Lauren Mayberry - BUS INVADERS Ep. 2015

Hello! Please come into my abode. My name is Lauren Maybury, I'm currently on tour for my debut solo record called Vicious Creature and today we are in the bus in Chicago. I guess this is the entertainment centre. How many musicians on a bus do you need in order to get the audio to work? We still haven't figured out how to connect that to music but sometimes there's a bit of Netflix, there's a bit of YouTube or there's some card games, there's some card players on the bus who have been doing gin rummy and things like that. And there's a few people in the band who really like this. I personally haven't played it but it gets a lot of fans, this one. So maybe I will one day. You know what? Communal seating area. This is where we hang out after the show mostly because it's bigger. You've got your drawers which have water and things like that in them. And what else? This is the Monopoly Deal card table, mostly. And we have little air purifier things, humidifiers to try and make it smell less like a bus with 12 people on it. I guess in theory you could write who you are and whether you're on the bus or off the bus. We haven't done this yet because that seems very organised. We're more like analogue. We just look in the bunk and see if the person is there. But maybe. We've only been on tour for like a week. So this could still happen. And then this one, when you finish things that need to get got at the grocery store you put it on there. So that's very important for touring. Hand wash. And a teeny weeny TV which just mirrors the other one. So whatever direction someone's facing they can see the Netflix, I guess. Most of the time when we get to a venue we go into the venue pretty quickly. So Wi-Fi is the tour essential. And there is bus Wi-Fi but it comes and goes depending on where you are. So mostly the tour manager will go inside and work inside first of all. And this is more sandwich preparation area slash Monopoly Deal probably, I think. Fridge and freezer, very important for keeping Ryder in. There's not really anything. Well, what's in here? This, I think this might belong to the driver so he can't touch it. Some veggie dumplings for all the veggies and vegans. And then this is like some pre-grated ginger. But we put it in the freezer so it doesn't go all off and soggy and gross. And we did tidy the fridge before you guys came here. So this is our fridge. It's pretty healthy actually. What's going on? There's some soups. There's a leftover pizza. That's not that healthy. There are some vegetables, some fruits and vegetables. You can tell my mother there are actually fruits and vegetables. Lots of coffee. I can't drink coffee because it makes me cuckoo. But there are a lot of crew that really seek these things. So yeah, what else? A lemon. Singers need those. Sandwich things. Convector for the gut. Some coconut water. An alcohol free beer. An alcohol full beer. And that's about it. It's pretty tame today. So a rider is what you get in your green room on tour. You get certain foods and certain drinks that will be put in the venue. So you can make snacks out of them. And we're pretty sensible with ours. We get things to make sandwiches with. And we get some fruits and vegetables. And the coffee. The very important coffee. And sometimes you get some beer and some wine and stuff. Bathroom. It's quite clean because we did just clean it. And yes, it's quite a feral existence, the touring. And as you can see there is some instructions for how to not use that. Liquids only. No tissue down there or anything else down there. And yes, soap, bath water. Bath water you can wash your hands with. You can't drink it. You probably shouldn't wash your face with it. Because it's just in a big tank that can't really be cleaned. So just go gently, I would say. So we have that. We've got some hand sanitiser. And it's a good mixture on the bus of men, women, non-binary people. So we have our sanitary items as well. Which has never happened on a tour I've been on. So this is very wholesome. It's very modern. We've modernised a little bit. Yes, I think this... Nobody's using this because of the weird water that comes out of the taps that I told you about. So I don't know if I personally would put bus water on my whole self. But at the moment it's being used for our drummer's shower glove. Which dries in there. So it's still getting used for something. It's a very ceremonial display case for the shower glove. And this is quite an important section. Because when you're travelling, I guess your bus is like your home. But it's also your office. It's also your cafe. It's everything. And we have a lot of coffee drinkers. So there's a lot of... Oops. There's a lot of coffee things. That sounds terrifying to me, as a non-coffee person. And there's lots of ginger, lots of lemon, lots of tea. And singers, we need the tea. You've always got to try. Try and not get sick. Try and stop your voice from drying out with all the heating and the air conditioning. So all kinds of tea. And then a fan gave me this the other day, which was very nice. It was like persimmon tea. Which I've never tried. So maybe today we shall see. And what else? Peanut butter and some honey. Because the Manuka honey is the singer's saviour as well. You need a bit of that. I guess we've got a few British people in the team. So somebody did bring this Yorkshire Gold tea with them from back home. But generally I just kind of ask for herbal teas that are good for the throat and good for singing. I've got one that says it takes care of your throat and your lungs. I don't know how it would do that. But I've been drinking it, hoping that it does. Stress relief, just in case. And yeah, I'm like a classic mint tea. Can never go wrong with that. I'm always into that. What's in here? There's more... Yet more Yorkshire tea. Because you can never have enough tea. Some decaf green tea for the people that can't handle caffeine. Some Scottish oat cakes, which I saw in a shop the other day. And I bought those because I just enjoy them. I think, in my opinion, the British are better at biscuits and things like that. Sorry. Sorry, America. And what else? Just good common sense stuff. We've got some oatmeal. And then salt. It's weird how much time I spend looking for saline and salt for sinus washes. Or gargling for your throat and stuff. I think the singer, in theory, has the most fun job. But in practice, you're just trying to not get sick all the time. So yes, I'm constantly gargling salt. Which is quite foul, frankly. But, you know, it's a small price to pay for the job. Yes, so this is the bunk area. This is where everybody sleeps and watches TV. And when we moved in, everybody chose their bunks. So tall people tend to go up the top. Or this is a junk bunk where you put bags and shoes and things so they're not on the ground. So everybody's here. I am up the back here. I'm a very short person, so I can't do any of this. So I'm down the bottom in here. But this bus has, which we've never had before, these little drawers where you put your shoes and stuff. So these are my little tourist slippers. They're a bit dirty, so you don't need to see them. And this is my bunk. I was sick last week, so I have a box of dishes in here. My sweatpants. My hoodie for sleeping in, because sometimes it gets quite cold on the bus. And then I've got some pillows. And I've got my little silky pillowcase that I put on it, because I have very sensitive skin. So on tour, my job is just trying to not become allergic to all detergents and things. So I bring my sad little pillowcase from home. And that's the bunk. And I guess, what's in here? I've got a little pocket in here. What's in there? Earplugs. A saline nose spray. More earplugs. Some cold medicine. It's really, really exciting stuff. Very rock and roll, the bunk. And this is the back lounge, which mostly we use for storage at the minute. Because it's kind of a weird setup for hanging out. What's in here? There's the Hoover. This is mostly the bus driver's stuff. And then you put your coats in the closet. That kind of stuff. Acoustic guitar for if we want to practice anything on the bus or in the green room. Just to run things through. And then these are the crew radios. So these live back here and they charge back here. And they kind of just strap them on and go around the venue so they can communicate when they're in different parts of the venue. And I'm not allowed one because I don't have... It's above my skill set. I don't need to be involved in that. And I don't think I would understand much of what they were saying. So, yeah. And that's it. That was my tour bus. And you can find out more about the new record on my website and follow me online. And I'll give you more behind-the-scenes things in the future, I hope.