Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with Matt from unsigned Manchester band M60 to find out more…
Who is in the band, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the band name?
We are M60, our band consists of Me (Matt – lead singer/ rhythm guitar), Brad (drummer), Charlie (bassist) and Sam (lead guitarist). Myself and Brad met in high school, formed in 2015 and that’s also when we came up with our name. It’s something we always look back on and laugh about as we’re named after an effing motorway in Manchester. We settled on M60 and since then it’s stuck and we’ve been styling it out ever since. Later down the road we were joined by Baldy on the bass and Dash from The Incredibles on lead guitar.
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
I personally was late to the genre of Indie Rock, so my influences are largely drawn from Catfish and the Bottlemen, Peace and Island. Brad shares a similar taste to me but he’s also into the Stereophonics, Pink Floyd and of course Arctic Monkeys. On the other hand, Sam loves a bit of Bowie, Pearl Jam and The Stone Roses. Then we have Charlie who is into Hip-Hop and RnB but when it comes to writing he’s influenced by Bedroom Pop. We’ve got a real eclectic mix in taste and influences but hopefully our end product is the kind of stuff people like to listen to.
How would you describe your sound?
Sweet Mancunian indie rock. Music you can have a bounce about your living room to. It’s energetic and it’s the kind of music we want people to be belting out at festivals.
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
Our latest release is called ‘Believe Me’ and it very much fits the mould of the above. The influence for this one lyrically is about a relationship growing tiresome but it’s most definitely not a sad love song. It’s about accepting it and moving forward. Musically, we just wanted to create something that people can dance to and wholeheartedly enjoy because writing it came off the back of a long break for us due to our lead guitarist leaving.
What’s your local music scene like?
Hyper-locally speaking it’s safe to say the music scene in Wythenshawe is non existent, however, I do think Jason Orange from Take That is from Wythenshawe so maybe I’m selling us short! Talking Manchester in general, there’s endless amounts of bands just starting out and in the early stages of their musical careers just like us. It goes without saying but it’s a really good place to be when it comes to music but it also takes a lot to get noticed.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months? Any albums or festivals?
Over the next 12 months, you can expect a lot more music to come. We’re aiming to double the amount of released music we have out there, whether that comes from singles or EP’s. In regards to shows, our next one is a Headline gig at Night and Day in Manchester on the 2nd of August. We have another big gig in Manchester in September with Scruff Of The Neck at Gullivers. From then we’re planning to step foot outside of Manchester and we want our listeners to decide where we’ll be going.
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
There are loads of bands we would love to play with and you can only dream of playing with the top dogs of the indie scene. Short term we love playing with bands in the same boat as us. It’s brilliant meeting like-minded people who are on the same ropey ride as we are. This music game is tough and we’ve all got to lean on each other from time to time.
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
Four blokes spending as much time together as we do is bound to bring out funny moments but in terms of live performances I get outed by my brothers on the front row regularly as they follow me to every gig. More recently I keep trying to sing one chorus too many in one of our tunes… That one’s becoming a bit harder to play off!
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
We’re not stopping until we are at the top. So make it easier on us and get on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play or whatever it is and have a bop to some of our tunes.
You can find out more about M60 on their website via Apple Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, TikTok, Twitter or YouTube.
UPDATE: M60 are now signed to Lab Records, congratulations!
Merryn 