your friendly neighborhood story teller. 


Nigerian-born, UK-based singer/songwriter Jacob Banks moved to Birmingham at the age of 13, and began singing, playing guitar and writing songs at the age of 20. He got his start recording songs for friends to listen to in their cars and hitting the open mic circuit before self-releasing his first EP The Monologue in 2013.

Jacob has since released independent EP The Paradox and made his debut on Interscope Records with The Boy Who Cried Freedom EP.  His track “Worthy” has surpassed 5 million streams on Spotify, and his music has been praised by everyone from The New York Times to Vogue, with Time recognizing “Chainsmoking” as one of the “Best Songs of 2017 So Far” and The FADER naming “Mercy” one of their “Songs You Need in Your Life This Week.”

Having supported the likes of Alicia Keys, Sam Smith and Emeli Sandé on tour in the UK, Jacob is now playing to festival crowds around the world including including Lollapalooza, Firefly, Outsidelands and Austin City Limits in the US. The New York Times named Jacob one of “12 Notable Acts” at SXSW.  This fall, Jacob will embark on his headlining North American Into the Wild tour. The tour will kick off with a show at LA’s The Roxy on November 2nd, which sold out 3 months in advance, and will run through December 5th in Atlanta. Jacob is also gearing up to release new music imminently.

Once transmitted through speakers and into the airwaves, music belongs to the people. The audience ascribes meaning and significance to songs and ultimately absorbs them for life.

By the same token, SIX60 belong to listeners. The history-making award-winning New Zealand quintet—Matiu Walters [vocals, guitar], Marlon Gerbes [keyboard], Ji Fraser [lead guitar], Chris Mac [bass], and Eli Paewai [drums]—stir rock, reggae, funk, and pop together with a twist of kiwi roots music and Maori instrumentation. Invoking this spirit and Kiwi roots, their latest music and next evolution showcases traditional Maori instruments such as Pūtātara and Pūkāe (stone and long trumpets), Bone Kōauao (Bone Flute), and Karanga Weka (Stone Flute). “We want to take our Maori culture and put it into a mainstream radio world,” exclaims Matiu. “There are only a handful of people in the world who can play these instruments, and we felt getting them into a mainstream album could give them a chance to stay alive.”
Over a decade before breaking records and selling out stadiums back home or signing to Epic Records stateside, the boys then welcomed the world into their musical ecosystem and set a career precedent in 2008 while still students.

“At University of Otago, we shared a flat at 660 Castle Street in Dunedin, New Zealand,” recalls Matiu. “We originally didn’t name the band. Instead, our first college fans gave the band the name by calling us the ‘SIX60 Boys,’ which evolved into SIX60. We adopted this philosophy into our albums. The fans add the final touches and have naming rights over things we do. The songs aren’t done until the audience has them. So, the album doesn’t really have a spirit or a name until the crowd consumes it.”

As such, SIX60 engender a rare level of devotion from fans, bordering on downright phenomenal. The group’s 2011 full-length, SIX60 (I. The Gold Album), bowed at #1 on the charts in New Zealand and eventually went septuple-platinum. SIX60 (II. The Colours Album). saw them reclaim the top spot on the charts in 2015 and go quintuple-platinum. To date, New Zealand single sales exceed 1 million as global streams surpass 200 million and counting. At the 2018 NZ Music Awards, they garnered “Best Group” in addition to five other honors.

A year later, they made history. Performing their biggest show to date, they sold out Western Springs Stadium in New Zealand and became “the first New Zealand Act to Sell 50,000 Tickets to a Show at the Stadium” (They repeated the same feat for 2020!). The gig proved to be a major milestone both professionally and musically.

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