{"id":320894,"date":"2026-03-09T16:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/320894\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T16:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:26:09","slug":"real-life-six60s-matiu-walters-on-new-album-and-the-un-human-music-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/320894\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Life: Six60\u2019s Matiu Walters on new album and the \u2018un-human\u2019 music career"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cLike, sometimes I just want to have breakfast at a cafe with my family without having to hear my voice \u2026 There\u2019s a funny thing when you go into a cafe or a restaurant, rather than coming up and saying hi, the people who work there will just slip your music on.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor some reason they think that\u2019s something I wanted? But in any case, they\u2019re just showing appreciation, and I appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walters told Real Life the band\u2019s journey from a small flat on Dunedin\u2019s infamous Castle St to national stardom had been \u201ca wild, amazing ride\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had humble beginnings, just a group of mates who really enjoyed playing music together,\u201d he reflected.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose we are quintessentially Kiwi in our personalities. We write about the human experience, and people have really latched on to it, and it\u2019s just beautiful to see how they live their lives to the music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Six60 released their fifth studio album, Right Here Right Now, last month \u2013 and it\u2019s already performing well commercially, sitting top of the New Zealand charts having been streamed more than four million times.<\/p>\n
Walters told Real Life Six60 are really proud of the album and said the experience of making it was \u201cjoyful\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Six60 line-up: Ji Fraser (left), Matiu Walters, Marlon Gerbes and Chris Mac.<\/p>\n
But he admits it can be \u201creally, really challenging\u201d swinging from the pace, demands and adulation of a successful music career back to the slowness of everyday life \u2013 especially having recently become a father and husband.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this vertigo of the slowdown, like you\u2019re re-entering an atmosphere. There\u2019s no real method to it; no one teaches you how to deal with that thing,\u201d Walters told Cowan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was actually talking to [fellow musician] Teddy Swims recently \u2026 about how un-human, actually, it is, what we do, and that no one\u2019s meant to be up there receiving that kind of adulation, because it is intoxicating.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong, it\u2019s amazing and we\u2019re grateful \u2013 you don\u2019t wanna come across like playing to thousands of people is somehow tough or there\u2019s suffering involved in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s just a hard balance because you have these endorphins, this huge rush, and then boom \u2013 back to changing nappies, mate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walters said the new album captures the spirit of \u201cwh\u0101nau and togetherness\u201d that Six60 stands for \u2013 qualities the band have been trying to lean into with their recent offbeat touring decisions, which have included small venues across New Zealand.<\/p>\n
The band have enjoyed the experience of going from large to small shows and back again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was refreshing for us. We were able to take an entirely different approach, completely different to the kind of preparation that goes into pulling off these stadium shows,\u201d Walters said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were craving the closeness, a connection. Playing stadiums is amazing, but you\u2019re really playing to a mesh, you know? You can\u2019t really make anyone out.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then we flip around and play two in these tiny towns in front of 200 people who are at your feet. It\u2019s a completely different experience and a completely different preparation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love that one weekend we\u2019re playing at Stewart Island, and then the next weekend we\u2019re at 20,000 people in Sydney or whatever, and then on a boat, or all these different stages we can make work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walters credits their adaptability with having taken the \u201cold school\u201d route to fame.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started from the bedroom and into the garage, and into the backyard and into the small club and by the time we got to playing stadiums, we were prepared, we knew what we were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n