The Driver Era’s Rocky and Ross Lynch Talk Tour Essentials, Ice Baths, and Crafting the Perfect Shirtless Moment on Stage

When Teen Vogue’s video call connects to The Driver Era’s Rocky and Ross Lynch, the pair are hunched over their Atlanta hotel bathroom sink, brushing their teeth. They prop the phone up against the mirror and apologise for running late as they swill their mouths out. It’s midday, and they just woke up, having performed at the Coca-Cola Roxy in the city the night before as part of their latest Obsession tour.

Once they finish up their delayed morning ritual, they grab us and head outside. There’s one thing on their mind: soaking in some sun. They trudge across the hotel lawn, find a spot, and immediately strip their shirts off, trying to squeeze whatever Vitamin D they can out of their packed schedule.

“Sorry, we can start now,” says Ross.

The pair have been on the road since January, when the Obsession Tour kicked off in New Zealand. Since then, they’ve hit Australia and some of the US. Next, they’ll head to South America and back for the last leg of North America by July. It’s a mammoth run, but they’re used to it by now.

“We've been touring for around 13 years,” says Ross, lumping in their time in R5, the group he and Rocky were part of with their other siblings, Rydel and Riker, in the early 2010s. “The only year we ever took off was COVID, so we've been pretty much consistently touring that whole time. Even when I was on Disney Channel.”

Having spent so much time in transit, the duo says their tour bus almost feels more like home than their actual houses in LA, albeit a little more cramped and crowded. While their outfit this time, with three buses and two semi-trucks full of equipment and clothing cases, may be bigger in scale than previous tours, there’s no question that space is still at a premium. There’s literally no room for excess baggage, and that applies to the vibe they bring to the function as well.

“I'll be around other artists and stuff, and I feel like we get this compliment a lot,” says Rocky. “Where opening bands that have opened up for, you know, prima donnas will come on our tour and they'll just be like, ‘This is the best camp, like, you guys are so chill, everything's so cool.”

Part of that balanced energy comes from the fact that they’ve been doing this for so long, so they’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. They instinctively know which parts of their schedule need to be set in stone and which can accommodate a little flexibility. “We’re good at going with the flow,” says Ross.

However, they also attribute their brotherly relationship to providing a natural equilibrium. “There was a time recently, actually, where my mind was running amok, and I had just a simple conversation with Rocky that really soothed me. So thanks for that,” says Ross, playfully nodding at Rocky. “The cool thing about the family dynamic is the permanence of it. Well, I guess it didn't work out for Oasis like this.”

When you spend so much of your life venue-hopping across the world, being a minimalist is an undeniable benefit. The pair has a stripped-down packing routine, with just a few hygiene essentials, such as moisturiser and toothbrushes, making it into the travel case. Over the years, they’ve learned that it’s much more about what they can put inside their bodies than on them. “Sunlight, water, and just basic health needs will really make a difference,” says Ross.

The frantic search for a patch of sun-soaked grass for our call makes sense, especially as the pair pass the phone between each other so they can each take a moment to arch their faces towards the sky. “Honestly, just hitting the gym when you get a chance, drinking as much water as possible, trying to eat fiber before carbs,” says Ross, jumping in. “I know that sounds funny, but it really, really makes a difference, even if you're not on tour.”

“It's more like how you would go about your day,” says Rocky, about whether there are any products or routines they find necessary to put on a good show. “We bring an ice bath on tour, which is obviously really good for a bunch of things. So it's a little more along those lines, where what you have included in your days and your mornings to kind of try and prep.”

The ice bath, which has been a frequent player in their tour log photodumps on Instagram, is the most boujee essential the brothers have in their arsenal. The black plastic barrel is carted from tour stop to tour stop and, venue ice reserves permitting, they’ll take a dunk before each show as a way to factory reset their body. It seems like its homoeopathic remedies are endless, as it plays stand in for a good night’s sleep, a masseuse, a therapy session, and a hangover tonic. “It's good for recovery and nervous system regulation,” says Ross. “There are a lot of benefits to the ice bath. It helps to keep us feeling good, physically and mentally.”

Though their showtime essentials centre around wellness routines, The Driver Era know how to let loose. This tour is built around their latest album, Obsession, a hazy, synth-packed dive into infatuation found between the flashing lights on a dance floor. It’s sensual, groovy, and heady, which is precisely the vibe the pair wants to replicate at their shows.

“A lot of these songs come from nights out on tour, and that's what tour feels like to me,” says Ross. “It feels like we're in this random city and we're going to this pub down the street after the show, and it's kind of dingy and dark, but we're bringing the party. We're about to give this dingy bar at the end of the street the best night they've ever had.”

Sonically, they’ve got the vibe covered, but the pair also wants the show to be visually cohesive too. Ahead of the shows, Ross sent round a moodboard for the band to pull from for their looks. He included pictures from 1999’s Fight Club as well as Pinterest picks of 90s-inspired grunge looks and a color palette made up of hazy purples, reds, and oranges. From that, the members pulled the most fitting pieces from their own wardrobes.

For Rocky, that meant not straying too far from his day-to-day looks, with simple crew neck sweaters, graphic tees, baseball caps, and dark-toned button-downs making the cut. Ross, on the other hand, tries to push the parameters of his personal style as far as they’ll go. “I'll wear women's crop tops on stage, and you probably wouldn't catch me wearing that at the club,” he says. But you can also throw in bedazzled cowboy hats, skintight sequin rollnecks, and vintage leather jackets into the mix.

Ross is keenly aware, though, that it’s often what he’s not wearing that causes more of a stir than what he is. He likes to take his top off — as evidenced in their Chicago concert pics. You’ve probably seen a thirsty edit or two filter onto your FYP, or watched his shirtless cameo in Troye Sivan’s “One of Your Girls.” He’s even shirtless as we speak over Zoom. Really, it’s not a matter of if Ross Lynch will go viral for performing sans crop top again, but when.

“The shirtless thing, I've been doing it for a few years, but it's nothing new. Rock stars have been taking off their shirts on stage forever. Look at Iggy Pop, he goes shirtless every f*cking show,” he continues. “Because the internet likes to clip videos of me shirtless online, I guess it's a thing. But the truth is, it's a rock star thing, so I don't think it's a huge deal.”

It’s not every The Driver Era show that Ross decides to get his abs out, and he says it’s really just a matter of feeling when the mood is right. “It's just in the air, man,” he says. “You can just feel it.”