Teskey Brothers, G Flip, Tame Impala Managers Take Home 2024 AAM Awards

This year’s AAM Awards remain as strong as previous years, with Australia’s biggest celebration of artist managers selected by a committee of judges comprising “highly respected representatives from different areas of the Australian music industry”.

The awards ceremony, which was held at Crowbar Sydney from noon today, included Manager Of The Year (presented by Oztix), Breakthrough Manager Of The Year (presented by DMT Lawyers), and the Community Engagement Award (presented by Live Event Logistics).

In addition to the main awards, there was the Patrons Gift (presented by AAM Patrons) and the APRA AMCOS Lighthouse Award. Plus, the Legacy Award was already handed out to Jodie Regan of Spinning Top Music, who received a touching tribute from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker.

The Tame Impala frontman said, “I think it’s pretty obvious that you are a person of unparalleled passion and guts, which makes me super grateful to have you as my manager. It makes me feel ready and excited to take on the world as we regularly do.”

The winners of this year’s AAM Awards are as diverse as their artist rosters suggest, with the group representing the likes of Tame Impala, The Teskey Brothers, G Flip, RVG, Good Morning, and more.

The APRA AMCOS Lighthouse Award was presented to Hayley-Jane Ayres, the owner and partner of 360 Artist Logistics. In 2018, she was nominated for the WAM (West Australian Music) Award for Industry Representative Of The Year and, in 2019, for the prestigious Golden WAM Award.

Applejack Music’s Jeremy Furze won the Manager Of The Year award. After seven years of artist management, Furze and his two team members have managed The Teskey Brothers from Castlemaine, Victoria.

Over the last two years, he’s mentored under the Co-Pilot program, offering support to independent artists and managers alike. Furze has established longtime fanbases for The Teskey Brothers in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Belgium, Canada, United States, New Zealand, and Australia while maintaining a healthy balance of time off the road with their families.

The Teskey Brothers said about their manager’s win in a statement, “Sending a big big congratulations to Jeremy Furze and Applejack Music for the win of this management award, it's so well deserved. Thank you so much for all your hard work. We love you, and there is no one more deserving of it.”

AAM Co-Chair and Awards Producer Alastair Burns summed up the band’s impressive list of achievements in the last few years, citing their performance at Glastonbury, 15,000 tickets in London, 12,000 tickets in Amsterdam, and 6000 tickets in Los Angeles. Burns added, “Jeremy has worked with the band from the ground up to build a truly global and sustainable business, and the judging panel unanimously agree that he is the deserving recipient of the 2024 AAM Award for Manager of the Year.”

Future Classic’s Megan Rasmussen and Harry White (the former is an artist manager at Future Classic, while the latter is the Managing Director) were named Breakthrough Manager Of The Year. Together, the pair have created and executed strategic artist campaigns for Australia’s most notable exports, including G Flip, Touch Sensitive, Ta-ku, Ayesha Madon, Buzzy Lee and Judah Kelly.

The team’s breakthrough client, G Flip, commented about their win: “Harry and Megan are amazing managers. They are so deserving of this, and I’m so proud of them!! They’re not only great managers, they’re even better people, and it’s a pleasure to work with them! I’m absolutely stoked for them!”

Meanwhile, Kerry Kennell—artist manager, lawyer, facilitator and sole director of her company, Kennell & Co Impact Consulting + Strategy, has won the Community Engagement Award. Currently on a break from artist management, Kennell is completing the Atlantic Fellowship Program at The University of Melbourne.

As part of the Fellowship Program, Kennell is researching the triumphs and challenges of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians in Australian contemporary music. She will graduate with a Master’s in Social Change Leadership in November 2024. Kennell was previously a former Board Member and Chairperson of Music Victoria from 2020 until earlier this year and a Board Member of the Association of Artist Managers in 2022. She presently offers pro bono mentoring to Indigenous creatives in need.

AAM and Music Victoria Board Director Fiona Duncan said, “Congratulations to Kerry on winning this award; I so love this for you! Kerry is a quiet achiever in our industry and always shows such great leadership. She’s a compassionate change-maker that reminds us all it’s ok to be human while leading the way.”

Lorrae McKenna, the owner/Director of the record label and artist management collective Our Golden Friend, finds her managing Australian Music Prize winners RVG, Good Morning, Enola, Elizabeth, and Bonnie Knight.

AAM Patron Greg Carey congratulated McKenna and praised her “strong work ethic, creativity, resilience, intelligence and a passion and belief” in her artists’ music.

Carey added, “Throughout her career, Lorrae has continued to display these exact traits, taking her artists globally, building long-term careers, whilst also raising a young family. This needs to be commended and celebrated in our community and beyond. Congrats, Lorrae; may you continue to achieve amazing things.”

2024 AAM AWARDS WINNERS

Manager of the Year (Presented by Oztix) - Jeremy Furze, Applejack Music

Breakthrough Manager of the Year (Presented by DMT Law Firm) - Megan Rasmussen and Harry White, Future Classic

Community Engagement Award (Presented by Live Event Logistics) - Kerry Kennell, Kennell & Co

Patron's Gift (Presented by AAM Patrons) - Lorrae McKenna, Our Golden Friend

APRA AMCOS Lighthouse Award - Hayley-Jane Ayres, 360 Artist Logistics