How it all began …
Since the beginning of November 2021 I’ve started a new project: the mobile blu12 stage. The project is funded by the GVL scholarship program “Neustart Kultur” (culture fresh start). As part of the program, artists were able to send in projects from which they were then selected. The core of my project was building a stage platform on my tour bus so that I could play self-sufficient concerts in various places up there. An ulterior motive was the idea to also have the possibility to still make performances possible during corona-related event restrictions. Thanks to the stage on the tour bus roof, the audience can take a seat in the outdoor area at a sufficient distance and the tour bus equipment enables technical implementation even without the corresponding infrastructure (e.g. power connection).
But where does the idea come from? As early as 2018, both we as mitossi and I as a musician needed a new touring car. So far we have been traveling with a Ford Mondeo – very spacious and perfect for our size of equipment. But already in 2018 we were no longer just the two of us, we sometimes took our four-legged friend Samba with us. It was getting a bit tight. When the Ford caused more problems than it drove, just in time for the summer season, we needed a solution. This solution became an older model of a Hyundai H1 van, in short: we had little time, budget and choice. After all: the H1 was initially reliable.
The space gained in this way resulted in new possibilities and, of course, new requirements. Our backstage dog Samba had to be safely housed in the car. This is how the first “permanently” built-in dog box was created, which we combined with a simple bed for sleeping. This laid the foundation for the new “Mitossimobil”, our tour bus. As an experienced camper, I’ve long been a fan of small campervans à la VW Bully or Mercedes Vito with Westfalia equipment – preferably with a pop-up roof, of course.
So I put this enthusiasm into the old, rusty van that we bought in a makeshift way. After less than three nights in the Hyundai, it became clear – the whole thing wasn’t really practical. So a few months later I started a new build, this time with a little more planning. There should be a storage area, a dog box, a bed and also a small kitchen. No sooner said than done, I went to work with a minimal budget, lots of used wood and parts of a piano.
The result was our first real tour mobile – not big, not perfect (definitely not insulated), but unique. Over the period of one year we have put a lot of work into the build and thus also the prerequisite for a completely new direction: expansion of our radius of action as stage artists, overnight stay in our own van and approaches to a provisional backstage area.
It’s better to burn out than it is to rust … especially when it comes to vans
Unfortunately, there were also breakdowns and after less than two years the repairs required for the general inspection became so expensive that it was no longer worthwhile for the car. Even if the build was made with a lot of love and special components, the car itself was not our “dream car”. So we looked around again.
The new tour bus was an extra-long Mercedes Vito. A little more space and, in purely theoretical terms, the possibility of retrofitting a pop-up roof. Again, a lot of work went into the new build, only this time in a much shorter time. The car should be ready to tour within 2 months. In the summer of 2021 we were alternately touring and working. It quickly became apparent that a pop-up roof a) would not be financially feasible for the time being and b) it would probably not make sense this early given the age of the car. First he would have to prove himself and then, well let’s decide that later. However, with a car of this size, every centimeter counts. Accordingly, the idea of using the roof quickly came up. A roof window is already installed.
going up (-“stairs”)
Many build a roof rack on their van to transport even more equipment. This is currently out of the question for us in the long term. We want to stay below the 2 meter mark in order to be flexible. It is not uncommon for us to be in multi-storey car parks or on parking spaces with a 2-meter limit. Others use this roof rack as a “terrace”. That thought stuck. And as it is as a musician, you quickly come up with crazy ideas, e.g. how about if I just make music on the roof …
In this way, a pop-up roof became a mobile stage (which of course can also be used as a sun bed).
In the upcoming newsletter you will learn a little more about the current status of the project and if you want to stay tuned, just subscribe to the newsletter (get my newsletter) or just check my blog regularly.
Cheers and see you soon!
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