For most of the last decade, if you wanted to understand how electronic music moved through Australia, you looked at Thick As Thieves. The agency built its reputation bringing international artists to clubs and festivals across the country, and over fifteen years it became one of the most trusted names in the business. Less visible, though no less important, was the domestic side of that operation, the part quietly developing local artists and getting them on the right line-ups in front of the right crowds. That work has now grown into something that deserves its own identity.
From 1 July, the domestic arm of Thick As Thieves becomes All In, a new agency led jointly by Mike Toner and Jacob Malmo as directors and partners on an equal footing. The logic is simple enough once you hear it. Thick As Thieves brings the world to Australia. All In takes Australia to the world. Several of the artists who came up through the domestic roster are already touring multiple territories, and the ambition now is to raise the scale of what a homegrown act can become, with one eye on Australasia as a whole rather than any single city or scene.
Between them, Toner and Malmo carry the kind of experience that does not come quickly. Toner arrived in Melbourne from Donegal for what was meant to be a gap year, held residencies across the city as a DJ, and co-founded Thick As Thieves around fifteen years ago on a guiding idea of raising the vibration for artists, punters and the people he worked alongside. That instinct has shown up in the agency’s charity work, with its parties raising close to two and a half million dollars for the Fred Hollows Foundation over seven years and earning the Helping Hand Award in 2018. Malmo grew up in country New South Wales and has spent twenty years in and around the industry, first as a DJ and promoter running weekly club nights, then for the last ten as a touring agent. Together they handle up to ninety artists a year.
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Terminal V has revealed Clydeside Live, a new dedicated open-air event space, as the home of its landmark 10th anniversary festivalWhat sets the new agency apart, in their telling, is a set of standards they call the six pillars. Craft, creation, visibility, connection, community and character. The thinking is that being a great DJ is the starting point and not the finish line, and that a lasting career is built on more than talent alone. It is a philosophy they intend to hold their roster to, and themselves with it.
The launch roster reflects that ambition, with Samantha Loveridge, Mike Rish, Cooper Smith, Lunar Disco, STAFFY, Weirdtechnogirlfriend and PAUL LE BAY, Rromarin, Rem Siman, Rory Marshall, The Journey, Market Memories, Boogs and Alicia all coming across as foundation artists.
We sat down with both directors to talk about the move, the state of touring in Australia, what management actually means in 2026, and what it really takes to send an Australian artist out into the world.
All In launches on 1 July out of the domestic arm of Thick As Thieves, and you have framed the move simply: Thick As Thieves brings the world to Australia while All In takes Australia to the world. Why was now the right time to separate the two sides of the business, and what does that give a domestic artist that the previous structure could not?
Jacob: Hey!!…. As the domestic agency has evolved from our artists predominantly playing Australia and New Zealand to now touring territories all over the world, it felt like a natural progression to give the agency its own identity outside of Thick As Thieves. The touring and events arm is stronger than ever, and as the agency grows, we wanted to give our artists the platform they deserve to take things to the next level.
Mike: As Jacob mentioned, a lot of our artists that were on our domestic agency are starting to do a lot more shows internationally now. We thought it was only right that we felt that the timing of launching a new, fresh agency with some new acts, focusing on not only the domestic but the international audience, was right.
The job of an artist manager has changed a great deal over the last ten years. Stripped back to its essentials, what does the role actually involve in 2026, and which parts of it would surprise an artist who still thinks management begins and ends with getting the bookings?
Jacob: The role starts from addressing what an artists goals actually are then putting things in place to create a process of how we can effectively get there. We frequently get together to do mind maps with our artists to brainstorm ideas. Mike and I also sat down and discussed what does it take to become a successful artist in 2026 and we came up with 6 pillars that we would like all of our artists to adhere to if they really want to go ALL IN so to speak. It’s important to ensure that we have all the tools available to be able to effectively pitch our artists too. I speak to my artists most day’s so I know what’s going and have lengthy weekly check in’s to ensure that the process to hit our goals is still on track. Accountability is key.
Mike: Echoing Jacob here…. from their Craft, Creation, Community, Visibility, Connection and Character, you need to be hitting all these areas to stand out from the crowd. It’s a lot of C’s haha but you get our drift. We take pride in our communication with our artists like they are another member of the family and I think as the industry becomes more and more competitive, that attention to detail has never been more important.
For an artist who believes they are ready to be managed, what is the honest advice you would give them, and what is the most common misjudgement you see from people who approach an agency too soon?
Jacob: I think the most common misconception is that you sign with an agency and then the gigs just start to magically appear. Our most successful artists are hustling and grinding as much as we are and like any job, you need to put in the work if you are to become the best in your field. For any artist who would be considering to approach an agency, I think they should ask themselves, do I have everything covered to be able to give my agent the best possible chance to help me.
Mike: I received a great quote from James Fava, who’s obviously Dom Dolla’s manager, a couple of years ago. He quoted that if your manager or agent is receiving 10 or 15% of the fee, then the manager or agent should be doing 10 or 15% of the work. That’s not to say that the manager and agent are not hustling hard, but there’s a huge onus on the artist to work the six pillars that we’ve come up with and ensure that everybody’s moving forward in the right direction. The artist is accountable both to themselves and to the manager /agent to help drive the project forward.
Your six pillars lay out a clear standard, with craft as non-negotiable and character running through everything. Before an artist approaches an agency at all, which of those pillars do you most often find missing, and what would you tell someone to build for themselves first?
Jacob: I would say it differs from person to person. Generally I find artists who are natural born producers, might struggle a little more socially and therefore need a little more guidance within the social media and networking. In the end I think that if you are not authentic in the delivery with your music, your online presence and ideas, then you might struggle a little more to stand out from the crowd. There is a lot of noise out there and by being true yourself is always going to help you along the way.
Mike: For me, one of the pillars that jumps out is that artists seemingly find it hard to navigate the networking element. A lot of artists are great producers, sitting in their bedroom all weekend and keep turning out tunes, but if you’re not going to other people’s gigs and supporting other people’s gigs, how do you expect them to then support you? A lot of times artists are creating really good music, but they can’t even get other DJs to listen to their music. Some of that comes down to the fact that they’re not supporting any of those artists. A lot of DJs get sent 200 to 300 promos a week, and they’ll naturally gravitate towards prioritising listening to music for people that have given them some sort of support, whether it be at gigs or even on social media. I feel the networking element can be the one that’s the most overlooked.
The industry has always run on relationships. How important are the agency’s ties to media, promoters, venues and brands to an artist’s progress, and what does the daily work of nurturing those relationships actually look like once the introductions are made?
Jacob: To be honest I would say one of the most important, if not the most important thing you can do is build your personal network. I often like to use the Tour de France or professional cycling as a metaphor. There is always a lead group that will work together to continually move further away from the main chase pack. You need to position yourself at the front of that chase pack to give yourself the best chance to join the lead group. Every now and then, someone will fall off that lead group and another person will replace them and you want to be that person. The music industry is not to dissimilar in that there is a circuit of artists at the top of the game and have consistently been at the top for some time. Why? Because their relationships with each other, promoters, venues and brands are so strong. You never know where an after hours drink may lead you also haha.
Mike: Relationships are absolutely key in this industry. You can find that you have an artist or a brand or a club night, and you may approach a venue that you’ve got a good relationship with. Because it’s you approaching them, they will lock in that artist or brand with you, whereas somebody else might approach them with the same artist or brand and the venue will decline.
A lot of these relationships have been built over a long period of time and consistently respecting the venues, the agencies and the promoters and constantly trying to create value for whoever you’re dealing with goes a long way in this industry. I always say to all our artists, with every booking they get, try and go into the booking with an attitude of how am I going to create value for this promoter or this venue so that they in turn look at the deal as a win-win and want to book me again.
Australia has produced a strong run of talent over the past few years. Talk us through the launch roster, from Samantha Loveridge and Cooper Smith to Lunar Disco, Rromarin and the rest, and what it was about each of them that told you they belonged on All In rather than simply being good on the night.
Jacob: Australia is absolutely crushing it. The amount of artists breaking through on the worldwide touring circuit is pretty crazy to be honest and it’s not just within a certain genre. We have limited venues and festivals down under which results in the Australian market being so competitive. Everyone is bidding for those spots so I think it really elevates everyone. With All In, we have tried to have a good balance of artists across multiple genres.
It’s important to us, that each artist has a similar ethos to Mike and I also. Everyone we have sat down with to meet prior to signing, we have walked away saying “Yep, they’ve got it”. In general we are friends with all our artists also so having that is really important. Of course, when it comes down to business then being able to seperate that is important too.
Mike: Yeah, to reiterate what Jacob said, the number one thing with this agency is the artists’ core values. We’re not going to take anyone on whose core values do not align with ourselves.
The second thing is the six pillars. We’ve made it pretty clear, and we’ve actually been approached by a lot of artists asking to get on the agency. Unless all the artists are doing all of the six pillars, we just don’t feel that there’s going to be space for them or that we can work their profile enough to deliver what they want to achieve.
What are the real challenges you are dealing with in Australian events and touring right now—whether that is rising costs, venue closures, ticketing or audience habits—and how do those pressures shape the decisions you make on behalf of your artists?
Jacob: In general it’s becoming more and more expensive for an artist to come to Australia, from flight costs, taxes, VISA’s and everything else involved in doing a tour professionally. The base level of fee’s for an artist to breakeven has risen exponentially from when I started touring 10 years ago. So before we even look to take on artist, we need a clear outline of the numbers to see if it’s even going to make sense for us and the artist. Mike can probably touch a little more on the events. We are constantly seeing more and more venues close due to gentrification and housing developments plus insurances, rising rents have impacted venue owners big time too. To look at a positive, we are seeing promoters utilise more unique locations to optimise the user “experience” which is cool to see.
Mike: The industry is constantly evolving and it goes in cycles. The biggest challenge I see at the minute is actually weekly clubbing. When I talk to venue operators across the country, the spend per head has dropped dramatically. The number of people through the doors is getting less and less every week, and venues are finding it hard to be sustainable.
There has been a push towards a lot of bigger events, which means, with the rising costs of living, people just have less money to go out weekly. We need weekly clubs for artists to cut their teeth and get their food in the door. It’s just very difficult for clubs that survive week to week to be sustainable right now.
Australia is not a single market. How do the scenes across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide differ in their music tastes and ticketing behaviour, and how do you keep adapting to those differences when you are routing a national tour?
Jacob: Oh definitely…. outside of the agency, Mike, myself and our two new agents Andre and Rohan, tour around 90 international artists a year so we have a pretty good understanding of what’s working in each city. The scene is constantly evolving and trying to be ahead of the curve is super important. House music is having a big resurgence across the board but there are also some cities which have a big following on more niche genres. We are planning a year in advance if not more sometimes so communication with promoters is everything. Mike definitely is definitely the phone call guy out of the two of us though. His headphones are basically attached to his head in the office haha. Mike can also probably give you a better insight into the ticketing behaviour.
Mike: One of the main differences is that in certain cities you get genres of music that are much bigger than others. I’m a booker for Snow Machine Festival in both Japan and New Zealand. You can have artists that will sell 10,000 tickets somewhere like Auckland or Perth that might not sell 300 for Melbourne, and vice versa. It’s hard to get an artist that sells multiple tickets across all cities at the same level unless they’re on an absolute A-grader. You have to just be diverse with your touring offerings so you can consistently offer artists to promoters in each of those.
You have spoken about lifting the scale of artists you work with and thinking about Australasia as a whole, with several of your acts already touring multiple territories. What does taking an Australian artist to the world genuinely require in 2026, and where is the widest gap between an artist who can fill rooms at home and one who can hold a crowd in Europe or the Americas?
Jacob: It’s been great to see a number of our artists step up to a global level. We’ve been able to use our touring relationships to help them on a larger scale, and we’re confident that once we get them performing at bigger events, the chance of being rebooked is high. Most of our artists have a fairly balanced listenership around the world, though some skew much higher in regions like South America, the US and the EU. So broadly, we’re going hard on their stronger markets while working out how to build up the weaker ones. It’s a bit like a game of chess at times, playing the long game is often the best way forward. Once an artist is consistently on the road, then I feel they naturally become more in tune with different countries cultures, music tastes and therefore mature more as an artist. I think thats the point of difference.
Mike: One of the pillars of All In is being a great DJ, so, luckily, any of the artists that we’ve sent overseas who are doing full rooms in Australia generally have no problem holding the room. I think one of the challenges is that a lot of these artists, going from doing big full rooms in Australia to having to rebuild overseas and starting out with early slots on the stages when people are either just coming or filtering into the events. Once they prove that they can hold the room and do a good job, they generally get rebooked later for better slots.
Mike, you are renowned for your charity work, an ethos that has put close to two and a half million dollars behind the Fred Hollows Foundation over the years and restored sight to a remarkable number of people. As All In opens its own chapter, how much of that thinking carries across, and can we expect to see All In putting its own parties to work for good causes down the line?
Mike: The charity thing is something that will always be part of myself, Thick As Thieves, and the All In ethos. Jacob has actually been a huge contributor to the charity events over the years. We will definitely have a philanthropy element to All In. We don’t know what that looks like now, but we didn’t really know what the philanthropy element would look like for Thick As Thieves when we started it. We just tried a number of different things, and it’s found its feet. Anyone who knows us knows that this is a very important core value of ours: to give back to people that are less fortunate than us. It’s something that Jacob and I will definitely nurture as part of All In.
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