This is forever _{by Madelaine Empson}

After their Grassroots Tour became the fastest sell-out tour in SIX60’s history, New Zealand’s biggest band is answering the call from fans who missed out. Playing picturesque outdoor venues throughout Aotearoa and Australia, SIX60 will hit Brewtown in Upper Hutt on the 1^st of February, starting early to unleash their greatest hits against a breathtaking golden-hour backdrop. I caught up with bassist Chris Mac about the Grassroots Tour City Edition and more.

Did you have any inkling of what was to come when you formed back in Dunedin in 2008?

No! At the start it was just playing for friends, parties, that kind of thing. It really took on a life of its own. We started getting relatively ambitious pretty quickly. We’d set our sights on things that most people thought were a little bit stupid and beyond our reach, and we basically continue to do that to this day. Those things can look different: they can look grand – like being the first to play at Eden Park – but they can also look very personal – like, what if we do the smallest possible thing and go to places no one’s ever gone before to do shows?

Happy sweet 16! What have been some of the highlights so far?

Is that right! Is that the one on MTV over in the States where they get the disgustingly big party and the car with the bow on top? We’ll probably do that [laughs]. Highlights: the first Western Springs, just touring the world and getting to see it, making friends and meeting fans everywhere. We’ve had a career of highlights, so it’s hard to pick just one. 16 years is a long time – I think it’s how we’ve managed to grow and evolve as people and a group. It hasn’t been without its hard times internally and externally. We’ve fought demons from critics and the public and members [chuckles] and we’ve managed to forge together and continue on the path. If we hung up our hat tomorrow, that would be the highlight: how well we’ve managed to navigate the journey.

Are you working on any new music that fans might get a sneaky peek into?

Yeah, we’ve been working on new music for what seems like an eternity. There’s a couple in the works that we’re hoping to get out relatively soon. We’d like to try them out on the road and give fans the first opportunity to hear them. That’s how we started – we didn’t have anything that people could listen to necessarily, but we’d try new songs. The public were always part of our growth and our music development system. We want to bring that back to the forefront. That’s why it’s cool doing these more intimate, specialised shows. It’s gonna be a show! But we’ve got the opportunity to try some things and experiment and bring people on that journey with us. We can’t wait.

What does New Zealand summer scream to you?

It screams having people over for drinks. It screams putting on some stubbies and hitting the beach. It screams going to a bowls club and getting a couple of yeasty beverages in [laughs].