Six60: Kiwi rockers from new album Castle and their plans for world domination
Six60 has a sense of urgency.
No panic or rush, just that the five-piece New Zealand supergroup doesn’t want to waste their time.
Lead singer Matiu Walters said, “That’s a feeling we’ve always had. Maybe we’re doing well.” It may be a little better or more concise about what we want to make.I think you can see the trajectory we have been thinking about for more than 10 years from the record we were trying to make. I believe that the time is now, and the environment we have created has allowed us to hone the deepest primal truths that connect us all.”
The creative result of this time is the new album Castle St, which has already spawned the singles ‘Before You Leave’ and ‘Never Been Tonight’.
It was the group’s fourth studio album, named after the street they lived in Dunedin when they first met during their University of Otago years.
“I think the stars line up on this record,” says Walters.
“It’s time, right? You always want to go build the best yesterday. We’re ambitious.”
There is no shame in ambition. Six60 has long stated that they want to be as big globally as possible.
They certainly have talent, but back-to-back years of Covid lockdowns didn’t help the band’s international plans.
“We’ve definitely lost an important few years of potential momentum,” says bassist Chris Mack.
Six60, also made up of Eli Paewai on drums, Ji Fraser on lead guitar, and Marlon Gerbes on synthesizer, is a different band than it was three years ago. And not just because of the pandemic.
Some band members had children and changed record labels from Sony Music to Universal Music.
So what does the album say about them?
“It’s our origin story,” Walters explains. “I think the pandemic and the increase in families has changed the way we look at music and changed our priorities, and this album really turned us inward. [rather] Than the outside in the last one. Instead of polishing the wrinkles, we shined a light on them, celebrated the differences, celebrated the imperfections. This has always been a unique thing about this group. And now I think it’s time for us to make an album and have a ball to do it.
Mac adds: Having children gives you a different perspective, but we approached it in a hopeful way. , every song is full of hope. “
Becoming a father for the first time with his daughter Bo Attawa Freeman Walters, who was born last year, has certainly changed Walters.
“For the band, it’s changed how we use our time and how we perceive it,” he says.
“We do more in less time in a limited amount of time. We have less time to rehearse and now there is something more poignant. It’s also more intentional.”
Fraser, who has two children, agrees.
“Maybe having kids makes us stop caring what other people think…and stop trying to be anything but who we are,” he says. I think it’s the first time in years, and that’s why we feel so strongly, and why it means so much to us.”
SIX60 have visited Australia several times over the past year as Covid border restrictions have eased.
The gig sold out as the fan base grew. They’ve just played a string of shows in the US and Canada and are heading to Europe to support their upcoming new album.
Then “we’re going back to New Zealand to do the first stadium tour ever to go through New Zealand. It’s going to be something.”
They’ve been booked for a series of festival gigs in Australia in December, playing VanFest and more.
Six60 has big plans for the future.
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“It’s always been a goal from the beginning to get as much done as possible, so we tend to go wherever we can put a goalpost,” says Fraser.
Walters adds: Now my approach has changed. In the beginning, it was a very big goal that really drove us, like sales and tickets, but it’s a futile pursuit. We want to write, maybe create, and be the most authentic version of ourselves. , awards, money, shows, and all that stuff works. It’s a more peaceful and happier way of doing things. “
The Six60s’ new album Castle St has been released, along with the single Before You Leave.
first published as New Zealand rockers Six60 aim to conquer the world, but family always comes first
Six60: Kiwi rockers from new album Castle and their plans for world domination
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