SIX60's Chris Mac: I fell in love with Southland

“I came to meet my mum and fell in love with the place, and I fell in love with a Southlander, so I couldn’t leave. I got married pretty soon after I got here.”

High-profile band SIX60 has a popular song called “Don’t Forget Your Roots”. Bassist-turned-drummer Chris Mac lived up to that song title with a special announcement in South Invercargill on Monday. Logan Savory explains.

SIX60’s Chris Mac says Southland is the place in New Zealand he feels most connected to. Even if until 19 years old he hadn’t heard of the place, let alone visited.

It was a call from his mother when he was a teenager that introduced the now SIX60 bassist-cum-drummer to Invercargill.

Mac hadn’t met his mother since the age of, he thinks six or seven. At the time Mac was living in Darwin, Australia where he was brought up.

“I got a call from her one day and she said; ‘Would you like to come and meet me? I live in Invercargill’, I said ‘Where the hell is that?’

“Next thing I knew I was on a plane, landed here, and it was freezing cold. But the moment I got here I felt very much at home. I started making friends, I’ve got some of my closest friends here.

“I came to meet my mum and fell in love with the place, and I fell in love with a Southlander, so I couldn’t leave. I got married pretty soon after I got here.”

Mac and his wife eventually left in 2007 and headed to Darwin for a stint before returning to New Zealand where he eventually linked with SIX60 in 2009.

SIX60’s then-bass guitarist Hoani Matenga had decided to pursue a professional rugby opportunity with the Highlanders which meant the band needed a replacement.

Mac was a music teacher at the time and by his own omission was not the best employee.

He’d had an argument with his boss in a staff room one day and a young teacher, who had seen it, told Mac a band called SIX60 was in need of a fill-in bass player.

At that time, in 2009, Mac thought it would be a temporary gig, but it turned out to be life-changing.

“I came in for three months and that turned into 16 years.”

SIX60 has established itself as one of New Zealand’s most popular and high-profile bands.

Aurora College pupils were excited to meet SIX60s Chris Mac in Invercargill on Monday.

While now based in Auckland Mac still feels very connected to Invercargill.

“I consider myself a Southlander… I’m from Australia originally but in terms of my allegiance to any area in the country, I’m a Southlander.

“I try to come down here as much as I can because it is part of my life.”

During his visit to Invercargill last week, as part SIX60s The Grassroots Tour, he got chatting to Invercargill architect Brent Knight while having a drink at the Tuatara Cafe-Bar.

Knight told him about the Grace St Project he was working on and showed him the plans.

Soon after he fielded a call from Grace St Project organisers who were keen to explain a bit more about the development.

Mac indicated he was keen to join as an ambassador, although at that point he was battling to find time to fit in a media conference to announce he was backing the South Invercargill project.

On Monday morning Mac, out of the blue, sent Grace St Project leader Janette Malcolm a message saying he had a few hours to spare in Invercargill and was keen to make the announcement happen.

By just after 11am, Mac, Grace St Project reps, media, and a group of excited Aurora College pupils had gathered at the former Grace St Chapel for the special announcement.

“I learned about it, said I’d like to be involved, and the next thing we are having this media conference.

“I happened to have a three-hour layover in Invercargill so I said, ‘actually, we can make this happen’.”

SIX60’s Chris Mac outside the former Grace St Chapel which is being transformed into a new community hub for South Invercargill.

The Grace Street Project is a community driven initiative to provide a mixed use, all weather venue in the heart of South City with the goal of focusing on a safe, welcoming, and thriving community for all.

The quest to transform the former Grace St Chapel into a suitable community venue has been budgeted at over $4m and those involved are drumming up the funds to make it happen.

Mac wants to play a hand in helping that happen through his ambassador role.

The SIX60 band member worked in alternative education for the YMCA during his time in Invercargill and says he has a deep connection around wanting to help the city’s youth.

“Hearing about this project, I was pretty excited, because I think it is long overdue. I know this is not just for kids and youth, but that’s my passion, young people having connection.

“They are things that are going to have kids connected to positive things and find a pathway to do something positive in life and contribute to society, it’s really awesome.”

“I understand there is finance still to be found, so I think it is a worthwhile project and I hope the people with the means can back it, and just people in general get in behind it.”

Chris Mac with Aurora College pupils at the Grace St Project site in South invercargill.

On top of confirmation that Mac has backed the project as an ambassador the Grace St Project team also announced on Monday that ONE NZ chief executive Jason Paris had come on board as an ambassador.

Paris grew up in South Invercargill with a solo mum, Annette Paris.

Paris understood the importance and need of a project such as this for south Invercargill and was happy to align with the Grace Street Project.

"Two of the most important things for our young people is that they have a space to feel safe and have at least one person in their lives that believes in their potential. I was lucky that, my Mum gave both of these to me.

“But I know that others are not as lucky. That's why the Grace Street Project is such an important initiative to support - because it's all about creating a space for everyone to be at their best.”

Malcolm - the Chair of the Grace Street Project - said to announce the first two ambassadors was exciting but made even more so that both Mac and Paris have a deep connection and affinity for Invercargill.

“They are extremely successful in their fields and to have ambassadors that represent the music and tech industry, possible pathways for our rangatahi, is a perfect partnership.”

Malcolm said the concept behind the ambassador programme came from a desire to utilise the support of the well-known New Zealanders to lift the profile of the Grace Street Project.

“We have a fundraising goal that we need to reach in the coming months, so the push is on to build awareness and support of the project.

“At the same time, we want to continue to inspire people about what we can achieve as a community and support from Chris and Jason will no doubt help us to do that. Their support means the world to us.”