Damian Costin's 123 Agency keeps racking up wins, barely pausing for breath in the wake of signing ascendant Wollongong band The Pinheads with the news of two new signings for the esteemed booking company in the form of Shihad frontman Jon Toogood and fellow Kiwi native Opiuo.
Toogood should be no stranger to any discerning fan of antipodean alt-rock, his band Shihad (aka Pacifier, aka Shihad again) having etched themselves into local indie history over an acclaimed 25-year career. During that time, Toogood has also managed to found The Adults, as well as spending time on his solo shtick and honing his skills in multi-instrumentalism, radio presenting, theatre performance and voiceover work. In fact, he's so renowned in his home country that, at the recent celebration for the 40th anniversary of New Zealand's official Music Charts, Toogood was presented with awards for the most singles and albums in the charts by a New Zealand artist (25 singles, five albums), making this a highly impressive 'get' for 123 Agency indeed.
No less impressive, of course, is fellow new signee and adopted Aussie Opiuo, who comes to the company with more than 6 million plays to his name on SoundCloud, not to mention a growing number of awards. He's been honing his live chops on high-profile stages around the world of late, including at Coachella, Glastonbury and Canada's Shambhala festival, while managing to stage headline tours in locales as varied as Australia, New Zealand, North America, Europe, Asia, India and Israel, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Bassnectar, Moby, Pete Tong, Bonobo, The Glitch Mob and more along the way.
Ably backed in the flesh by The Opiuo Band, the performer is poised to make an even bigger noise moving forward, and 123 Agency will be there behind him the whole way.
For more information on either of 123 Agency's new signings, search for Toogood and/or Opiuo on The Music App and make them your favourites to stay on top of future developments coming out of their respective camps.
