The tale of how Poppy Tohill went from being denied entry to shows to being heavily involved in the international music scene.
For those who are just hearing the name Poppy Tohill for the first time, who are ya and what do you do?
Hello! I’m Poppy and I work for CRS Management, who are a New Zealand based music management and promotions company. I co-manage Benee, Miss June, Brooke Fraser and Maala, which tends to keep me very busy. A lot of my time is also spent on the road tour managing a number of different artists, as well as organising and running live music events and Kicking Roses, a collective hub for creatives centred around arts, music and culture. Essentially, I just love being busy all the time.
You've had quite an early start to this whole music thing, how did you get into the scene and what was it like back then compared to now?
I grew up with a really strong passion and love for music. I played piano and guitar from a young age but never had any desire to be centre-stage. I was always more fascinated with the idea of how the music industry operated behind the scenes and treated the New Zealand Music Directory like my bible, emailing countless media, management and promotions companies offering to volunteer so I could gain as much experience as possible across the different sectors of the industry.
Second to music, I always loved writing. As a teenager, the fact that our small country had so many talented musicians that most people my age didn’t seem to be talking about or listening to astounded me, so at age fourteen I set up my own blog that focused on promoting kiwi musicians and started interviewing any artist that would let me, offering them a place to tell their stories.
Through my writing, I was very fortunate to connect with my favourite artist Gin Wigmore, who to this day remains an enormous part of my journey and how I ended up where I am today. She supported and believed in me very early on and took me under her wing, giving me my first real experiences in the industry and truly opened up my eyes to what a career in music could look like.
From trusting me with elements of her own career and taking me on tour both nationally and internationally, as well as teaching me how to survive in what was, at the time, an even more male-dominated industry than it is now.
National Gin Wigmore Blood to Bone Tour Pic Dan Medland
Although there’s still a large gender gap in certain areas of the industry, witnessing more and more women take on roles behind the scenes has been hugely encouraging over the past few years. It has also been fascinating to see this strange mindset that many people had about New Zealand music not measuring up to that of international artists. Whilst that mindset has somewhat dissolved as more kiwis have taken to the international stage and achieved success to the same level of those same powerhouses they were so often forced to compete with.
What's it been like over the last few years playing your part alongside some of New Zealand's stand out musicians like BENEE and Miss June?
The past two years have been a bit of a whirlwind, in the best possible way. It has honestly been one of the most exhilarating and exhausting journeys I have ever been on. One of my favourite parts of the job is seeing all of the hard work everyone puts into a project come to fruition. When you start planning shows, tours and releases you never quite know how anything is going to work out, so witnessing their success and growth not only nationally but also internationally is incredibly gratifying, being involved in their careers at any stage is something I will never take for granted.
Seeing the world from your side of the stage must have been pretty incredible, are there any moments in particular you still think back to and are absolutely astonished by?
I spent my entire childhood dreaming about touring the USA with bands, but as a small-town country kid I never in a million years thought that it would become a reality for me - especially not when I was still a teenager who couldn’t even get into age-restricted venues in my own hometown, let alone those overseas. So Gin Wigmore’s ‘Blood To Bone’ US Tour will always hold a very special place in my heart for the very reason that to tour with my favourite artists was always my biggest dream and there I was doing it, literally pinching myself everyday to prove that it was actually happening in real life!
To be honest, I’m not a hugely patriotic person but a lot of the shows on that tour were sold out and it was the very first time I had ever witnessed an artist from New Zealand performing to a packed out room halfway around the world. Just watching audiences connect with her music night after night gave me this sense of pride that I had never felt before. Knowing that she too started off as a little girl in New Zealand with big dreams just solidified this idea in my mind that nothing is impossible if you’re willing to work hard enough.
The second time that feeling really hit me was witnessing The Naked & Famous performing at Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2016. I will never forget standing on that stage and looking out over the biggest crowd of people I had ever seen, in complete shock that this was my ‘job.’
The Naked and Famous at Austin City Limits 2016
Flipping the previous question, what hijinks off the stage have been iconic for you on this journey?
There has been everything from being chased down a tree by a security guard to walking in on Robbie Williams dad on the toilet, dogs eating my electric toothbrush and rolling off the top bunks of tour buses or sitting up too quickly and almost breaking my nose on the roof of a bunk.
But the most entertaining memories are from my first few years of touring when I was still underage and on numerous occasions would get kicked out of venues, where I was meant to be working, due to security not believing that I was actually a member of the crew and had to repeatedly be saved by artists refusing to perform until I was let back inside the venue!
Where in the world makes you the happiest and what about that place or space that makes you so comfortable?
Los Angeles, California is my ultimate happy place and is where I’ve always felt most at home.
I think as a city it is very misunderstood by a lot of people due to its association with Hollywood, but outside of the celebrity culture that exists there, it is such a fascinating and colourful place. There are so many funky neighbourhoods outside of the touristy areas that are filled with character, creativity and a ton of musical history which is what captivates me about it so much. Everything is on a much larger scale and something about the vibrant culture and busyness of everyone there is so intriguing and infectious that even just being amongst it makes me want to dream bigger.
A fav spot in LA, the misunderstood but loved city.
Brooke Fraser & Poppy at the VNZMA’s 2018
“Another Really Important Factor To Remember Is Not To Cut Corners, Especially When It Comes To Touring. Everybody Needs To Start Somewhere”
Helping a huge number of Kiwi bands do shows overseas, do you have any tips for up and coming musicians on how to breach international markets?
Use the internet to your advantage! It sounds like an odd thing to say, but streaming sites like Spotify and Youtube offer so much useful data in terms of who is listening to your music where and how often, which is very helpful particularly when you’re working out which markets to focus on in the beginning. Another really important factor to remember is not to cut corners, especially when it comes to touring. Everybody needs to start somewhere, but touring is costly so if you jump the ship to touring internationally before you’ve spent your time networking and at least making waves in the various territories you’re planning on going to, then it’s hardly going to be worth it.
BENEE (Stella & Tia) Brisbane Laneway 2020
Conquering the world, the Poppy Tohill Story by Ben Morgan
Cover image Jess Gleeson