Midterms getting you down? Upcoming finals stressing you out? Well, the San Luis Obispo-based band Siko wants you to know that it is here to help you relax.
Describing the band’s sound as “groove-rock,” Siko combines mellow rock sensibilities of the Red Hot Chili Peppers with a touch of funk and even hip-hop.
“We just want to make people dance and have fun,” said lead singer Ephraim Sommers.
Cal Poly students have a chance to experience Siko’s brand of fun at the launch party for its second album, “Paint the Town,” Friday at Downtown Brewing Co. Attendants will also be able to purchase the new album at a discounted price.
“It’ll be fun – I guarantee it,” Sommers said.
The concert marks the start of Siko’s nationwide tour. The band currently has a month of tour dates fixed in locations ranging from Arizona to Mississippi, and Sommers hopes to add another month of dates. In the fall, it plans to return to California and tour throughout the state.
The band is comprised of two Cal Poly graduates, Sommers and drummer Wyatt Lund, and two former Cuesta students, guitarist and vocalist Justin Robert Pecot (or “Pakes”) and bassist Trevor Jones. Since the group formed six years ago, Siko has traveled up and down California, playing in venues from Chico to San Diego.
The band’s first album, “Legsaround,” was released in 2005. Though happy with the result, Sommers feels that “Paint the Town” is much more cohesive.
“The first album was just so all over the place,” he said.
For its new album, Siko concentrated on shedding responsibilities and having fun with friends; songs like “Paint the Town” and “The Show on Saturday” reflect this desire. The album evolved after members watched friends graduate from college and start working 9 to 5 jobs.
“I’m at a point in my life where I’m seeing my friends graduate and get jobs and no one is happy with them,” Sommers said. “Originally, the point was to have fun, but it turned into a message to stay away from doing something you hate. It’s phony. Do what really matters to you.”
Lund agrees. “After all, having an unconventional job and having fun kind of goes hand in hand with being in a band,” he said.
But with unconventionality comes instability.
When asked where they see themselves in a year, both Sommers and Lund hedged. “It depends whether we get attention on the tour,” Lund said. “If an indie label wants to sign us, of course we’d go for that. But if not, who knows?”
Sommers shares his belief. “This is kind of our big chance, this album, this national tour we’re going on. It’s really a make-or-break time for the band right now,” he said.
Tickets for Friday’s show can be purchased at Boo Boo Records or the Downtown Brewing Co. box office for $6 in advance or $8 at the door. The launch party will begin at 8 p.m.