Do we like Marlon Gerbes?
Our score: 8 out of 10. A clean record on both fronts and some real good, but the coverage is mostly band-level and thin on his own causes.
Gerbes grew up in Maraenui in Hawke's Bay, where his family ran food stalls at the local A&P Show. He went to Napier Boys' High, which he called formative, then headed to the University of Otago, where Six60 started. He's the band's synth and keys man, though one 2026 profile calls him a guitarist, so the sources don't agree on his role.
Most of the drama around Six60 isn't about him personally. In March 2016 a balcony collapsed at a Dunedin flat gig just after the band took the stage, injuring 18 people. Police later laid no charges, and a university investigation pointed to failings in the event's organisation. The band's representative said they had “no criminal or harmful intent”.
Then there's the Lotto scratchie stoush in early 2021. Some fans and a problem gambling spokesperson objected to Instant Kiwi tickets with the band on them, and Lotto withdrew them by mutual agreement and apologised. The band said the profits were going to two charities, which is nice, but plenty of people still weren't thrilled about the gambling link.
On the harm check, we found nothing nasty from Gerbes: no rants, no conspiracy stuff, no campaigning against anyone. When Sky News Australia's Rowan Dean mocked the band's te reo poster in 2022 and wrongly claimed it had no English, Six60 posted that they were about bringing people together “no matter the language”. They offered him free tickets, and he declined to apologise. We found no reporting on his stance on LGBTQ+ issues either way, so that's a gap, not a tick.
The good stuff is cultural. Gerbes has said he “grew up without the Māori culture”. The band then recorded a te reo version of Don't Forget Your Roots and performed it at Western Springs with kapa haka group Ngā Tumanako. That's a bloke doing the work in public rather than just talking about it.
He also seems to keep his feet on the ground. He told the Spinoff that playing big venues is about letting everyone know New Zealand's live spaces are great, and his 2021 homecoming show in Hawke's Bay was a family affair. It's a decent record, though we couldn't find much on his own charity work.