Fresh off their European tour, The Expendables are once again relentlessly back on a headlining U.S fall tour playing with the likes of John Brown’s Body, C-Money, The Flatliners & The Snips. We recently interviewed Ryan DeMars (Bass,Vocals) and Geoff Weers (Guitar, Vocals) after their first two nights of the tour in Denver, Colorado. Enjoy!
The Pier: You guys kicked off your fall tour with a 2 night show in Denver, Colorado. Colorado’s dub rock scene is starting to become a major hub for reggae/rock shows. What was the reason behind kicking off the tour in Denver?
Geoff: No special reason really. It’s just the way the shows came together.
Ryan: Originally we were gonna start closer to home but because of our Europe trip with the Mad Caddies. We had to start a week into the original routing and move the shows towards the end of tour.
The Pier: Before The Expendables came together, what were you guys doing for careers?
Geoff: Career? I didn’t really have a career. I dropped out of college and worked at a deli. I was pretty much a full time loser.
Ryan: I was in high school when I joined but jobs I have had involved landscaping and working at a surf shop.
The Pier: You guys recently came off a European tour. How was your first time playing in Germany? How has the Europeans embraced your sound?
Geoff: It was cool. We got to open for the mad caddies. They are a ripping band and I enjoyed getting to know them. It got a little rough at times because we have never been there and no one really knew our music so some crowds would just stand there and barely move. I feed a lot off the crowd and when they are a stone wall its hard to get pumped. Other than that I had a lot of fun checking out all the old buildings and learning about the history of the land. There is so much history out there compared to the US. It is refreshing to see buildings and cultures that are ten times older than our own country.
Ryan: Tour was good. We played for a lot of people who have not heard us before but I think we turned a lot of new people on to our music.
The Pier: Have you guys thought about recording a live album?
Geoff: Yeah, we have thought about it……..
Ryan: Yes we have. We want to release one but there are no plans yet.
The Pier: You guys were back in the Mo Boogie loft again recently. What songs did you guys choose to record?
Geoff: I just did some unfinished songs. Stuff we are working on. Unreleased jams that we have been messing around with.
The Pier: Geoff, you originally wrote “Wells” as an acoustic song. What inspired you to collaborate with G.Love on your latest album “Prove It”?
Geoff: We played that song on our tour with G.Love in 07. We thought the song would crossover to his fans better than our other music. We called it “G.love song” forever and ever since that tour I thought G.Love would be cool to have on it. We asked him and he agreed.
The Pier: If we were to stumble across your i-Pods and pressed play, what would we hear? (This is not a cliché what bands inspire you question.) The fans like to know what bands you guys are fans of.
Geoff: Right now on my i-pod I have sleepy time music going. Crashing waves and flutes, that kind of shit. It helps me sleep in the bus. Sorry not very exciting.
Ryan: My iPod has everything. My favorite kinds of music are pop, reggae, rock but anything that is catchy, I will jizz for it! Some artists include Bob Marley, Steel Pulse, Deathklok, Lady Gaga, Isley Brothers, Al Green, Katy Perry, Tower of Power, Eagles, Sublime, Black Eye Peas, Michael Jackson, Prince and Iron Maiden.
– Interview by: Chad Hillje
– Edited by: Kyle Hillje
– Photography by: Mark Franzen