Coterie, four Māori brothers - Tyler, Josh, Brandford and Conrad of Te Aupouri, Ngāpuhi and Ngāi Te Rāngi descent - have taken Aotearoa by storm with their music over the past 24 months.
Their platinum-certified breakthrough hit Cool It Down has become an anthem throughout the country that was recently re-released in te reo Māori. Their debut album COTERIE also rose to number one on the New Zealand music charts just after its release in December.
The group also became the first band signed to Six60′s new music label, Massive Records, while forming what they describe as a “brotherhood”. They’ve also been performing as one of the supporting acts during Six60′s tour in Australia and Aotearoa.
“You fast forward a year and we’ve spent every other day with the boys now eating food at their houses, hanging out, taking us out to their fancy spots and taking their clothes,” says Tyler.
During the tour with Six60, the Coterie brothers have been able to learn new skills they hope to bring to their own shows.
Six60 member Marlon Williams says, “One of the first things the boys did was support us on our Australian tour and I know that by the end of that tour, the boys, all of them, came up to me at different times and said, ‘we’ve learned so much just watching you guys play, how you put a show together’. They’re so good at just soaking up information.”
As part of the new album, the two bands collaborated on a song Always Beside You.
The lyrics of this song sum it up. ‘My brother, I love you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.’ That’s basically the connection between us and Six60,” says Josh.
Coterie will also perform at One Love in Tauranga on January 28 and 29.
