A punk band that plays Taylor Swift songs. Not exactly what you’d expect, but it’s been a very successful formula for the band Call It Off. ‘In essence, her numbers aren’t that different from ours.’
Call It Off are fairly well-known in the Dutch pop-punk scene. The band from Eindhoven had hits with Scream Your Heart Out and Abandoned, and even performed as the support act for Panic! At The Disco. But these four tattooed punk guys are also Swifties: fans of Taylor Swift. Her songs are heard blasting through their tour bus and changing rooms, and the rehearsal room is adorned with Taylor T-shirts. Guitarist/singer Maurice Bolier: ‘Punk rockers are really just tough guys who play pop songs. So it’s not that surprising.’
The founder of the band, drummer/singer Sergei Christian, has always been a huge Swift fan. ‘When we started Call It Off in 2013, I immediately told them: there’s something I you need to know about me…’
Maurice: ‘No, it wasn’t very punk.’ It became a sort of running joke in the band. Sergei: ‘After a while, it came up in every interview. In fact, my drum sponsor decided to print Swift’s head on my drums.’
Sergei held off covering his pop idol’s songs for as long as he could. ‘It seemed too close. And after all, Call It Off isn’t just my band.’ But after the fourth album, the band members decided to shift their focus. ‘We wanted to learn something new, get out of our bubble. So we thought: let’s do just one cover of a Swift song. We started with Fortnite.’ Maurice: ‘And the rest is history!’
The number went viral on TikTok. It was followed by a complete album of Swift covers (Thirteen) and a European tour. The concept even took off in the US. ‘Our biggest following is in the US now,’ Maurice explains. ‘There are countless Taylor Swift tribute bands, but we have our own way of doing it.’
How do you go about punkifying Taylor Swift songs?
Sergei: ‘In essence, her numbers aren’t that different from ours. Swift’s songwriting is similar to mine. She often chooses the same melody lines, chords, structures, harmonies as I do, particularly in her older stuff like Love Story. But her arrangements are very different. We make the tracks harder and faster. I try to work out which beats I’d use if I were her drummer. But it still needs to flow, not sound contrived. We don’t change the lyrics out of respect for the greatest artist ever.’
I can imagine that you attract different audiences now.
Sergei: ‘Yes, the nice thing is that we get both punk rockers and Swifties at our shows. Two worlds become one, as it were. Not just young girls, but people of all ages. A 65-year-old woman flew all the way from Colorado just to see to our show in Antwerp. We see this all over the place. The shows attract people from America, Mexico, Argentina Spain, France and even Japan.’ Maurice: ‘People want to experience Taylor Swift in any way possible. They love what we’re doing. We get a lot of people who have never seen Swift live because they can’t get tickets. That’s a huge compliment.’
What is it that you like about her?
Sergei: ‘Her melodies are powerful, her lyrics are quirky and her singing is very rhythmic. In terms of production and songwriting, she often challenges herself to be different from her previous album. And of course what’s made her a great is that nothing she does sounds forced or contrived. We try to mirror that. Her music calms me down. If I’ve had a bad day, I listen to her albums. Yes, we’ve all seen her live. There’s so much shit in the world at the moment, but if you go her shows, all you feel is good vibes and love. That probably sounds a bit emo…’
Do you get much criticism from the punk scene about your change in course?
Sergei: ‘Yeah, people can be quick to criticise, say we’re not punk anymore. But Taylor Swift is one of the punkiest rock stars ever. Look what she’s done with her repertoire. She got hassle from her record label and had to record everything again. Punk also means: do what turns you on and make people happy.’
20 March 2026, De Helling
Lees in het Nederlands
Over dit artikel
text:
Machiel Coehorst
Publication date:
10 March 2026
Magazine edition:
UITagenda Utrecht maart 2026
