A.M. Sixty

by Chris True
A.M. Sixty's leader, Chris Root, led what you might call a musical double life. On the one hand he was well known in the U.S. as a member of the breezy Brazilian-influenced Mosquitos. On the other, he was the leader of A.M. Sixty, which hit the big time in the U.K. when he sent demos of his project to labels there on a whim. The single Just a Dream was a huge hit, scoring both chart time as well as an opportunity to do a John Peel Session. In the meantime, Root got together with Mosquitos, signed with them to Bar/None, and waited to see if A.M. Sixty would get a deal in America. V2 finally caught on to what Europe and Japan (A.M. Sixty had been playing stadium-sized shows there) had been going crazy for -- not to mention the fact that tracks from the full-length were finding their way into television shows and commercials -- and signed Root's project to a deal. The aforementioned disc, entitled Big as the Sky, was released in 2004. The group, essentially just Root and collaborators, maintained the light, airy, and happy pop reminiscent of his other work with Mosquitos, but lacking the Brazilian flavor of that group's vocalist (from Brazil), Juju Stulbach. Given the success of A.M. Sixty and Mosquitos, Root would spend much of 2004 and 2005 touring with both acts.