Do we like them?

Do we like Chris Mac?

Our score: 6 out of 10. Nothing harmful found and a band that handled a te reo row well, but little on him personally to go on.

Chris Mac is the bassist in Six60, the New Zealand band that grew out of the Dunedin student scene to fill stadiums. He turned up in a mid-2025 podcast chat about the band's future and the so-called myth of balance, so he is no stranger to a mic.

The nearest thing to a scandal on the band is a 2022 stoush that was not of their making. Australian Sky News host Rowan Dean criticised their tour poster for being in te reo Māori, and when 1News asked, he declined to apologise. The band's reply was to post a clip of his comments over footage of their shows and to offer him free tickets so he could experience some positivity.

On the harm test, nothing turned up from Mac himself: no campaigning against LGBTQ+ people, women or migrants, no climate or vaccine conspiracy talk, and no run of dodgy collaborators in what I could find. The honest caveat is that this is mostly a band story, and I found few statements from him on those topics either way.

On how he treats people, no court cases, lawsuits or allegations against him turned up in the searches. Be aware I could only open a couple of pages, so this is an absence of bad news, not a deep character reference.

There is nothing new on him personally lately. Six60 as a band are in the news, but nothing I could verify touches Mac on either test. The good stuff is mostly the band's: using te reo proudly and answering a smear with good humour instead of a fight.