Before hauling busloads of people up and down a snow-covered volcano in Oregon, the Greasebus had its auspicious beginnings in Hollywood, of all places. The marketing team at Paul Mitchell were releasing a line of soy-based shampoo products and reached out to Clif Bar to ask about how they did the soy-based Save Our Snow Tours. Clif put them in touch with me and they asked if I had anything big enough to outfit a ‘rolling salon,’ whatever that meant. Paul Mitchell teamed up with Elle to run a story and co-brand the tour.
I found the bus up in Seattle and Aaron Stuart, from Grease Brothers, and Piebald, flew up to help me gut it, paint it, and build it out. Chris Ryan, Aaron and I shared driving duties throughout the tour. Each day we would stop at a different spot, get everything set up and showcase the vegetable oil system, while they cut and styled anyones hair who was interested. At one point they demanded to cut Aaron and my hair which was really awkward and funny.
While putting in the carpet panels Aaron asked me, "Do you think this is enough glue?"
Reupholstered seat, carpet, and trim
Bamboo flooring / counter with storage behind the drape
Adding the vinyl graphics around the bus
The finished salon with a stop at Malibu Village
Second stop in the middle of 'the Grove'
Hollywood Boulevard
We kept hoping Madonna would stop by, but no such luck
Perhaps even better than the Material Girl, we did get a visit from Tara Dakides to talk about converting her truck
Greasebus thinking, "I'd rather be on Mt Hood."
After the tour, Chris and I drove up I-5, back to Portland. Once we were home, and painted the bus black (or anything but chartreuse), the true purpose of the Greasebus became apparent. It’s so strange how that without the SOS tours, and Paul Mitchell’s use of soybeans in a shampoo, the Greasebus may not have happened.