01 May Q&A With Slightly Stoopid’s Rymo

Slightly Stoopid drummer Ryan Moran, known to fans as Rymo, is packing gear in his bag for SunFest.

Our connection was so bad, at first I thought he said he was packing beer, but that wouldn’t be such a stretch for the band.

The members’ drink of choice right now is a Stella to pair with the summer sun — “That’s probably the go-to right now,” Rymo says. Other staples for him and the band include Guinness, Coronas, and some microbrews.

In June, the California based rock-reggae group released its eighth studio album, “Meanwhile…Back At The Lab,” which featured guest appearances by artists like Beardo and Angela Hunte. Recently, the guys also announced a summer tour, Return of the Red Eye.

We caught up with Rymo before the band’s SunFest appearance. Here’s what he had to say:

It’s been almost a year since Back At The Lab was released. How’s reception to the album been?

So far it’s been really good, we’ve had a lot of positive feedback and we’re super happy with the result. We’re looking forward to getting another single out with that record. Just onward and forward.

What’s your favorite part about some of your newer releases like Back at the Lab and Top of the World, versus some of the band’s older stuff?

For me, one of my favorite parts was the collaboration with all the different artists. Everyone has their different way of making music and recording songs. For me it’s always cool to see the way other artists go through the whole process. Working with different artists outside of our group and seeing how they do it.

You guys have been around for over two decades now. What have you learned and what would you go back and change?

There’s a lot we’ve learned, there’s probably a lot we haven’t. But there’s not really much I’d go back and change, I’m pretty happy with the path of the band and the way things have gone. I think if anything I’d probably try to drink a little less beer [chuckles]. No, I’m kidding. I’m happy with the way things have gone, and the way the band has developed, the last ten years have been really solid and continued to move forward for us. We’ve worked really hard to get where we are. I think we’re just going to continue to do what we’ve been doing, it’s worked so far.

Is this set a preview for what fans can expect on your Return of the Red Eye Tour starting in June?

Yeah, we always try to play music from the whole catalogue but we’ve been doing some work on new music. We always try to come with some different music every time we go on the road. We’ll be playing a pretty good amount of stuff from the new album and a good collection of songs from the whole repertoire. I guess you could say it’s a little bit of a preview for the concerts over the summer.

You guys played SunFest in 2013 and 2009, what’s your favorite part about the festival and what are you looking forward to this year?

The venue is beautiful. It’s always nice to be around the water and that’s probably one of my favorite parts about the festival. There’s always a good lineup too. For us, we get to see some friends in different bands that we know as well as perform ourselves.

For people that haven’t seen you perform before, what should they expect?

A high energy, fun show, we try to give a variety in our shows. People that are new to the band might not know what to expect so we’ll be sure to take them for a good roller coaster ride and turn them into fans. That’s our goal.

SEE THEM LIVE:

Slightly Stoopid performs Sunday, May 1, on the Ford stage at 2:30 p.m.