “Freak on a Leash” by Korn and the scat part came on and Aleem was just sitting ther like, “is this what you always do?” And we just looked at him, “Yep!” This is how it goes, I like it, I wanna be here. 

Nadya: Sometimes it’s party time, sometimes it’s rock time and there’s never any quiet music on, personally yeah but not in the van. 

Jim: Road music, energetic! Gotta keep the driver awake. 

Nadya: Personally, when I’m in the back, I like to listen to Nick Cave or Swans. Very moody.  

MOOF: My last question. How would you define art?

Nadya : Wow, that’s a big question. I would say it’s a translation of what’s happening in your head and your heart. I don’t know the right word for it, the clever word. 

Jim: It’s making something visible out of experience, memories.

Nadya: Emotions.

Jim: Making it physical.

Nadya: It doesn’t have to be physical cos music isn’t physical. Something tangible. 

With thanks to Tramhaus for their participation.