Growing up in Santa Cruz California was a laid back experience for The Expendables: surf, skate, party and play music. Since 1997 The Expendables have staked their claim in the California surf rock genre. Blending Reggae, Punk Rock, and 80s style dueling guitar solos The Expendables have been turning heads for years. Meet the band, Geoff Weers (Guitars and Vocals), Adam Patterson (Drums and Vocals), Raul Bianchi (Lead Guitar) and Ryan DeMars (Bass).
Their first release in 2000 “No Time to Worry” became an instant summer time classic with songs like the dub reggae “Right Time” and their punk rock favorite “Fire starter”. The band followed up with the release of “Open Container” in 2001 yielding such songs as the dance friendly “24/7” and their ode to one night stands simply titled “One Night Stand”. As the band began to gain respect and recognition regionally the band decided to record their third full length album, “Gettin’ Filthy” which included fan favorites, “Bowl for two” and “Sacrifice”.
After recording Gettin’ Filthy the band toured rigorously with bands such as
Eek-A-Mouse,
Pepper,
Fishbone,
Slightly Stoopid, and
G. Love.
During a tour with Slightly Stoopid the band caught the ears of Slightly Stoopid front men Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald. “The Expendables are the best thing to happen to metal since the 80's, the rise of hair metal dub” comments Slightly Stoopid co-front man Miles Doughty. Shortly after Slightly Stoopid formed its own “Stoopid Records” an independent record label and signed The Expendables for it’s first non Stoopid release.
The band toured and worked hard for the next year and a half writing and recording what would become their fourth full length album. They brought long time Slightly Stoopid and G Love producer Chris DiBeneditto into the studio to produce the album. “Working with Chris was awesome, he made the process a lot more relaxed and fun than recording our other albums,” recalls Adam Patterson, “He was also able to get great performances and tones out of everyone.” The recording process would bring the band to different studios all over the country.
They began at Philadelphonic Studios in Philadelphia, a studio owned by G. Love and producer Chris D. This session would produce the metal ballad War Cry, a three minute instrumental rock monster as well as the reggae flavored “Down Down Down” featuring OG from Slightly Stoopid and Marc Boyce of the Special Sauce. Close to a year later Chris D. would make his way to California to record The Expendables at Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati California, a small town just outside of San Francisco, California. The band lived with Chris D. onsite in a small cottage on the studio premises for a few weeks. A new version of Burning up was created during this session which would feature Miles Doughty and C Money of Slightly Stoopid.
The new self titled album dropped on September 4th 2007 with rave reviews.
