Australia: Mike & Honey, Andrew White, Princess Theater

U.S. writer-producer talent management company Milk & Honey set up an office in Sydney to cover the Australian and New Zealand markets. 

It will be run by Daniel Nall, who recently relocated back to Australia after spending three years as a manager at its Los Angeles HQ.

Founder/ president Lucas Keller said: “I’ve been traveling to Sydney twice a year for some time, and have been a huge fan of Australian music and the local business for a number of years.”

Last year, Milk & Honey set up offices in London and Amsterdam to join those in New York, Nashville and Dallas.

Its Down Under roster includes writer/producers PJ Harding, Louis Schoorl and Ned Houston; expatriates Stuart Crichton, Tushar Apte and Whakaio Taahi; and artists Hook N Sling, Tommy Trash and Feenixpawl.

Milk & Honey’s head of international Peter Coquillard was involved Bali Invitational, a long running Australasian songwriting camp in Indonesia. One of its successful outcomes was Noah Cyrus’ “July” which sold 2 million in the US.

Snoop Dogg is set for a four-date indoor arena run October 26 to November 1, his first visit here since 2014 when he headlined the Big Day Out. It’s through TEG MJR, which in March 2021 struck a deal to rep all his international shows excluding North America for the next five years.

After a five year-stint with Three Six Zero Group in Los Angeles with clients as deadmau5, Duke Dumont and Pendulum, Andrew White set up his own management firm in his native Melbourne. 

Milk Bar Management launched with singer songwriter Gabriella Cohen, folk pop duo McDermott & North and multi-instrumentalist Fox DeRoche. The idea was to set it up as a family-atmosphere entity where acts can “develop new ideas and engage with a network of support and nurturing that can see them thrive.”

White initially returned to Australia in 2017 as senior tour operations coordinator for Live Nation Australasia. But as international tours were cancelled or postponed post-COVID, he realized a huge potential for domestic acts to grow in their place. “It’s the right time, the right place and a little bit of luck,” he described his return to artist management.

Brisbane’s 133-year old heritage-listed Princess Theatre re-opens as a 900-capacity live music October 1. The city’s oldest standing theatre was bought in 2020 by Steve and Dave Sleswick who operate the 1,500-standing room The Tivoli, and heritage businessman Steve Wilson.

Renovations with four bars, a public cafe, private event spaces, a rehearsal room and an outdoor courtyard will also see the room, which has a 500-seated capacity, also host musical theatre, cabaret, circus and corporate events.