Written by Maddy Howell
For a band built on chaos, humour and a complete refusal to be pinned down to just one niche, Electric Callboy are perhaps surprisingly serious about getting things right.
With their 2022 album TEKKNO marking a new beginning for the German genre-obliterators, their electro-infused metal party anthems have now exploded internationally, carving out one of the most singular spaces in heavy music.
Embracing an identity rooted in contradiction, their sound is part metalcore savagery, part dancefloor detonation, part comedy fever dream and part arena-ready pop vibrancy. Colliding brutal breakdowns with Euro-trance synths, glossy pop hooks and everything else they can possibly think of, they’ve found themselves a thrilling space to exist within, but one that also creates its own kind of pressure.
Once people fully expect you to be unpredictable, where do you go next?
For Electric Callboy’s Kevin Ratajczak and Nico Sallach, that question is what sat at the heart of seventh album TANZNEID.
“When we wrote TEKKNO, it was a totally different time,” Kevin explains.
“We had a lot of time at home, studio time, and it was all about the music, focusing, not being distracted from anything.”
“Back then, nobody was expecting anything from us,” Nico adds.
“This time, there was a lot of pressure on us. It’s the same for every artist, because you want to give yourself, and everyone out there, the best product possible. Now we’ve finished it though, I’m very confident that we produced that album with TANZNEID.”
Now a global force with countless eyes pointed in their direction, it wasn’t only the pressure of expectation that felt more demanding either. Constantly on the road and working on expanding their explosive live show, there was little time to luxuriate in a studio whilst spit-balling ideas for album seven. Instead, the initial seeds for what would become TANZNEID were sown within stolen moments between tours, scribbled down backstage and in hotel rooms while the machine kept moving.
From an outside perspective, it seems like a pretty overwhelming process, but the pressurized environment in which this album was forged was in fact integral to its creation. With the stakes higher than ever and their ambitions expanding at an unstoppable rate, from the earliest conversations one thing was clear: this was never going to be a safe follow-up to TEKKNO.
“We created this album outside of our comfort zone, because we had to,” Kevin shrugs.
“We realised that being on tour so much means that’s just what we have to do. Otherwise, it would take four years for an album to be finished. It was a great learning experience, because you only learn when you step outside of your comfort zone.”
Electric Callboy have always understood that, especially for a band like theirs, music cannot exist in isolation.
Ever since we were plunged into the neon-lit, 80s-inspired universe of ‘Hypa Hypa’, there’s been everything from costumes and characters to videos and choreography to consider. That 360-degree thinking has only intensified this time around, with each one of them constantly imagining how the songs on TANZNEID would exist beyond the speakers.
“When you write new music, you have to think about the live situation, the show, the entertainment factor, the video… All of that is so important,” Kevin explains.
“It’s a lot, but really the pressure that we had after TEKKNO was more in our heads than anywhere else,” Nico adds.
“We are a bunch of perfectionists, and that’s the biggest problem. We could have released a lot of songs, and people might have liked them, but we didn’t because we always felt like there was something missing. That pressure is always living in our heads.”
“That’s the complicated thing that happens when your passion becomes your job,” Kevin continues.
“When we write new music, the first thing that we have to do is be satisfied with it on our own. We have to like it. But if nobody else out there likes it, you can shut your whole shop down. That is always in your head, but you have to get rid of it. That pressure is not good for your creativity.”
Luckily, Electric Callboy have one enormous advantage: their fans don’t want them to behave normally. If anything, they want the exact opposite.
“We are one of those bands that have the freedom to do whatever we like to do,” Nico smiles.
“We’ve never stuck to one genre. We don’t need to because our fans don’t actually want that. They want something new. They want something that surprises them. Whenever we go into the studio and we have a super stupid idea, we can actually do it without hesitating. That’s a big pro.”
That freedom is the driving force behind TANZNEID. It’s what allows the title track to fuse Euro-trance and metalcore into something you don’t know whether to dance or mosh to, it’s what enables a sonically ridiculous song like ‘Elevator Operator’ to make complete sense, and it’s what gives the band room to treat the silliest sides of themselves with the same respect as the emotionally sincere.
Still, being allowed to do anything does not mean doing everything carelessly. In fact, the only reason Electric Callboy works is because of how tightly engineered their chaos is, especially when it comes to the live show.
Now playing the biggest rooms of their career, they’re constantly thinking of ways to expand their show and create special moments for their fans, and that’s been especially true throughout the creation of TANZNEID.
What’s abundantly clear throughout these songs is that Electric Callboy understand their self-assigned duty at the deepest level. They’re here to create music to move to, music that people can lose themselves in whilst sharing sweaty embraces with both their closest friends and total strangers. That spirit emanates from the title of TANZNEID. A word coined by the band, roughly meaning “dance envy”, it captures that irresistible instinct to move when the beat takes over.
“You give another perspective to a song when you play it live,” Kevin says.
“The main purpose of this album is to take you out of your everyday life. If you need a little time out, we want you to listen to our music, go to a show, and just enjoy yourselves. Afterwards, the problems of everyday life will still be there, but your batteries will be recharged. That’s what we love to do for people.”
That passion carries into the album’s collaborations, too, bringing in some genuine dream names for Kevin and Nico. In fact, no bucket list tick could have felt bigger than teaming up with The Offspring on ‘Let The Good Times Roll’.
After the punk legends asked to speak with the band at Belgium’s Graspop Metal Meeting, it transpired that both Dexter Holland and Noodles were fans. From there, everything happened incredibly organically.
“The Offspring, come on,” Kevin grins.
“They’re a band we’ve always looked up to. We grew up with their music, and they actually made us buy our first guitars. We were like, is this really happening right now?”
“The collaboration wasn’t even intentional,” he continues.
“After we met them, we went back to writing and all of a sudden had this song with a real punk vibe. We thought it might be a cool song to ask Dexter to appear on, if he was down. We are still starstruck. They say never meet your heroes, but it worked out amazingly for us.
“We met Dexter in Los Angeles for the video afterwards and had such a great time,” Nico adds.
“We met his family, and they’re all just super kind, nice people. He’s so easy to work with and doesn't complain about anything. He was just down with any of our ideas.”
Really, it comes back to finding those people who just get it. People who are in on the joke, but who also understand just how important it is to land on the right punchline. Those who can be funny, absurd, and brilliantly vibrant, but also know that nothing they create can ever be even remotely throwaway.
Someone else who has understood that mission in its purest form is Frank Zummo, who first joined Electric Callboy behind the drumkit back in 2024. Best known for his time in Sum 41, he has quickly become far more than a hired drummer, establishing himself as an essential part of the band’s latest era.
“First of all, he’s just a great guy,” Nico says.
“He learned our whole set in Australia within five hours and was brave enough to jump on stage with a band full of people he didn’t know.”
“He’s willing to work, too,” he continues.
“He has a lot of ideas, and he wants to push the whole Electric Callboy project forward all the time. He’s not only a great drummer, but he’s also become a great friend. He’s ambitious, and it’s like finding a missing puzzle piece.”
Kevin laughs that Frank has also brought “the fitness back to Electric Callboy,” encouraging the band to work out between interviews and stay sharper on the road. But more important than that is his complete lack of ego.
“Even though he’s doing so much for us, and he’s so ambitious, he’s not someone that wants to stand in the front row all the time. He’s a great team player,” Nico says.
“When you look at most bands that have broken up, it was because of two big egos,” Kevin adds.
“It’s very important when you’re standing in the spotlight that you share it, that you give each other credit, and that you still have respect towards each other.”
That foundation of trust is what allows Electric Callboy to keep pushing forward with full faith in the craziness they’ve now built. It works because they know what they’re capable of, they know the potential that lies ahead of them, but also because they are careful never to confuse confidence with complacency.
They know the stakes they’re up against, and they know it could all disappear tomorrow. That’s exactly why they’re seizing the present moment with everything they have.
“I’m happy with everything that we have achieved so far, and we want to go higher,” Nico says.
“We want to go faster. We want to push everything to the limit.”
“Of course, you have to be ambitious, and you have to have dreams to reach your goals. But at the same time, you can’t just live in the clouds. You have to be realistic” Kevin nods.
“All we can focus on is the present, but we know exactly what we’re going to do next,” he finishes.
“When we’re done with the TANZNEID tour, we’re going to go back to the studio and work on some new material. We have so many ideas, and I can’t wait.”
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Tanzneid, the new album from Electric Callboy arrrives August 7th from Century Media Records. Pre-order the release - HERE
