August | 2020 | Band Vans

Interview with Romain Malavialle, a.k.a. Maro

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Punk Band Vans

Joe McRedmond interviewed Romain Malavialle, a.k.a. Maro, sound technician for BRUIT ≤ , PRINCESS THAILAND, LOS GUAYABO BROTHERS, and BRUIT FUREUR, from Toulouse, France, about his 1998 Master Renault 2.5D.

Tell us who you are?

I am Romain Malavialle, a.k.a. Maro, sound technician for 7 years now, and getting on tour with bands in my van around France, my home country, and Europe. Most of the photos I have included were taken last year during BRUIT ≤ ‘s Belgium tour, with whom I’ve worked for 2 years now.

*_{BRUIT ≤ on tour in Belgium. Photo courtesy of Theo Grecolinos.}*

What was the catalyst, motivation, or inspiration for getting a van in the first place, specifically?

I’ve bought the van in 2013. It was my first one, and I thought about it since the teenagehood.

Classic dream about travelling the world in a mobile house, to discover new places and people, but I did not know in that time I will do all of that like a sound tech! 🙂

Where/from whom did you get it? Did you know the background of this van when you purchased it?

I get it from a little garage, and in his past life he use to drive disabled people.

Tell us about the van, year, make, model, color – did it need work, and did you do any DIY, build a loft, etc.? Did you give it a name? Who maintained it?

It is a Master Renault 2.5D from 1998, and about 5,5m long and 2,45 tall and it’s white.

After 2 years, I rebuilt entirely the old equipment. I try to find the balance between tours and my own needs. Finally there were 7 seats (3 + 4 in the back), a little berth and a trunk. Not so bad!

I tried to maintained it as well as i can for we can drive safely. During the past years I have learn mechanics every time we got an issue with the van.

I used to go in an associative DIY garage where I found professional and passionate people who helped me.

Any funny or unique features?

No magical features, but I’ve put speakers in the separation between the trunk and the seats, and there was a system to easily remove the bed.

During some journeys i have thought about a training bike inside the van to charge phones and computer’s battery but i have never done it 🙂

What’s the longest drive you ever did between shows?

I think the longest drive was when we came back home after an Italy tour with another band, Princess Thailand, from Ravenna (Ita) to Toulouse (Fra), and about 1200km.

What do you listen to in the van?

Year of No light, Pixies, Sonic Youth, Amenra, James Blake, Eleven Tigers, TRNA, BRMC, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Bjork, Swans, Thurston Moore, A Place to Bury Strangers, The Breeders, Queens of the Stone Age, Son lux, The Roots, …

What do you do for entertainment on drives between shows?

Depends of the mood, but try to sleep is one of them! Also playing some games, reading, joking about shit, smoking and drinking, and in my opinion smartphones take more and more places in our lives.

Do you sleep in the van, people’s houses, or motels/hotels?

Most of times we got accommodation in people’s house or hotel, and we use the van’s bed during the journeys.

Are there any van rules you have? Or band rules in general?

Aha! I think « what happened on tour stay on tour ! » 🙂

*_{Tetris pack by BRUIT ≤ . Photo courtesy of Theo Grecolinos.}*

Do you have a classic nightmare van/police/mechanical/crash/fire story from tour or any other shows?

One time we had an issue with the starter of the van when we took the ferry to go to England. So we have to push it to start every single day during a week!

Also sometimes police look us wrong because of the mystical power of the sentence « we are a rock band travelling » ! 🙂 but finally it always go well.

Where did the van end up?

Finally I sold the van, because it get older an older and had mechanical issues. I think buy a most recent in the future, even if I really liked the road with this one.

Any other entertaining tour stories?

More to come I hope in this strange era!

How can we help promote any releases?

You can follow BRUIT ≤ on the social media and the new release in February! And please check out “And W e Shine” the last release of Princess Thailand.

_{BRUIT ≤ THE FALL – LIVE –}

_{BRUIT ≤ BLOOM}

Stay connected with BRUIT ≤ :

Instagram

Bandcamp

Elusive Sound

Interview: Scumbag Millionaire

Posted on August 12, 2020 by Punk Band Vans

Joe McRedmond interviewed Scumbag Millionaire, from Gothenburg, Sweden, about their 1989 Chevrolet G20 van.

What was the catalyst, motivation, or inspiration for getting a van in the first place, specifically?

There are a lot of benefits having our own van. For example, we can smoke in it. Another good thing is that we don’t have to unload the van the same day/night we arrive in our hometown after a tour.

Where/from whom did you get it? Did you know the background of this van when you purchased it?

We bought it for 800€ from a redneck outside of our hometown in Sweden. It was in 2014.

On the way home the AC/blower motor broke down, and some days later we had a flat tire on the highway. The old tires were really bad.

This specific car model was very common in Sweden during the 80’s because it was cheap to own as a carpenter.

Tell us about the van, year, make, model, color – did it need work, and did you do any DIY, build a loft, etc.?

It’s a 1989 Chevrolet G20 van. It was originally blue, but we painted it black.

We changed wheels to a set of extra wide Cooper tires, and recently we also changed cylinder heads and a bunch of other parts. The van just passed 330,000 miles (530 000 km) so it needed some extra love. We have traveled all over Europe with it.

*_{Photo courtesy of Scumbag Millionaire}*

Any funny or unique features?

Some cool features: Everything with the van is extra extra (Compared to our European vans).

The seats are big and comfy. Straight pipes for great V8 sound. Red interior porno lights. Wood details.

What’s the longest drive you ever did between shows? What was the first trip you took with it?

One of the longest drives we have made non stop is when we drove home to Gothenburg, Sweden from Prague in Czech Republic. It took us around 20 hours. We use to have a cruising speed around 65mph. The first trip we made must have been to our very first show. It was in Falkenberg, Sweden in 2014.

What do you listen to in the van?

We listen to Motorhead, Gluecifer, Turbonegro, The Hives, Kiss, Nashville Pussy, The Stooges, Ramones, and King Diamond. But we also listen to Alan Jackson, Elvis, Madonna, and Avicii.

What do you do for entertainment on drives between shows?

Depends on how long the drive is. Short drives: drinking, singing, laughing and fighting/arguing.

Long drives: podcasts, sleep and junk food.

Do you sleep in the van, people’s houses, or motels/hotels?

We sleep at hotels/hostels. Sometimes at weird people’s places.

Do you have any van rules? Or band rules in general?

At every stop, someone has to buy a Wunder-Baum.

Do you have a classic nightmare van/police/mechanical/crash/fire story from tour or any other shows?

Once we backed into a concrete pillar when we arrived at a venue. The rear bumper bent and blocked the cargo doors to be opened. Then the janitor at the venue brought his largest sledge hammer and slammed the bumper back in place, so we could open the doors and unload. Haha

Another time we got caught in a European photo speed trap. We ran 60mph in a slow zone and a camera caught us. Some months later our local police department in Sweden called Max L, who is written as the owner of the van. They wanted him to visit the office to confirm that it was he driving the car on the photo. But it was impossible to tell who of us who was driving, the photo quality was so bad. And Max showed the officer a band photo of us where they could see that we all look the same. Hahahaha. So we did not get any ticket.

Any other entertaining tour stories?

We forgot all our merchandise when we arrived at the airport in Spain. The day after, we had to take a taxi and search for the merch bags.

Our bass player Dennis once forgot his bass guitar on a bus stop in the night. In the morning a lady wrote to our band page that she had found something that belongs to us.

We played in Hamburg some years ago. The promoter forgot to book a hotel room the same day as their local football team FC St Pauli played, so everything was fully booked.

The local sound guy offered us a sleeping place at his trailer park outside of Hamburg. They had a ”guesthouse” which was an old Nightliner tour bus, without doors or windows. This was during the winter so it was freezing cold.

*_{Poor and Infamous. Photo courtesy of Scumbag Millionaire}*

You guys have any new releases?

Please check out our latest single “Inferno“! And we’re releasing a new album called “Poor and Infamous” on September 25, 2020 on Suburban Records which you can pre-order now!