Total Brutal – TOUR PRANKS

In this Tour Pranks segment, the indie pop artist, Total Brutal, chats about pranks that have happened on tour. You can check out the story, after the break.

I’ve been a part of plenty of tour pranks, whether it’s sneaking copies of Nacho Libre on DVD into bandmates bunks each night or slowly stripping away the drum set during the last song. But I think my favorite one was on a tour I did with Ella Vos in 2019. After a super fun run with Swedish artist Clara Mae, Ella Vos and I decided to choreograph an entire dance routine to Clara Mae’s song “I’m Not Her” and surprise her on stage in matching outfits. (This dance looks cooler in your head than it actually was, I promise.)

We shared a dressing room with Clara Mae so practicing for the big moment wasn’t easy. As soon as Clara Mae went on stage each night, Ella Vos and I would look at each other with our game face on and start building the choreography. Step by step, funky chicken by funky chicken. As soon as we’d hear the synth intro to “I’m Not Her” we’d drop everything we were doing and line up. After a week of this, practicing upstairs at dressing rooms during her set, we were ready.

On the last night of the tour, Ella Vos and I took our places. “I’m Not Her” starts and we run on stage. Now picture Spice Girls and Abba in bright pink tutus running in circles around Clara Mae. There were body rolls, there were sprinklers, there were hops and spins. It was cool. Ella Vos and I always joke that if we could just dance and play dress up for the rest of our lives, we’d be happy. And Clara Mae seemed happy. The whole tour was so fun and such a good experience. A lesson in how to play more and not take things so seriously! This was also the tour that I learned how to floss. I’ll leave you with that.

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