Six60 are a New Zealand pop rock band formed in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

in 2008. The band consists of Matiu Walters (lead vocals, guitar), Ji Fraser (lead guitar), Chris Mac (bass guitar), Marlon Gerbes (synthesiser), Hoani Matenga (bass guitar) and Eli Paewai (drums). Their self-titled debut album was released on 10 October 2011 on their own label Massive Entertainment. The album was produced and mixed by

Tiki Taane Tiki Taane (born 17 December 1976) is a New Zealand-based musician, experimentalist, musical activist, producer, and live engineer. He was a member of leading New Zealand band Salmonella Dub but left after eleven years on 1 January 2007 to pur ...

and debuted at number one in the New Zealand charts and was certified gold within its first week of release. Their first two singles "

Rise Up 2.0 "Rise Up 2.0" is a single by New Zealand rock band Six60. It was released as on 30 August 2010 as the lead single from their self-titled debut studio album. It reached number 1 on the New Zealand Singles Chart Chart performance "Rise Up 2.0" debu ...

" and " Don't Forget Your Roots" reached number one and number two respectively on the

RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded M ...

singles chart and were both certified double and triple platinum. In 2018 the band won five Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards and were the most streamed artist by New Zealanders on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active use ...

. On 23 February 2019, Six60 became the first New Zealand band to play a sold-out concert at the

Western Springs Stadium Western Springs Stadium is a stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. Built within a natural amphitheatre, it is primarily used for rugby union matches during the winter and for speedway during the summer. It is also occasionally used for large conce ...

, to a crowd of 50,000 fans. On 24 April 2021, Six60 played the first concert at Auckland's

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount E ...

Stadium, to a crowd of 50,000 fans. It was the closing of the Six60 Saturdays country-wide tour and the largest concert of 2021.

History

Six60 was formed in

; the founding members met while attending

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate ...

. The band created their name from the street number of the house they lived at in Dunedin, 660 Castle Street. As Ji Fraser said, "That's where it all began. It was the beginning of everything. It was a place that meant so much to us." In July 2021 the band bought 660 Castle Street and created four $10,000 performing arts scholarships at the University of Otago. Their local following developed from Dunedin to other student hubs around the country such as

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

and

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

. Six60's original EP, released in 2009, contained a track called "Someone to Be Around". This track was left off their debut album but remains one of their most popular songs. Six60 have a quadruple platinum number-one debut album with triple platinum-selling single " Don't Forget Your Roots", two double platinum-selling singles "Only to Be" and "Rise Up", two platinum-selling singles "Forever" and "Special", and one gold-selling single "Lost". In early March 2013 the band was featured on George FM Breakfast's 'Damn! I Wish I Was Your Cover' series covering

Rudimental Rudimental are a British drum and bass band, signed to Asylum Records, Atlantic Records and Black Butter Records. The band consists of Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and Leon "Locksmith" Rolle. They were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2013, and w ...

's " Feel the Love". In 2014, their song "Run for It" was featured on the trailer of ITV drama series ''

Prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

'', starring John Simm. Chris uses a

MOOG Voyager Moog may refer to: Electronics and computing * Moog synthesizer, a synthesizer invented by Robert Moog * Moog Music, a synthesizer manufacturer founded by Robert Moog * Moog (code), astronomical software * Moog Inc., a control-system maker Peopl ...

/ Ernie Ball Musicman Sting Ray Bass guitars. Matiu and Ji both play Fender Strats, Gibson Les Paul electric guitars, and Gibson and Maton acoustic guitars while Marlon uses an MS2000 / Muse VIP / Fender Strat. Eli plays KDrums drums. Matiu's younger brother Niko Walters debuted as a musician in 2019, and has performed as an opening act for Six60.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other charted songs

''Six60: Till the Lights Go Out''

''Six60: Till the Lights Go Out'' is a 2020 documentary film, directed by Julia Parnell, highlighting the bands humble beginnings to reaching global success.

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control APRA Award winners New Zealand pop rock groups Māori-language singers