After topping 100 million Spotify streams of their song "Catching Feelings," New Zealand's Drax Project is celebrating today with a new version of their SIX60 collaboration which now features a guest appearance from Brooklyn five-piece Phony Ppl.

Coincidentally, Phony Ppl most recently with Megan Thee Stallion on the song "Fkn Around," released last year. Of course, Meg, Phony Ppl and Drax Project are all label mates on 300 Entertainment.

The new version of "Catching Feelings" comes as Drax Project has been enjoying New Zealand's near-zero Covid paradise (the island country has averaged fewer than 20 daily cases since   its April 2020 peak), performing live and playing for arenas full of fans. We chatted about the new music, getting out in the world and what comes next.

Hear the new "Catching Feelings" version below, followed by our chat.

First of all, appreciate you chatting. We’ve been fans for a while and I know this is an exciting time for you guys. What is it like performing again and playing big shows? It feels like New Zealand has been a whole different world for a while. Is that pretty much true, everything back to normal?

Thanks so much! Since our individual and collective musical backgrounds are so heavily rooted in performing/playing live, we really missed playing shows and it’s so good to be back out there. We’re pretty lucky given the current world situation that we come from an island pretty much as far away from the rest of the world as possible. To us, things still feel a little on edge, but in comparison to a lot of other places, our day to day is pretty normal. It just sucks that we can’t travel/play in other countries as easily as we’d like to. 

“Catching Feelings” has been out for a while and is already so good. What was the inspiration for the new version and how did it come about?

We’d always thought the track would sound cool with a rap verse on it and when the original hit 100 million plays on Spotify we thought maybe we’d celebrate and try to find someone that worked on it. Turns out they were closer than we’d realised because Phony Ppl are actually on the same label as us (300 ent). Fast forward and Elbee sent us through his verse and we were super into it. We reckon he fits the chill/easy going vibe of the track perfectly.

What have you been working on recently? Is it safe to assume this new release is a sign of more new music?

We’ve been working for quite a while on getting some tracks finished to release and we have a good stack saved up ready to put out towards the end of this year. We’ve been in the studio most days trying to get better at producing and writing and it’s nice to feel like the new songs are a development and elevation on where we were/what we were doing before the pandemic.

You have collaborated with other artists in the past. This song is proof of that. Is there a “dream collaboration” you still have on your wish list?

We have a few, and it’s hard to keep concise, because we all have our individual lists, but there are some obvious big ones like Drake, Ariana Grande and Doja Cat. One person we’d love to get in a room and write with is Frank Ocean; there’s just something about the magic that he puts on anything he does that is so cool and unique.

What can fans expect next from you guys? 

More music, more shows and hopefully some travel when it’s safe/possible.

And obviously, when are you coming back to the States?

We’d like to say sooner rather than later, but we guess that depends on how everything plays out.