SIX60 on their upcoming album ‘Right Here Right Now’
SIX60’s fifth studio album, Right Here Right Now, dropping Friday 13 February marks a return to the iconic live, roots-driven sound that defined the band’s debut album, now a 13x platinum Kiwi classic. Recorded entirely live, with every final track captured in a single take, the album channels an authentic, in-the-room energy. Blending reggae and pop in SIX60’s signature style, the production leaves space for movement, warmth, and vocal clarity. Matiu Walters delivers a standout performance throughout, showcasing his dynamic range across the album’s emotional arc. Right Here Right Now captures the sound of summer and the raw, honest, and uplifting sound of SIX60 that has made them a stadium-selling force across New Zealand.
We chat to Chris Mac about the process of making and recording the album, performing the very first show at NZICC /Te Tumu in Tāmaki Makaurau and co-headlining the very first concert with SYNTHONY at One NZ Stadium / Te Kaha, Ōtautahi, his favourite artists from Aotearoa and more.
Hype Medium: Well I'm very excited to chat, especially with the new album dropping soon, ‘Right Here Right Now’. When did you start working on this project?
Chris Mac: Yeah, it really depends on how you define starting. I mean, we've been writing songs for years ever since the drop of the last one. Matiu went on a writing trip over to Nashville and connected with that producer over there, and the songs came together really quickly that became the album from that trip. So yeah, it's felt like a long time but in reality, it really hasn't been that long. And then once we got into the studio, things happened really fast. We recorded the album incredibly quickly and was just a breeze.
HM: Awesome! Can you talk through how you landed on that name and the importance of the name for you guys?
Chris: Yeah, well it's kind of reflective of the album really - a lot of the lyrics and just the feeling of it as well, feel very immediate and a lot of gratitude, I think, comes through. A lot of taking stock and looking around and saying, “this is good” and “look how cool life can be”. I guess in that lead single, it talks about the bumpy roads and all that kind of thing. But being able to acknowledge where you are in the moment is great. And so it's kind of like a nice feeling of saying “right here, right now”. And I think everyone can relate to that. You can get stuck in the minutiae and the detail and some of the things that aren't going particularly well, like perhaps your head's a bit foggy in the morning from too many soju’s (laughs). But then you should be like, life is pretty good. The sun's shining. My puppies are just sitting here being all cute and stuff. And so there's little victories everywhere.
HM: I think that's such an important message, taking that time to reflect. I think it's mentioned in the song “We Made It”, we don't take enough time to celebrate where we are. Did you go into the album with some key themes that were important for you to write about, or did it just happen organically in terms of the themes that you were writing about for the album?
Chris: That just seemed to be a theme that was coming through, even a lot of the early stuff we were writing that didn't make it onto the album, that did seem to be a theme. Maybe it's where we're at as a band and just as people, like everyone's having kids now and everyone's married. There's that particular time I think, my kids are a little bit older, but you do tend to go “oh you know what? All the stuff I was worried about kind of doesn't matter. It isn't as important, because this is really cool”. I think that probably plays into it a little bit as well. But then also us as a band, we're still ambitious and we still got to drive but sometimes it's good to take stock and look around.
HM: Yeah, 100%. And I’ve had the privilege of listening to the album in advance and I absolutely love it, it sounds fantastic! It really exudes warmth and sounds like summer, and it has that familiar, beautiful SIX60 sound so it’s really nice to be able to listen through. Something special about this record is that it's been recorded entirely live, and I read that every final track was captured in a single take which is so impressive.
Chris: Yeah, I find it impressive to be honest (laughs). We had the studio booked as you normally do for a week or two weeks or whatever. We were working just so quickly that we got to the end of day three or something, and we're like “well hang on a minute, we’ve basically recorded the whole album - that can't be right”. So we listened to it and we were like “it sounds really good” (laughs). And we were like “this can’t be right, it's too easy”. You know, we don't like things to be too easy, sometimes it feels like you haven't worked hard enough for it. But Malay, our producer, was like “you know, it's taking you 16 years to record an album in three days”. So, we're just at the top of our game really, everyone was playing so well. It's a masterclass from everyone in the band. Just doing what was right, no one was overdoing it. Everyone was serving the songs and trusting each other. And that’s pretty special.
HM: Absolutely, and I think it definitely shows through in the performance on the album. And obviously you guys are experts at performing live so having this, it feels really organic and it feels easy, as you say, for the listener as well.
Chris: Yeah, I think you're right. When you listen to it, it feels that way. It feels fun and collaborative. You can hear albums that feel tortured sometimes (laughs). Sometimes that's beautiful. Sometimes I want to hear that torture, you know, like they’ve really gotten into the weeds. I like that in music sometimes, but this album doesn't have any of that. It's the opposite of that. There's a lot of air in it, there's a lot of room in it.
HM: A lot of space for sure. And how did that decision come about for you to record it live?
Chris: I think there's a classic-ness to that, you know, something a bit timeless. Modern recording is really cool because you can get into the weeds, and you can chop this bit and put this bit here, and that always ends up sounding very modern - which again, isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just that's what it sounds like. We really wanted this to feel classic and timeless. It's like an album that could have been made 20-30 years ago, or it could be made today. So I think we've achieved that. That's why we went to Stebbing Studios here in Auckland, which is like walking back in time (laughs). Bang, you're in the 60s, 70s. And it has that timeless feeling, and it lends itself to this live. And it's big. High ceilings, and so even the room has a lot of air, and so your playing tends to take that shape on. The intent was to create something timeless and I hope we've done that. I think we've done it.
HM: Absolutely, and I think definitely lyrically with the themes as well, there’s something that everyone can relate to. And I can imagine the studio space and wherever you're performing or recording does play an integral part into how the music comes to life.
Chris: Whether you’re conscious of it or not, it does tend to have an impact. You can trick yourself into playing things differently, but in terms of making it easy for your brain just to go “this is what we're doing”, environment is pretty important.
HM: And we kind of touched on it before, but one of my favourite songs on the album is “We Made It” which is the first single you dropped from the album! Such a beautiful song. Can you tell us a little bit about how that song came about?
Chris: Yeah, I believe it was fairly early on. That came from one of Matiu’s sessions over in Nashville, but I can tell you that it was probably one of the first songs we recorded when we got into the studio. Especially when we go into a project like this where we are trying to do it live, we hadn't done a bunch of pre-production. We hadn't played a whole bunch of times beforehand. We’re going into rehearsal this afternoon for some shows coming up, and I am like “I need to learn how to play these songs”, because I only played them two or three times (laughs). There's little embellishments that I had no idea how I even did it.
It was cool to start with songs like that, that felt comfortable. When Mat sent through just the simple recording of the song after he had written it, it was pretty immediate that we all loved the song. It's just one of those songs that kind of feels like you'd heard it before.
HM: Yeah, 100%. And what do you feel were like some of your main highlights working across this album as a whole?
Chris: I mean the recording process for sure, just the trust we had with each other working as a group - that really is a highlight for me. There was a real family vibe to it. We made sure to spend time not just recording as well (laughs). We record to a point and then we put it away, because if you screw around with things too much, they can lose their soul. So often we’d be like “well should we just go for dinner and have some wine?” (laughs). And so that was a big part of the recording process. You know, we just had such a good time making it that that's the highlight really, is just the connection of all of us together and doing something really special.
HM: So nice! And I guess those are the parts to creating an album that the listeners don't really see. You guys have been together for ages but building that chemistry really creates that special vibe in the room.
Chris: Even though we’ve been together for so long, you can lose it if someone isn't on the same page, or someone's too stressed. Sometimes you have to hold things firmly enough to have control of them, but loose enough to let them go. And I think everyone kind of had that respect for the album and that trust. So I'm impressed with us because you can get in your own way, and no one did which is beautiful.
HM: Totally, that's so important. And as we’re a New Zealand music platform, I wanted to know who are some of your favorite Kiwi artists right now and if there are any particular songs that you especially love at the moment?
Chris: I'm a big fan of The Beths. I think they’re so brilliant. I think she's an incredible songwriter. That ‘Mother, Pray For Me’ song, that'll make me cry like that. The first line, I'm bawling (laughs). So I try not to listen to that song too much. It’s so beautiful (laughs).
HM: The power of music!
Chris: I really love those guys. There’s this awesome young lady, she's got a solo project Bella Rafflyn. She's put out a couple of songs that are fantastic. And her band is Coast Arcade, and their latest stuff is really good as well. I'm liking them.
There's this fantastic punk band here in Auckland called CHEMCHAIN. They are literally one of my favourite bands to go watch. So if you get a chance, I think you can only listen to them on Bandcamp, but those guys are so fun.
HM: Awesome! Well I’m glad you mentioned Bella because before this interview, I asked her if there were any questions that she would like to ask you (laughs). And obviously you are known for your great outfits so she would like to know if you'd rather be in a bad outfit at a good party or have a good outfit at a bad party?
Chris: That's quite good (laughs). And she is kind of making fun of my Instagram bio there. I knew Bella would stitch me up somehow but I do love Bella (laughs). That is actually a really hard question (laughs) but I think I'd have to say bad outfit, good party. Because to be honest, I'll reckon I’ll pull it off. Even in the worst outfit, I’ll make that shit look good (laughs).
HM: (laughs) I reckon there's no such thing as a bad outfit! It's all about how you are wearing it.
Chris: You can’t let the clothes wear you.
HM: That's a good answer, I love that. You've got some big firsts coming up, including performing the first ever concert at the NZICC in Auckland, plus obviously co-headling the very first concert with SYNTHONY at One NZ Stadium in Christchurch which is just gonna be huge! How does it feel to have both those epic shows coming up?
Chris: Yeah, good! I mean, we’ve got a lot of work to do. Got a fair bit of work to do (laughs) but it feels great! We do love a first (laughs). First to do Western Springs, first to do Eden Park and all those things but I can't wait. We went and saw the convention centre the other day and it looks really cool. It's a great setup and it's gonna be great. It's gonna be really fun. But rehearsals start today!
HM: Love it. And obviously, you've sold out iconic venues such as Eden Park and Western Springs, you've had four number one albums, 48 Platinum certified singles, just to name a few highlights! What would you say are some of your biggest lessons that you've learnt in your career, or what are the best pieces of advice someone's given you along the way?
Chris: This is the advice when anyone asks for advice, is just don't wait to be asked. Don't wait for an invitation, because it might never come and probably won't. You have to put your own gigs on, make your own small festival. Do it yourself. That's really what we've had to figure out and that’s what I would tell anyone trying to make it in anything really. That's not just music related, that's in anything.
HM: Yes I think that's so crucial in life to not wait around for the opportunity to come to you, and create that opportunity for yourself. And we always end with this question, a nice deep question for the morning. If you could say one thing to every person in the world right now, what would that be?
Chris: First of all, hello. My name is Chris. I'd start with that (laughs). And then I guess I’d just say ask more questions. Stop yelling at each other and maybe ask someone a question.
HM: Yeah, love it. Especially at this point in time.
Chris: Yeah, it feels like that's probably the smallest thing we can change in the world, is if we stop yelling at each other and start asking each other questions, then maybe we’ll be a little better off or at least it's a conversation rather than a monologue.
Thanks so much Chris! Make sure to keep up with SIX60 on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Spotify and Apple Music, and catch them at one of their live shows soon.
