Interviews

Nico and Kevin - Electric Callboy ‘Australia Gave Everything Back’

Georgia Haskins

Dec 3, 2025

8 min read

If you’re a fan of Electric Callboy, it’s like the heavens opened up and God gifted you with the ultimate power in return of selecting one of the coolest bands in the world to support. Since their first appearance at Good Things Festival, the electric and eclectic German outfit has returned almost every year since, including their biggest tour to date in 2026. Headlining some of our biggest arenas with the likes of Ice Nine Kills and Coldrain, Callboy’s identity in Australia is not one to be undermined.

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Now, if it isn't the usual suspects, Electric Callboy! I am beyond thrilled that you're coming back to Australia. But I have to wonder, do you have some blood oath with our government that sees you coming back time and time again?

Kevin: We pay a lot of money to go on these tours because we love the Australian weather. We love the Australian people. I think the vibe is something very different, and that's why we always love to come back. But we knew that from the very first time we were lucky enough to tour your country. But to be honest, it's working great over there. It's working so great. It's one of the farthest away countries from our home, and we get some of the best support on this globe, and we are absolutely thankful for that.

Nico: It's really crazy. It all started with the Good Things festivals, and right now, we are able to play huge venues in Australia, which is stunning for us. It's just crazy.

Well, it's funny that you mentioned the weather and your family. In your last chat with Wall of Sound at Good Things Festival, you revealed that your partners and your wives have complained that you keep leaving them in the German winter in favour of the Australian summer. Is anyone coming along for the ride this time?

Nico: No, not yet. Not yet. Our kids are not old enough yet, but once they are, we will probably take them with us because for us, it's actually… I mean, yeah, it's a job, and we take that seriously, but it's also a second vacation for us, like a second summer. That's why our wives are always super jealous because they have to…

Kevin: Jealous is an easy word! Sometimes they are really MAD. They’re mad at us because they're at home having their jobs as well, and they take care of everything at home. Sometimes Instagram can betray you because when our wives look at our Instagram, it's like, we’re having the best time.

Nico: Sitting in a whirlpool.

Kevin: While she has baby puke on her chest. Sometimes it's a little bit frustrating, let's say, but we always try to take our families with us if it's possible. And Australia, we talked about Japan, for example, countries that they don't usually go, and that would be amazing to bring them one day.

Australia obviously has been privileged to have you so many times. I think Australian fans have seen you go through a metamorphosis. We've seen you in the daytime during festivals. We've seen you at night during festivals. We've had some headline shows, but now you're taking over some of the biggest headline shows you've done here. Does it feel like you're reaching your full form finally in front of Australians?

Kevin: That's a good question.

Nico: It's like a butterfly!

Kevin: Yeah, it's like our whole band's history. We've been through everything. We played in these little youth centres in the beginning. I think this is very important to appreciate what you reach, what states you reach. The thing is, we like what happened in the past, and we like every single step that we took, but we also like bringing a bigger production to present something more to the fans.

Nico: The problem is that we don't even know what the final form is. We just keep going. We want to grow.

Kevin: We always keep growing, like, Oh, now I'm a butterfly. Who knows? Maybe, Oh, no, please stop. Please stop. I'm becoming warm again!

Nico: You never know what is coming. It's like living the moment, enjoying every second. I don't know.

We have goals, sure. But right now, it's just the first goal we have is playing those amazing shows in Australia. Then it's like, let's see what we can do next and what is possible.

Kevin: But we have to admit, Australia is a beautiful country, yet you are isolated, and it happens so fast there. We've been through a lot more in many other countries on this planet, especially in Germany. It feels like a dream. Going so far away from home and then taking some extra steps really quickly. We absolutely appreciate that.

Nico: Plus, you can't really feel the success because going there once a year and playing festivals is another thing, because the people are there. If you are playing there or not, this festival is a huge thing. Playing single shows there or our own shows, our own headline shows is something different. But this is going to happen every second here. What happened over these two years, it's just crazy.

Kevin: You can't really [gauge it]... You get some messages. You have some Australian friends by now on Instagram or social media platforms, but you never really know. We only see the sales and we're like, Holy, holy, you know? Yeah.

Did you have any... I know, obviously, you say that it's hard to pin down, but personally, have you had any moments where you're like, Oh, my God, this is crazy. They love us. Was there a particular show that comes to mind?

Nico: I would pick the very first Good Things Festival, actually. That was such a great journey for us. From the first step out of the plane to the last step back into the plane. It was just a fever dream. That was a whole new ground for us. We didn't know what to expect. Playing the first festivals there at daytime, seeing that the people are completely freaking out, that was the most surprising thing for us, I would say.

Kevin: It made us so proud to be newcomers on that festival, being placed on the bill, which was very, very cool for us. The total first-time experience, coming out of the plane, breathing this air, It's different seeing these different things and getting to know the culture. You don't know it since you live there, but when you come to Australia, (I'm sure you have also different people). But in general, the people are pretty laid back, easy people. You go in a business hotel, for example. I remember that, at buffet, a morning breakfast buffet. There was this businessman, very well dressed. He was talking to us! In Germany, it's like people would be a little bit more... You would expect them to be a little bit more cocky. But then everybody down to earth as far as we got to know that. Very cool. And this, for me, is the same.

Nico: I do remember that after the last festival we played on the first run, I think it was three days, right? Yeah.

I just came off stage sitting right behind the stage and started crying just because I didn't know where to put all of my emotions and feelings.

Kevin: Too many impressions.

Nico: That was crazy. I just remember that we were sitting right next to each other there like, What the fuck is happening?

Kevin: The people, they've freaked out at the shows. We can give as much as we want, but if the people don't respond to it. It's not a good show. But every time we played Australia, the people gave everything back in this very same second we gave it. This is a wonderful feeling as an artist, I can tell you.

People still talk about it. From that year onwards, you were still one of the most talked about acts. When anyone ever brings up Good Things, it's like, “Were you there when Electric Callboy filled up the space and people were climbing trees and climbing ladders to try and see them?” It's great that it's still in your mind because it's in every single Australian's mind since that day.

Kevin: That is so crazy.

Obviously, you've had a few other shows that aren't just festivals. If we go back to the last show, you had acts like Future Static opening for you, which really honed into the rave culture side of Electric Callboy. This year, we're getting the likes of Ice Nine Kills and Coldrain, which takes a very heavy approach with your openers. Was this something you thought about, like bringing this dark energy, or it's just something that naturally clicked this time around?

Nico: Well, we know Coldrain. We actually met them. We played together. These are very nice guys, great musicians, and they have that... I would say it's metal, yeah, sure. But they also have those super melodic choruses and very catchy choruses. They’ve been making music for maybe 20 years now. This band is not new at all.

Kevin: What we care about is the modern energy that artists bring on stage. When we watch artists, no matter if we know them or not, it's about how do they do their show? Do they bring something new on stage? If this whole interaction with the crowd is what we would call a modern entertainment interaction, we love it. No matter what music it is, we mix so many different styles together. We have to say it's not only that we can choose from a lot of bands, but also we have to choose from the bands that are available because, of course, every band has their schedule, and you have to align those schedules in some way. We thought we were very lucky to have Ice Nine Kills and Coldrain with us.

Nico: The cool thing about Ice Nine Kills is actually that we share one DNA string because these guys are doing a lot with their dresses and how they appear on stage. It's very, how would you say that? Like theatrical. You know what I mean?

Kevin: You get entertained.

Nico: It's not just a live show where somebody's pushing the play button, and you can listen to the record. It's entertaining.

Kevin: It's about the whole show, and we claim that for us as well. I think this is a fit.

You stole my word, so now I'm not going to seem very clever. But when I think of bands with theatrics, I think of you, and I think of Ice Nine Kills! In that sense, would there ever be room for a collaboration? And what in the world would it sound like if a horror band and a Callboy got together?

Kevin: Why not? I mean, we're always open to collaborations, and if there is a common idea for something, we're always down. The question is always time. Time is going so fast these days. But if I think about a collaboration with the Ice Nine Kills, why do I think about some of our characters getting beheaded? Just imagine, ‘We Got The Moves’ and just the wig with the head somewhere.

Nico: Or like shrink heads. Just all the characters.

Kevin: I love horror movies, so I'm a big fan.

Nico: The combination of horror and humour is actually a good thing. You could actually throw both of them into a pot and see what's happening.

Kevin: So many things combine it. Like so many horror movies. I'm thinking about a Terrifier, for example.

They did a collaboration. It's perfect because, of course, it's brutal, it's gory, but at the same time, it's a little bit funny. It's just some fun.

Not only because he's a clown. It's not like evil. You always have this little humorous aspect about it.

I want to also jump onto your new music for this tour. The tour is named after your latest single. Can you tell me about what comes next? Is it the name of the album? Is there an album coming? Do you have anything that's unlocked?

Kevin: We can tell you something. This year has been very hard for us, and not only in a negative way. There was a lot to do for us. We had a lot of wonderful shows, festivals, headline shows. The downside about it is that you don't get to be in the studio too much and be creative. We hear about bands that can write their music on tour and stuff…

Nico: Not us.

Kevin: We always tried it. It never happens, never works. The thing is, we are close to finishing an album, but we don't like to be pushed towards a deadline- that's death for all creativity. When we come home, even in December, we're going to take our time, finish some songs. ‘Tanzneid’ was the idea, actually. It's funny. Some elevator operator in Chicago gave us the idea for ‘Elevator Operator’. The person that played the elevator operator, Uke Bosse, he's with us today. When we danced during the video shoot, he was like, “Oh, you're all dancing and I have to wait backstage. I'm getting Tanzneid”, which translates to dance envy. I see you dance and I'm envy about you. Envy about it. That's not a word in German.

Nico: That was actually the main idea for the song.

Kevin: We thought we would take it, Tanzneid!. That's funny. We took it, and we loved that concept, having Tanzneid!

Nico: The other thing about that album is actually that writing a record is always a process. You start, and once you come near the end and you think you have everything together, you start listening to the tracks that you recorded back then, back in the days. We had the problem that there were some songs that we just didn't feel anymore. For us, it's always the same thing.

We need to love what we give the people. You know what I mean? If we don't like it anymore, how could we expect them to like it?

I don't know. It's always a crazy thing. We decided to just cut off some songs and then do them from scratch again. Start again because we want to give them the best quality that we can give them.

Kevin: But we can tell you, and that's what we can tell you, it's not going to last that long anymore.

Nico: No, definitely not.

Kevin: We're coming to the end of the songwriting process, so we might be good very soon.

I guess maybe on a little bit more of a sombre note, you said that sometimes you struggle writing on the road. What, for you guys personally, inspires you? What makes you pick up that pen again and makes you feel alive?

Kevin: There are always two things that inspire us the most. It's a good story, a funny good story. It can be serious, it can be funny. But it’s also life, actually. When you go through your life and you know you're working on songs, you're much more open-minded for potential topics for a song.

Nico: This is actually very inspiring. Very inspiring.

Kevin: It's the simple things. Take ‘Elevator Operator’. That was just that guy operating the elevator. But it was so funny for us. When you take that as a base, our mind starts creating things and we're making fun of it. This is how actually the good songs start to evolve.

Nico: But it's also about making new friends, I don't know, getting different point of views. I don't know. Life isn't boring. Like Kevin said.

Kevin: Most of the time, we have our guitar player, Daniel, starting with a riff or something or a simple idea of a hook, something that is very simple and that gives you some... I don't know, a mood. It represents something. You can't listen to a song and not have a mood if you're into music.

Nico: We actually said once that if Daniel is composing anything and we don't have any pictures in our head, like any visuals, this is not going to be a song. I don't know. It sounds crazy, but we need that. I don't know. There needs to be pictures in our heads.

Kevin: Exactly. Whatever you sing, whatever you sing about, what melody, what the lyrics may be, it has to be a match with the instrumental. Totally. Only in combination can it totally consume you. That's what we always aim for.

One final question before you go, and I've got to get the scoop so I can get prepared. What is the dress code for this tour? Are we ditching the lycra? Are we wearing the disco balls? What do you want to see out in the field of people? What are we wearing?

Kevin: Well, we don't want to be too diplomatic, but we have so many different outfits in our music videos, and it's such an appreciation of our work when people not only wear a jacket, but most likely, cosplay us. We need to talk about cosplay. It's really crazy. Sometimes I'm doing that like pantomime mirror style because they look exactly like us. It's funny, and we totally appreciate it!

Nico: They get really creative as well. From time to time, it's like you're looking through your own face, but still they add some things or just make it themselves. It's not even, “Oh, I'm going to buy that jacket, and I'm going to buy that pants and that wig”. They are sitting at home and just make it themselves, like their own costumes.

Kevin: What we love is when people have the best time during our shows no matter what they wear.

So we have new costumes on this tour, the Tanzneid Tour. We have a lot of new costumes. That can be an inspiration for the people out there.

But just let's have fun. And I want to see that. We want to see that. Feel comfortable. Absolutely. We want to see that in their faces. And that's all we ask for, actually!

Perfect. I'll pass it on to everyone!

‍Electric Callboy are hitting up Australia in September next year. There’s only a few tickets left, and it’s ensured you will have the time of your life… grab yours now!

Interview by Georgia Haskins @ghaskins2002