Alongside his school buddy Gernot Bronsert, Szary has been making people dance to Modeselektor's pared-back electro cacophony since 1996, and it's something they'll be doing in Auckland when they perform there for the first time on Saturday night.
Szary apologises for the long wait for New Zealand fans to see them in action. But there are good reasons for the delays, mostly involving mountains of nappies restricting their tour commitments.
"Last time we visited Australia was eight years ago, and we were fresh-faced fathers. This time, same thing. We both have new kids, while the older ones, they're turning 8 next month. It's not easy to go on tour ... it's different to touring 10 years ago. When I was 30 we could play 150 shows a year."
With their highly visual shows earning comparisons to fellow Germans Kraftwerk, Modeselektor mine a similar brand of minimalist techno, yet remain an underground act for those in the know.
But there's been a recent groundswell of appreciation for their work, like the 2013 film We Are Modeselektor, a well-received documentary that charted the band's journey from school friends to playing Berlin house parties and becoming an in-demand international festival act.
Then there was the shout-out from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, who credited Modeselektor for influencing much of his solo output. That saw him eventually work with the duo, appearing on two songs on their 2011 album Monkeytown.
"We were eating a Turkish kebab and my phone had a message: 'Hey, Thom Yorke was talking about you'," Szary remembers fondly. "Another friend called and said, 'Are you watching TV? Thom Yorke is talking about you'.
"A journalist asked him what music he liked, and he said Modeselektor. He came to Berlin for a Radiohead show and visited our office. We started exchanging remix ideas and sharing beats. He's an interesting guy."
Perhaps Yorke appreciated their perfectionism, something Modeselektor are known for. They reportedly tore out a wall in their new studio because it was interfering with their sound, and perform in front of a hypnotising visual display that morphs in time with their music.
Szary says their live show is so good he has an impossible dream of one day standing in the crowd and seeing it for himself. "Once I stage-dived into the crowd and people carried me into the middle of the venue ... so I was listening to what Gernot was doing and watching the stage," he says.
"I was like, 'Okay, it looks nice - can you carry me back to the stage?'"
Who: German electronic duo Modeselektor
Where and when: Saturday, February 14, The Studio
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