Without official radio play or an album in stores, budding band six60 has managed to consistently sell out shows around the country and get to number one on the iTunes charts. Synth player Marlon Gerbes speaks to Shabnam Dastgheib of NZPA about the band's upcoming national tour.

Simple beginnings in a makeshift studio on Dunedin's notorious Castle St has spawned an upbeat new band, determined to put their fans first as they take their music to the next level.

Six60, comprising of five North Island boys, was formed while they were studying in Dunedin in 2006 and living at the name-inspiring 660 Castle St.

Their sound is a mixture of reggae, roots, dubstep and drum and bass. Synth and guitar player Marlon Gerbes calls it a "variety of different genres that complement each other".

Gerbes, Ji Fraser, Matiu Walters, Chris Mac and Eli Paewai started by playing covers at parties all over Dunedin, moved on to bar gigs and then in 2008 recorded their first EP in a makeshift studio with egg cartons on the walls (to control acoustics) and vintage gear.

The EP has sold 5000 copies though it was never officially released. The band just told their friends on Facebook and the fans took it from there. Gerbes says the band is constantly surprised at their fan base and it is the fans who are driving the band's direction rather than the band pushing their music on the fans.

"We look at Facebook every now and then and wonder who all these people are," Gerbes laughs.

Six60 have over 23,000 Facebook fans and consistently sell out their gigs without any official radio play, no album in the stores and close to no advertising.

Because of their fans' loyalty, Six60 decided to release their first single on iTunes before radio so fans could get to it first. The single Rise Up 2.0 was released on Monday and has been number one on the iTunes rankings all week.

Gerbes says the band wants to be the first to get to number one on the national charts through only online sales. "The record company thought we could make it to the charts if we released it on radio first. But we couldn't let our fans down like that and everyone is going hard to get us to number one which is really cool."

Their upcoming tour which begins in Wellington on Friday night is their first national outing.

The band is still nervous about ticket sales, response has been slower in the smaller centres, but the main point of the tour is to practise for the album and gear up for the summer tour.

Gerbes says the band just wants to play their set really well.

He says Six60 is in it for the long haul and are hoping to play a few gigs in Europe next year.

The band has a busy year ahead with their nationwide tour this month, a possible tour in Australia next month, a sold out New Year's festival La De Da locked in, summer dates around New Zealand and their first album release in March.

Six60 'Rise up' national tour dates:

September 3 - Wellington

September 4 - Napier

September 9 - Christchurch

September 10 - Queenstown

September 11 - Dunedin

September 16 - Tauranga

September 17 - Hamilton

September 18 - Auckland