Ryan ChartrandThe Expendables are coming to Downtown Brew this Thursday and Friday to charm crowds with their funky fusion of California surf music.
Singer and drummer Adam Patterson said they have a solid fan base in San Luis Obispo and always enjoy performing for crowds here. “The fans are really awesome everywhere, but its different in California,” Patterson said. “It’s just better.”
The band is stopping in San Luis Obispo as part of a huge nationwide tour, which included shows in Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Washington D.C. and Orlando. From San Luis Obispo, the band will continue traveling north to their home base of Santa Cruz.
The Expendables includes Patterson, guitarist and singer Geoff Weers, guitarist Raul Bianchi and bassist Ryan DeMars. They’ve known each other since high school, at various times playing together or in other local bands. The Expendables got its name when Weers joined the mix, but it wasn’t until they found bassist DeMars that the current incarnation of the band came to life.
“There’s not really any one way that we create our music,” Patterson explained. “Sometimes a whole song comes from one band member; other times we just sit down to jam and something good starts coming out.”
Since their 1999 beginnings, The Expendables have produced four full-length albums: “No Time to Worry” (2001), “Open Container” (2002), “Gettin’ Filthy” (2004) and, just released this month, a brand new self-titled record.
Their music fits with the California surf culture, but is described as “reggae-punk-ska-metal-rock-surf-and-some-other-stuff.”
“We’re definitely a fusion of a lot of different styles,” Patterson said.
Although always remaining an eclectic blend of genres, The Expendables’ sound has varied by album as to how much they borrow from each style. The music off of their first album is distinctively more rock-oriented, with tracks like “New Ska” pumping out surf-rock beats and “Here We Go” blasting out the metal sounds. Other music is markedly inspired by reggae, like the “Down, Down, Down” track from their newest album and “Bridges Burned” from “Getting’ Filthy.”
So with all those styles of music going into the sound mix, what should the audience at Downtown Brew look forward to this week? “We’ll be balancing some of the old and the new,” Patterson said. “The crowd can expect to know a lot of the music, but they’ll definitely enjoy some fresh sounds, too. It’ll be a fun show at Downtown Brew.”
The Expendables, who say they’re rapidly on their way to becoming a full-time touring band, have had nationwide success and recognition. They’ve played on stage with the likes of surf-rock success Slightly Stoopid and reggae icon Eek-A-Mouse, and they performed on the Vans Warped Tour last year.
They’ve also been recognized as the best local band by their hometown newspaper, the Metro Santa Cruz, and even hosted their own radio show on The Santa Cruz X 103.9 FM. The Expendables’ unique brand of music has earned them first place in Lion Entertainment and Your Music Magazine’s 2002 Battle of the Bands contest.
Downtown Brew on Garden Street will be hosting an all-ages show this Thursday, and an 18-and-over show on Friday. Tickets are $15 and are available at www.ticketweb.com, Boo Boo Records in San Luis Obispo or at the Downtown Brew box offices. Doors for the show will open at 7 p.m., and The Expendables will start rocking and reggaeing at 8 p.m.