Tour life might seem glamorous and fun, but it ain’t for the faint of heart. Between the homesickness and long drives, there’s also the issue of where to rest your head each night. Up-and-coming bands cutting their teeth playing tiny gig after tiny gig don’t get to ride in a lux tour bus much less stay in a hotel room every evening. Instead, they get to crash wherever they can while trying to save up gas money. Kobra and the Lotus are doing alright for themselves these days, but it wasn’t that long ago that the boys and girl were staying in some pretty shady spots while on the road. Ahead of the band’s new album Evolution (which is available for streaming and purchase here), we caught up with singer Kobra Paige to get a look at what tour life is really all about, warts and all.
1. Motel floor
On the floor of a super, gross, cheap motel
2. van with no AC
Inside a nine-passenger band van with no air conditioning
3. Crooked micro hotel
Inside a very small and crooked micro hotel in London, England. I felt like we were inside A Series of Unfortunate Events.
4. someone’s basement
Inside someone’s basement somewhere in Ontario with bunkbeds all over the place.
5. squatting pad
This one takes the cake … Inside a squatting pad in a small town in the province of Quebec, Canada. There was a construction site in an open building — no wall facing the river — and a guy had hung a shower curtain in the crevice between two buildings off the street and moved some appliances and mattresses into the rubble. I was 19. We stayed there that night and I thought we were all going to get killed.
