Fremont band takes ‘six steps’ forward

Although they are fairly new on the music scene, Fremont-based alternative rock band Six Steps North has synthesized its mix of pop and rock flavors into a new release soon to be available online.

“The band has always been changing and always will, it’s sort of a living organism if you can imagine that,” said lead vocalist Mark Sanders. “With the addition of new members completing the current lineup, the band has definitely been on a fast road of developmental stages that isn’t slowing down, and we love it.”

The band members say this year has been their busiest in terms of song writing and recording so far. They recorded a song called ‘Waiting on a Voice’ at Dirt Room Studios in El Cerrito in April, and the song is available on the band’s official Bandcamp site, which also features acoustic songs recorded over this past summer.

The set is called “Scenic Sessions” and is set to be released, with digital download as well as a few physical copies.

The band consists of six members, Berkowitz on vocals and keyboards, Mike Tran on drums and vocals, Sean Pastor on the bass guitar, Ben Dunlap on the guitar, Mark Sanders on vocals, and Bryan La on the guitar.

The band’s general sound is influenced by modern rock music that each member listened to growing up, however they try to keep the door open to other genres to influence their sound.

“When we’re writing songs, you can find nods towards other genres, such as pop, R&B, acoustic singer-songwriter type stuff and even Broadway tunes,” said La. “We haven’t made a record that displays those traits, so if you want to hear it, you’d have to come to one of our shows.”

La spoke on his first introduction to music. “My dad was a musician, I grew up with all sorts of his old gear laying around back [from] the bands he was in,” La said. “Hearing him play every day after he’d get home from work was very motivating for me as a kid.”

It was not until high school that La really immersed himself into the world of music. “I started going to live shows with our manager Sarah Helwig, she was the one who really opened me up to the world of live music,” explained La.

Six Steps North officially formed in early 2012 when La met Berkowitz and Tran. After experimenting with different noises to figuring out song dynamics and harmonies, Pastor, Dunlap and Sanders joined the team and Six Steps North was born.

For Six Steps North, the next step after playing locally is to tour outside of the Bay Area.

They are working in that direction by opening for acts like Boston indie band Bent Knee in July.

“Touring requires a lot of sacrifice and with six individuals living six different lives it takes some faith and risk to do so,” said Sanders. “Since the band is still very young and while getting ready to record our new EP, we have time to map out our touring plan.”

“We definitely have a lot of pop influence in our sound that allows us to reach a greater audience,” said Sanders. “We hope to open the door and bring in new listeners that might not usually listen to our genre and win them over with something new and exciting.”