Six60: Back to their roots with new album ‘Right Here, Right Now’

For nearly 20 years, Six60 has been the soundtrack to Aotearoa New Zealand summers.

Their new album, Right Here, Right Now, marks a “full circle” moment - a record that feels like a debut and a decade of experience rolled into one.

Band members Matiu Walters, Ji Fraser, and Chris Mac joined Niu Fm’s The Rush to reflect on their journey, from Dunedin flatmates to stadium-filling icons, and now, back to their roots.

“Weirdly enough, with this album coming out, there’s a kind of full circle,” Walters, the lead singer, says. “There’s a feeling like we’re just getting started. It’s a strange feeling.”

Perhaps the most surprising part of Right Here, Right Now is how it easily came together. Stripping away ego and pressure, the band finished recording in just 72 hours.

“We were recording it for three days and that wasn’t the plan,” Walters explains. “We hit the last chord and the sizzle of this last cymbal goes off. We’re looking around each other going, 'It’s the one? It’s the one’.”

Listen to Six60s full interview below.

That ease is a product of trust built over decades.

“We've been doing it for long enough and there's a lot of trust amongst the group. At the beginning, we had no one but trust,” Walters says. “We were just young kids, gassed up that we were doing it, full of bravado and ego…just trying to figure it out.

“It became this crazy, out-of-control roller coaster after that. Now I just can feel it kind of happening again. We're armed with a bit more, we're prepared…and this time it was just a quick, fun, effortless album.”

Six60 is New Zealand's most decorated live band, holding records for multiple sell-outs at Auckland's Western Springs Stadium, a historic headline show at Eden Park, and over 1200 weeks on the NZ charts.

"I think if success is anything, it’s the fact we’ve put ourselves in a position to kind of do what we want in a positive way,” Fraser says.

"We’re very proud of the music,” Walters adds. “I genuinely believe it's our best work, judging on how fun it was and how natural it was. I'm just ready to share it."

The album’s release is celebrated with a landmark performance at Auckland’s new New Zealand International Convention Centre - Te Paepae Theatre.

Six60 is the first band to perform there, trading outdoor arenas for an intimate, theatrical experience.

"That’s another first,” Walters says. "We’ve been playing outdoors for so long...this time we can get really dark and a little bit more theatrical, which is what it was like for the first 80 per cent of our career."

Walters says the project reflects a band comfortable in their own skin, combining energy, experience, and a sense of starting anew.

“You’re always arriving, I think, as an artist, and we’re always getting better and more refined. You get a bit more direct on your message and how you like to do your process,” he says.

"We’re very proud of the music. I genuinely believe it's our best work, judging on how fun it was and how natural it was. I'm just ready to share it."

Right Here, Right Now is Six60 at their peak: seasoned, confident, and surprisingly effortless. It’s a record that proves even giants can feel like they’re just getting started.

Right Here, Right Now releases on Friday, 13 February.