INTRODUCING: Sixth Wonder
From inauspicious beginnings, Glaswegian quartet SIXTH WONDER have quickly made themselves known as an emerging force in the UK’s metalcore scene. Although, to hear vocalist Rebekah Kirk tell it, that wasn’t actually the plan at all. “SIXTH WONDER wasn’t meant to be a band,” she recalls as we sit down ahead of the release of their excellent debut EP Prologue. “It was purely a university project that I had. I was writing a piece on the lack of women in music, specifically in Scotland, and I decided to put out a song to go with it. It was just myself and Nathan [Kirkwood, guitarist] who did all the instrumentation for me. We put the song out, it was really well received so we decided we might as well just run with it!”
Since then, they’ve been joined by Dylan McVey (bass) and Sean Love (drums), the former of whom also joins us for tonight’s conversation. Dylan attended the same university course and it was a friend that suggested he try out to join – and after hearing that debut single, he was sold. The name itself has similarly inauspicious origins; Rebekah initially just looked for two words that looked good together, but as she says now, it’s a name she feels the band have truly grown into.
“There’s no exciting story, it was just two words that sounded quite nice together,” she laughs. “I am pretty happy with it now. At the time it wasn’t even a placeholder because it wasn’t meant to be an actual band, but it’s growing with us and the sound we have. I feel like having something as vague, but also fairly specific, it works with what we’re going for.” That sound is rooted very much in metalcore, but the band have adopted the moniker ‘djent-pop’ that was used to describe them as a way of summing up their approach.
The two styles – djent and pop – share little to no DNA, the former rooted in prog and tech metal while the latter loves nothing more than a quick runtime and a simpler earworm melody. But the band’s makeup itself lends them towards for eclectic experimentation; “Rebekah comes from a pop background, while Nathan’s area is metal like SPIRITBOX and PERIPHERY,” explains Dylan. “We’ve just been naturally trying to progress and push that sound further. When I got involved I brought my own influences from electronic music, rap, R&B and heavy production things. We tried to incorporate all those into the sound, especially with this EP.”
Before they could even get to their debut EP though, as they were still finding their feet, SIXTH WONDER found themselves being not just nominated for a Scottish Alternative Music Award, but taking home the trophy for Best Metal in 2023. “That was unbelievable,” Rebekah admits. “I remember on the night of the SAMAs, we were up against bands that we knew we were not going to win against. We went there to have a good time. I had the microphone handed to me, and I’d had quite a few beers by that point!” She laughs of the evening. “It was amazing to have that support behind us, and also being the only band in the category that had female and LGBTQ+ members.” Dylan agrees, noting it was one of the SAMA team that persuaded them to pursue funding for what became Prologue after their win.
As we move onto discussing their emergence from the burgeoning Scottish scene, Dylan explains of their social media use, “[TikTok] has been a game changer for us as a band.” The platform has certainly helped bring new attention to many, not just the stratospheric successes seen by SLEEP TOKEN or BAD OMENS but for themselves, too. “It becomes much easier for us to represent Scotland. It’s not all that we are, but we are so proud of where we’re from,” Rebekah says of the ability to share more through the platform with fans that have connected with them from as far afield as the US. “It’s a great feeling, especially when women are also involved. It’s not the be all and end all, but I feel really proud to have that and being Scottish as a big driving force.”
Their debut EP, Prologue, is a concept EP exploring emotional turmoil from being betrayed to determination to move on from your past. Thorn, that opens the EP, is “all about coming to the realisation that somebody you thought was on your side was against you the entire time,” Rebekah explains. That feeling of betrayal morphs into disbelief and rethinking, with Ropeburn, whereas Guts “is a punch in the face. It’s a big fuck you,” she grins. The EP’s finale, Death Departed, is “us breaking away from what we previously were onto the new SIXTH WONDER. We feel this is truly our beginning.” It’s a bold statement, but they’re in an extremely strong position to be making the claim. While the band have existed since that fateful uni essay, this – to them, at least – is the first release they’ve felt united as a band and that the ideas and influences they’ve each brought has created something greater than the sum of its parts.
Most of all, they’re proud of being able to showcase not just Scottish alternative music, but themselves. As Rebekah puts it, “we all come from very different backgrounds, and I feel like we’ve captured something very personal to each of us.”
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