Executive Profile: Jimmy Throgmorton, Founder, Opera Ghost Management

“All the Small Things,” the classic pop-punk jam from blink-182’s 1999 debut Enema of the State, could be a fitting title to Jimmy Throgmorton’s career. It’s most appropriate as he manages the group’s Tom DeLonge as one of five people who co-manage blink. The band is now winding down the massive “One More Time” global tour, the group’s most successful run, which brought in seven-figure hauls (including more than $5 million at their hometown Petco Park show in San Diego on June 30, according to Pollstar Boxoffice reports).

The tour, however, was perilously close to not happening. Drummer Travis Barker suffered a brutal hand injury at the first rehearsal that forced the cancellation of the South American leg. Instead of canceling the tour, though, the management team turned the challenge into a massive win with one of the greatest unplanned tour launches ever formulated: a pop-up show at Coachella’s first weekend and then a headlining slot the following weekend when Frank Ocean dropped off.

In this business, that’s called “managing your ass off.”

Rounding out Throgmorton’s Opera Ghost Management roster are Pierce the Veil, who are just putting up the first arena tour; and Neon Trees, whose new album drops this week and will tour throughout this year.

Here, the 39-year-old manager gives proof of concept that it really is “all the small things” as he discusses a winding career path through different parts of the music industry that’s given him a holistic view of the business. This includes everything from tour managing bands in high school out of his hometown of Chino, California, to working as a brand marketer for DeLonge’s Macbeth shoe line to a stint at Red Bull Records doing digital market before landing at Velvet Hammer where he learned the ropes of management at the side of the esteemed David “Beno” Benveniste. 

Striking out on his own, Throgmorton found fulfillment while working along with some of the best in the business, including CAA’s Darryl Eaton, Live Nation’s Steve Ackles and Omar Al-joulani, Bravado’s Matt Young, Sound Talent Group’s Dave Shapiro and alongside blink’s four other managers, which requires constant communication, consensus and decision making—like turning a near tour-ruining moment into a Coachella triumph. Turns out, all the small things can lead to a lot of big things.

Pollstar: You’re in London now
Jimmy Throgmorton: I’m here for Reading & Leeds. blink-182 is headlining tonight at Reading (Aug. 23) and playing Leeds on Saturday (Aug. 24).

So you’re co-managing blink. Who else manages them?
I manage Tom. Lawrence Vavra and Sophie McNeil oversee Travis’ (Barker) business. And then Gus Brandt, Jake Lowy and April Salud oversee all Mark’s (Hoppus) business.

So it’s six—and Gus tour manages the Foo Fighters. What is the process of managing a group with that many managers?
It takes time, but we all get along very well. Everybody is on the same page in terms of doing what’s best for the band as a whole. That’s what’s driven the success this time around. Everybody’s got slightly different working styles, different things they bring to the table, but we all agree on doing what’s best for the band.

It’s a Live Nation tour. Who’s your main contact there?
Steve Ackles and Omar Al-joulani. The other key player in the blink ecosystem is Darryl Eaton at CAA. He’s been the band’s agent since things started happening again.

He’s now CAA Music’s Global co-head.
Exactly. He’s been with blink longer than any of the managers and he’s a great backstop for us. He’s there for what’s best for the band as a whole. He, Omar and Steve played a major role in getting the band back together and taking the swing that was taken. Everybody knew there would be interest in the band and a tour would be successful, but I don’t think anybody anticipated the level at which we saw a response to that first announcement almost two years ago, in October 2022. Everything blew out on the onsale with massive numbers, far exceeding what was originally projected.

What’s been your personal highlight on this tour, a pinching-yourself moment?
All of it. I’ve been in the fold with blink 20 years now in one way or another and in different positions. I was 18 and helping them hand out shoes and T-shirts with Atticus 20 years ago. So to be in this role at this point in their career is like an everyday pinch-me thing.

Coachella was very special. Our original plan when we launched was South America in March, North America over the summer, Europe in fall and Australia the following February. At the first rehearsal, Travis broke his finger so we had to reschedule South America. It was a big hit and it was all in jeopardy. The diagnosis on his finger was extremely serious. If he injured it again, it could impact him where he could never play again. Luckily, he got the best doctors, the guy who does surgery on The Lakers’ hands helped put the tendon together. It all worked out in a weird way where we didn’t go to South America but then this idea for a surprise pop-up show at Coachella came into play.

We did Friday of the first weekend and the response was way bigger than anybody anticipated. All of us hoped it would resonate with the crowd because Coachella can be a fickle beast, but the response was insane. It literally looked like the entire festival migrated to the Sahara stage to see the band. That was a massive moment.

Then to have Paul Tollett in the middle of the next week call and say, “Hey, Frank’s (Ocean) not playing on Sunday anymore. Can you guys headline?” All the back and forth we had on that and the same level of uncertainty. Then at 4 or 5 p.m., we started getting word that it was taking people hours to get in. There were traffic jams on the freeway and the streets around Coachella. When they went out, they played to a massive crowd. That was an amazing moment. Through a strange chain of events, it turned out to be the perfect launch.

Who does Paul Tollett call to make that ask?
He goes to Darryl and then he circles us around. It was Wednesday of that week, at like 8 p.m. when everything finally went down. We were loading in the following week for the first show of the North American tour in Minneapolis and were supposed to have production rehearsals. Essentially, by doing both weekends at Coachella, the band only had one day of production rehearsals before starting their massive North American tour. We threw together a show in two days. The show at Coachella wasn’t anywhere near what we had out on the road with us.

Turning a challenge into a huge opportunity, that’s called managing your ass off.
Exactly. It all got pulled together and it was the perfect launch for the campaign.

And you’ve got another record out?
We put out a record last October and have a deluxe version of the record that’s got seven or eight new songs that came out Sept. 6. They’re writing some of the best music of their career. The guys are having a great couple of years. They’re in the best place they’ve ever been in terms of being friends, brothers and business partners.

So with blink, when an opportunity presents itself, and somebody’s like, “Oh we got a new merch item offer,” how is it decided?
That happens. There is a text chain that would blow your mind with how active it is. It’s just the managers on it. Typically, opportunities come from people we’re already working with or it’s a relationship with just one of the managers. We always discuss everything together and formulate our opinions. Then each manager will present it to their guy. We try to cut down on the game of telephone and make sure we’re all on the same page and presenting the same thing to the guys with our recommendation.

How did you get into management?
Right place, right time, but I backed it up with hard work that’s allowed me to continue to grow and reach new heights. Like a lot of other people in the industry, I went to high school with a band who got signed to a major. I did my first North American tour with them the summer I graduated high school.

Who was that?
A Static Lullaby. I would travel with them on weekends and play shows in Bakersfield or San Francisco and do whatever was needed – selling merch, driving the van, helping with the gear.

Where are you from?
I’m from Chino, about 40 minutes inland from L.A. I went to high school in San Dimas, which is famous for “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” I went to Damien High School, an all-boys Catholic high school. The bass player of A Static Lullaby went there and we were best friends. I would go out on the road with them on the weekends and on the road with them after I graduated doing whatever was needed.

Were those tours in a van?
They were in a van with all the seats pulled out and just a mattress in the back. It was disgusting when I think back on it.

You were probably losing money.
I made a per diem, but didn’t technically get paid. I met some people on that tour, though, who were touring with other, bigger bands and by chance I met Tom from blink and became friends with him and people in his circle. That’s how I ended up helping them do marketing for their footwear (Macbeth) and clothing (Atticus) companies.

Where was that first meeting?
That first meeting was at the Foo Fighters’ Studio 606 in the Valley. Tom was there because of Angels and Airwaves. At that point, the first blink split had happened and Tom was recording Angels and Airwaves at the Foo Fighters’ studio. I was friends with some of their crew and at the studio.

So you’re doing tours and they bring you in to do marketing, that’s a pretty big shift.
The key was I’d gotten to know a lot of touring people and bands from being on the road. I was going to Cal State Fullerton in Orange County and couldn’t really tour full time. So this worked out well being between San Diego, where the band and the brands were based, and in Orange County where I was in college. I could hit shows coming through town and bring people shoes and T-shirts, buy people dinners and create relationships with different artists on behalf of those brands. Two years into that, I got brought on full time. I was there for about eight years starting part-time and by the end I was running marketing and artist relations and working closely with creative and design departments. We would do custom collaboration shoes like with Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters and Mike Dirnt from Green Day. I did that for about eight years and then left and moved to L.A. because I felt like I’d hit my ceiling and was interested in other things in the music industry.

Did working in marketing and branding help inform your managing perspective?

It’s essential. To be a good manager, you have to be a good marketer and you have to understand branding and strategy. How a band, record, song or video needs to be portrayed, what it needs to look, sound and feel like. Marketing is a huge part of it. But also having a working understanding of touring is important. I’ve been on the road at every level and I understand the tough parts, the easy parts, the fun parts and not so fun parts. So those two things shaped my management perspective.

What happened when you moved to L.A.?
I moved to L.A. and ran digital marketing at Red Bull Records for three or four years. which was fun and again an education. I was understanding things from a label point of view. That label is unique, Red Bull is a proper real-deal record label funded by an energy drink company, which gave it a lot of great things, but also a lot of challenges.

Wasn’t Awolnation their big act?
AWOL was the first thing to break out. They’ve had a handful of things that’ve done quite well since. To be involved with something that sat in the traditional lane but came from an untraditional place in the music industry was cool and afforded me a lot of different experiences I wouldn’t have got if I was just working at Columbia or Interscope.

What was your next move?
My interest at heart was in management. I left Red Bull and went to Velvet Hammer Management, which was awesome. I spent six or seven years there. I worked on and helped manage Deftones, Korn and AFI and was super involved with getting The Smashing Pumpkins back together for their big reunion tour in 2018. I worked my way up to general manager of the company. It helped pull everything together I had done prior and learn the things I needed to be a great manager.

Who was your mentor?
I had a couple. My main one is Brian Schechter who was My Chemical Romance’s original manager. He’s been my sounding board throughout my career and a good friend. Beno (David Benveniste) at Velvet Hammer is another mentor. I learned a lot from him and loved working at Velvet Hammer. He’s one of the best in the business and great with rock and harder rock acts. Seeing what he’s done with Korn and Deftones over the last few years has been awesome. I have a lot of respect for Beno and Mark Wakefield, who are principals there.

Management is a very intense relationship and you have to deal with clients at all hours of every day. What’s your approach?

It’s very intense. It’s very intimate. I’ve dealt with divorces, putting people through rehab, significant others dying. Everybody has different approaches. When I’m meeting with a band to sign them, one of the first things I say is, “You’re always going to know where I stand and what I think we should do. But at the end of the day, it’s your name on the CD, it’s your picture on the ad-mat. This is your business and I’m here to help you.”

The artist has to be trustworthy, too, right? If your client isn’t living up to their potential or word, how can you have a functional relationship?
You can’t. I’m extremely fortunate in that I feel that I’ve reached a point in my career where I can be choosy. And if something feels off and I don’t think it’s the right fit or healthy working relationship, I just say no. I’m fortunate to be able to do that.

How important a skill is psychology?
Pretty important because therapist is definitely one of the job titles on the list of a manager. A lot of times it’s just listening. Sometimes it’s giving advice. Sometimes it’s helping them find the path to the advice they need. That interpersonal dynamic between a manager and an artist is very intense, very intimate, and very important to having a successful working relationship. There’s plenty of people who are able to keep it just business, but I find that hard to do.

How do you go about building your artist teams, lawyer, labels, publishing, business manager, day-to-day, agent, etc.?
It’s very bespoke. You grow your network the longer you’re in this business. So there’s different people I go to for different things. The people I’m going to talk with my partners on blink are probably a little different than the people I’m going to talk to about Neon Trees. It’s looking at what the artist needs and what their business looks like and building a team around that. I love the group of people I’ve been fortunate enough to direct business to and they’ve directed business to me. And that’s the Darryl Eatons of the world, Matt Young, who’s president of Bravado, different people like that who you gravitate towards because we have a similar ethos and approach work in the same way.

Who was your first client?
While I was at Velvet Hammer was another period in which Tom DeLonge was not in blink-182. He was going to fire back up Angels and Airwaves who he had not done anything with in 10-plus years. He asked me to manage the band. I signed them while I was at Velvet Hammer. Over the course of a year or two, it became apparent I needed to choose if I wanted to continue to be one of a couple of managers on a project and work at a management company or if I wanted to take a chance and build my own thing. I’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit, so when the opportunity to work with Tom came, it allowed me to leave Velvet Hammer and start my own management company. That was in November of 2019, so four months before the bottom fell out on everything we do. It was interesting timing, but it worked out. Angels and Airways had done a tour and it ended in November. And everybody got paid out. I got my check and was able to piece things together and make it through COVID. Coming out of COVID, Angels did more touring and I was starting to look at other bands.

What’s the Opera Ghost name mean?
It was a nod to the “Phantom of the Opera.” My parents took me to see the play when I was very young and the soundtrack was on repeat in my house. It was the start of me falling in love with music. I loved that story and loved everything that had to do with it. So when it came time to pick a name, that’s what I settled on.

So you’re working with Angels and Airwavesand COVID hits. Are you signing more artists or on pause?
Angels did some touring and then we got to the point where Tom found out that Mark had cancer. That was the precipice of the guys being like, “We need to put all this shit aside. Let’s get together and hang out.” So they were starting to talk a lot and hang out. That led to the band getting back together. That was the end of 2021 coming out of COVID as things were starting to open back up. We were quietly in the background starting to put that together.

At that time, I signed Neon Trees, a band that hadn’t had meaningful touring business in seven-plus years. So the goal was to take this band that had all these crazy hits and billions of streams but couldn’t really sell tickets. That became my next project and it’s been awesome with them. They’re great people and we’ve got them back on the road and their touring businesses is continuing to grow. Then all the blink stuff happened. And at the end of last year I started managing Pierce the Veil. Not related to each other, but at the same time we put them on the blink leg that just ended in summer.

So you have three clients?
Yes. I don’t really have a desire to be a Red Light Management and build a big infrastructure and hire a bunch of managers and sign a bunch of bands. I enjoy my life and the attention I can give a smaller, more boutique roster. If I’m going to sign something, it’s because I love it and believe in it and want to be the person that’s working it. Having only a handful of bands is very much by design and how I want to operate.

How big is Opera Ghost?
It’s essentially four people. Myself, my wife, Jeff Pereira who oversees a lot of the touring, and I have somebody who helps with admin and social media stuff named Erica Perez.

What lays ahead in the coming year?
Pierce The Veil is going to be launching their crowning jewel moment. We’re going to put up an arena tour worldwide where they’ll play arenas and amphitheaters. It’ll be their biggest headlining dates, the Forum, Red Rocks, MSG.

Are you working with Darryl on that?
No, with Dave Shapiro at Sound Talent Group. Dave’s their longtime agent. He’s a good guy. Pierce has a really big next two-plus years. What was exciting with them on this blink tour was they also played Lollapalooza and that was the proof of concept that they can play a big mainstream festival. They’re not just relegated to touring with other bands from the Warped Tour. They could go out with blink-182, the Foo Fighters or Deftones. There’s so much room as they start to cross over into the next level of their career. When I sat with them for the first time and talked about managing them, that’s what I saw in them.

What about Neon Trees?
They have a record coming out next week. I’m heading out to New York. We’re doing “The Today Show,” a bunch of press and then we’ve got cool release events in L.A. and New York. Then they’ll be touring. Their business is really solid in college and private bookings. They’ve had some success on TikTok and kids who were young at the time that Neon Trees were big are now at an age where that’s who they want to see. We get tons of requests for them. Previous managers, because of the radio success they had, were more interested in, “Let’s get a single ship and see what happens and then we can put a touring plan together.” I’m on the other side of that, where I say let’s put a touring plan together and see where radio goes. It’s really important to build a touring business. They just finished a tour with 311 and Awolnation, which was a great alternative package. Next year, we’ll tour all year on this record.

Blink are finishing up this tour and you’ve been working with them for two years at the stadium level, has that helped inform your perspective?
I learn something every day, whether it’s from one of the other managers, Darryl Eaton, the international agents or the band themselves. They’re all three very intelligent guys, very creative and have very good business minds. They are three of the most rational artists I’ve ever come across so there’s always plenty to learn. And it trickles down to how I manage and come up with strategies for everything else I work on.