Hotstar: Royel Otis, Australia’s Latest Band Takes World By Storm

Manager Andrew Klippel was first introduced to Australian indie rock band Royel Otis through the drummer of another one of his clients, Australian rapper/singer Genesis Owusu. It was 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, and upon meeting the duo — made up of lead guitarist Royel Maddell and vocalist/guitarist Otis Pavlovic – Klippel fell in love with their music.

Arrival Artists’ John Bongiorno and Ali Hedrick were both working alongside Klippel for Owusu, and when he told them about his newest band, the agents jumped onboard. The two began working with Royel Otis in 2022, the same year the band released their breakthrough single “Oysters In My Pocket,” booking shows in Australia and working to sort out visa issues so the duo could tour in the United States (which they were finally able to do in 2024).

“The band has scaled in a manageable way,” Klippel says. “We’ve had sold-out shows all the way from last year doing the Australian shows, which were 500-caps and we were selling out five or so of those in each region. The good thing about Royel Otis is that it’s scaled within a 5 to 50% variable in each, whether it be in Europe and the UK or the U.S. and Australia.”

In February and March, Royel Otis was playing less than 1,000-capacity clubs, with highlights including sold-out shows at Corner Hotel in Richmond, Australia, on Feb. 19 and 21, selling a total of 1,512 tickets and grossing $36,779 tickets over the two nights, according to reports submitted to Pollstar Boxoffice. On April 27, they performed at A&R Music Bar in Columbus, Ohio, the show selling out with 400 tickets, grossing $6,000.

“There have been a lot of challenges with bot action,” Hedrick says. “Bots have been buying up the tickets then we have to go in and refund the tickets and resell them. Luckily, all their drop counts for their tour dates have been really strong. So, the tickets are being bought by fans. Also, they sold out a lot of venues so quickly, so we had to move them to larger venues. A good problem to have, but double the work.”

The success of their shows also correlates with the band’s success on Spotify. In addition to the rising popularity of “Oysters In My Pocket,” they released covers of The Cranberries’ “Linger” and Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dance Floor,” which also became popular on the streaming platform.

“Ali and I’s heads are already well into 2025,” Bongiorno says. “The stuff they have coming up, most, if not all of it, is already completely sold out. We’ve had to step up venues a few times. The band is at 9 million Spotify monthlies, which is bananas. When we signed them back in April of ‘22, they were at 170,000. When they first came to America in April, they were at about 4.5 million. So, they’ve doubled since they’ve been here in April. I think that the songs have gotten them here, and then a couple of really choice covers have put rocket fuel on their growth.”

In the fall, Royel Otis will step up to larger venues upon its return to North America, starting at the 1,700-capacity Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 9. The routing includes stops at Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn, New York (1,800-cap); HISTORY in Toronto (2,500-cap) and The Salt Shed in Chicago (3,600-cap).

“There’s an element of their songwriting that makes their music sound important,” Hedrick says. “Even though lyrically it’s not like Elliott Smith, sonically there’s an urgent importance to it that I’m really attracted to, personally. I think that’s what I connect with the most, the urgency. The phrasing of their chord progressions make the music sound important and urgent.”

The band, which released its debut full-length album, Pratts & Pain, in February, says they find their groove right in the middle of their set where they play their biggest hits.
“There’s a three-song string that’s very important to us,” Pavlovic says. “Starting from ‘Oyster In My Pocket’, they’re our favorite songs to play.”

On the road, Maddell and Pavlovic call in while stopped in Sicily. They’re looking forward to their upcoming performance in Gampel-Bratsch, Switzerland, on Aug. 16 at Openair Gampel, with plans to head back to the UK for two festival dates (Green Man Festival and Victorious Festival) before the North American run. And then the duo will be back in Europe in late October, with gigs scheduled through December.

They’ve been in close quarters with their tour team, which includes tour manager Jan Sienkiewcz (Europe) and tour director Zane Phillips (U.S), and are firm in the belief that enjoying one another’s company on the road is what leads to success.

“We’re working together and traveling together and essentially living together. We need to feel like a family and get along with all the time we’re spending together, as we can’t get away,” Maddell says.

With a life largely lived out of suitcases, the band has faced some hardships while on tour.
“Flight delays have been a challenge,” Maddell says. “And losing luggage while on the road, that’s happened a few times. I lost my laptop for a few weeks recently and it was very stressful, almost 10 years worth of work would’ve been down the drain.”

Maddell was able to recover his laptop, and Royel Otis is ready to continue hitting the road and making the most of their upcoming tour dates. With shows in Detroit, Toronto and Chicago, New York City and more already sold out, it seems as though the team will soon need to bump them up to bigger rooms once again.