'It Was Sink or Swim': Meet Manchester Grafters M60 Ahead Of Their Biggest UK Tour
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
Written by Laura Mills
Manchester is the birthplace of some of the biggest stars in the history of British music, and M60 are out to ink their name into that proud lineage. The quartet — guitarist-vocalist Matthew Morton, guitarist Owen Baldwin, drummer Bradley Smith and bassist Max Phillips — have become known for their high-energy guitar-pop in recent years, with their biggest UK tour to date about to get underway in early April. We caught up with Morton to find out what they have in store for us once the house lights go down.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
“I think it’s quite broad in our band. I say broad, it’s all in the bracket of rock and indie, but I grew up on pop music until I was about 15. I loved Adele, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, artists like that. I still listen to pop as well, but my main music became indie and it was because of the [Arctic Monkeys] album ‘AM’. At the time, ‘AM’ just popped off and it was a good transition for me into indie, and Catfish and the Bottlemen’s first album ‘The Balcony’ was also a milestone for me. Owen is a bit edgier with his taste, like MJ Lenderman, so we have a real mix of inspirations for our music.”
How would you describe the evolution of your sound between Honey, which came out a decade ago, to newer tracks like Lemonade?
“I think early on, because we were so young, everything was very raw. We wrote Honey when we were 15 years old so we had no idea what we were talking about, really. But it struck a nerve with a lot of people and it caught on. There was nothing to hide with Honey. I think we followed that for a while with Blindside, I Don’t Mind and Talk, which was a little heavier for us at the time.We had a spell after that of trying to recreate I Don’t Mind because it went so well for us. We found that that actually tarnished the writing experience, now we’ve evolved and try to mix things up to keep it fresh.”
Which of your tracks feels most personal to you, and why?
“This is going to be such an annoying answer, but actually one that’s not out yet. Generally, we write about scenarios and what we see around us, kind of putting ourselves in other people’s shoes, but with bits of it that are relatable to us. There’s a new one that’s not even recorded yet, and it’s called Old Town. It’s about living in the same city, the same town, your whole life, and the monotony of it. Being ready to move on. Not get out, because you still love your home, but it’s about those bad days and the feelings you have. I love where I live, but it’s about that repetitive feeling. I think it’s something people can actually relate to, especially in indie music. If you overcomplicate things, the songs don’t land.”
What does this headline tour, the biggest you’ve ever done, mean to you personally and as a band?
“This one feels like a big step for us. We’ve done headline tours before, and the last one was great because we hit the point where we could sell 100 tickets in loads of cities, which is massive after years of playing to 10 people, but this tour is a big jump. All the venues are 300 -500 capacity. When we booked it, we didn’t really think it was going to sell out. It was more that we’re at the point where we need to take this jump. It was sink or swim, and thankfully we’re swimming at the minute. Tickets are selling really well, and people missing out shows us that next time we can push it even further.”
What’s the biggest challenge of touring?
“Playing live is more the relief side of things. At the level we’re at, there’s a lot of time spent in your own head, not knowing if what you’re doing is right. When you go out and play shows, you get that reassurance that people are resonating with it. The difficulties of live music usually come from stuff out of our control, like sound problems. Sometimes it goes awful, sometimes it goes unbelievable, but we’ve played the songs so many times that even if we mess something up people don’t notice.”
Are there any cities on this tour you’re particularly excited to play?
“Manchester’s always huge for us, just because of how much we’ve grafted there. Outside of that, Nottingham always goes off. Sheffield and Leeds are great too. London’s been really good recently, the crowds are always up for it, right at the front, screaming, rarely a phone in sight.”
What are your goals as a band over the next year?
“A big thing for us is trying to push it to being a full-time band. In the last year we’ve doubled where we were, and I’d love to do that again. We don’t want to do album one until we’re absolutely ready and sure we’re big enough for it. We’ve seen album one kill bands, financially or creatively. For now, singles and EPs make more sense until we’ve got more traction.”
Finally, how do you feel to be branded with the title “Gary Neville’s favourite band”?
“I love that. It took nearly a year of tweeting him to get a response. We got a little video message off him. Me and Max are massive United fans, so it meant a lot. We’ve never met him, but the dream would be to get him down to a Manchester show, maybe even to introduce us. It might not happen, but it would be unreal if it did.”
M60 Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu April 09 2026 - LIVERPOOL District
Fri April 10 2026 - SHEFFIELD Foundry
Sat April 11 2026 - LEEDS Key Club
Thu April 16 2026 - PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms
Fri April 17 2026 - LONDON Oslo
Sat April 18 2026 - BRISTOL Thekla
Thu April 23 2026 - BIRMINGHAM Mama Roux's
Fri April 24 2026 - NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
Sat April 25 2026 - MANCHESTER O2 Ritz
Fri May 01 2026 - GLASGOW Nice n' Sleazy
Sat May 02 2026 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Grove
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