Six60
World famous in New Zealand
Who is Six60?
Six60 is a five-piece New Zealand band that formed in
Dunedin in 2008. The founding members (Matui Walters, Hoani Matenga,
Ji Fraser, and
Eli Paewai) met while attending the
University of Otago. The band created their name from the street number
of the house they lived at in Dunedin, 660 Castle Street.
Hoani Matenga left the band to pursue his
rugby career and was replaced by bass player
Chris Mac;
Marlon Gerbes also joined the band after its
formation.
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 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" and "Don't Forget Your Roots" reached
number one and number two respectively on the RIANZ 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.
For those unfamiliar with New Zealand's biggest band, two years ago
(2019) they became the first Kiwi act to sell out Western Springs
Stadium playing to 50,000 fans, the equivalent of Rhythm and Vines
selling out twice over — plus some.
The venue is usually reserved for the likes of The Police,
U2 and Bruce Springsteen, who have commanded the
international charts for decades. Perhaps to prove it was no
history-making fluke, Six60 sold out the same stadium again a year
later.
In November 2020, a documentary was released about the
band, and followed them from their formation to present day. You can
find out more about Six60: Till the lights go out here.
This year, the band has remarkably embarked on a tour of New Zealand,
playing to tens of thousands every weekend for six weeks in January and
February. This feat has made headlines across the world with Piers
Morgan even referring to six60 as
"the hottest band in the world right now".
Meet the band
Matiu was born and raised in Auckland, and is the band's lead vocalist.
Hailing from Maraenui in the Hawke's Bay, Marlon is the band's keyboardist/synthesizer.
Born and raised by his dad and grandparents in Darwin, Australia, Chris moved to Invercargill, New Zealand, aged 19 to meet his mum. He is the band's bass player.
Ji was raised just north of Gisborne on his parent's farm near Whangara. He is the band's lead guitarist.
Raised in Dannevirke by his grandparents, Eli is the second member of the band born in Hawke's Bay. He is the band's drummer.
Coded by Kathryn Gray