Music
How Sri Lankan-Australian Record Label Owner Johann Ponniah Keeps The Gas On
In conversation with Johann Ponniah—founder of I OH YOU and Converge Management.
Have you ever stood up to your brown parents? It takes some jumbo cajones—especially for the children of immigrants.
When your parents pack their lives into a suitcase, squeeze in some intergenerational trauma, and fly themselves to a foreign country full of opportunity and opulence, your gratitude is expected.
So, to tell them you want to be a professional snuggler, a chicken sexer, or to make mukbang videos on YouTube—when your cousin’s daughter’s friend’s brother Akash is studying to be a cardiothoracic surgeon—is, at least, slightly worrying. After all, stability is sacred for the South Asian parent.
Having that conversation about his career was challenging for Sri Lankan-Australian Johann Ponniah—founder of I OH YOU—too.
Johann is the brains behind one of Australia’s most acclaimed independent music companies, I OH YOU, and Converge Management, I OH YOU’s artist-management arm. I OH YOU is the record label for artists like the DMAs, Confidence Man, and Violent Soho, and the Australian tour promoter for Channel Tres, Alex G, and more. Plus, through Converge, Johann manages Confidence Man and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever.
And, if that’s not enough for the moustachioed man, Johann was named one of the fifty most influential people in the Australian music industry. When he’s not busy being mistaken for Tame Impala’s more attractive twin, he’s also launching festivals like Campbelltown’s first and only: Out of Bounds.
A challenging conversation
At eighteen, three days after finishing high school, Johann journeyed from Campbelltown to Melbourne, “chasing the dream of [working in] the music industry”. He shared a couch with a dickhead feline (read: Garfield on meth) and earnt $150 a week working as an intern for Melodic Music.
It was 2007. The iPhone had just been released, kids everywhere were cranking that to Soulja Boy, and South Asian creative collectives like Kerfew and Daytimers weren’t as prolific as they are today. Johann couldn’t readily point to other South Asians shattering stereotypes and pursuing music, especially those magicians behind the scenes. So, Johann Ponniah is in many ways one of the OGs for South Asian Australians who dared to dream about making it in the Australian music industry.
When recounting the early years, Johann admits it was tough for his parents, too. “I know it was a very concerning and hard time for them.”
For starters, Johann is Sri Lankan Tamil. And like many Tamils, his parents traded war for safety, immigrating to Australia and working relentlessly to plant new roots in an alien world.
“I’m Tamil Sri Lankan, and my parents were not too pleased about my career decisions early on, which I think is completely understandable given how hard they worked to give my brother and I a good start in life and the fact they didn’t know a lot about the music industry (neither did I!).”
“I basically had to sit down with my parents and tell them that up until this point, I’d done what they’d asked me to, but now I was going to have to take a crack at this thing that I was really passionate about. It wasn’t an easy conversation to have for both sides, but we got on with it from there.”
Two years later, in 2009, Johann and his housemates threw a house party to raise funds to pay an overdue gas bill. This watershed moment set the I OH YOU wheels in motion.
“It took my parents a while to come to terms with it, and they worried a lot (as all parents would), but they’re happy and proud of how things have played out in the end.”
Even now, as I OH YOU turns 13, it’s heartening to hear that Johann credits his parents and immigrant upbringing for his success. “It’s a lot of the lessons they taught me through their own lives that have helped me achieve things in my own career.”
And, if you’re wondering, the gas is still on.
Leverage your parents’ sacrifices
In a 2015 Pilerat’s interview, Johann quipped that had he followed the status quo, he would’ve ended up “boring as shit”. When I reminded him, he chuckled, clarifying that he’s “said some whack shit along the way.”
If you’ve read this far, it’s evident that Johann did not end up boring as shit. And he’s right. Many South Asian kids choose comfortable careers—law, engineering, accounting—over pursuing their dreams. “For a few, those [careers] are in fact their dreams come true—but for every one of those, there are ten entrepreneurs, artists, and restaurateurs that get trapped in those institutions.”
As someone who is now duller than Edward Cullen in Twilight, I asked Johann for advice for me and any other South Asians who are itching to pursue something more meaningful.
“I’d just encourage people to follow their passions and be prepared to work hard for them. As South Asian kids in countries like Australia, a lot of us have grown up seeing our parents working so hard to give us the life they didn’t…learning from their examples and bringing it into our own lives gives us a leg up.”
The future is bright (and brown)
The heartbeat of the South Asian diaspora is thumping harder than ever in Australia. But unfortunately, South Asian representation in the Australian music industry (like many other industries) still needs work.
It’s clear that the tides are turning, and Johann is optimistic and excited about the future. And if he’s hopeful, that’s enough for us.
“My hope is that more young South Asian people will enter the Australian music (and other arts-based) industries.”
“I think it’s already happening, and it makes me so excited. I’ve got great expectations for higher percentage representation for us in these industries, and I believe we’ll bring a lot to them.”
And who knows? Maybe one day we’ll see a South Asian artist signed to I OH YOU or managed by Converge. Until then, Johann’s story is your reminder to stand up to your immigrant parents (and, you know, chase your dreams). It’s never too late. They’ll forgive you. Maybe.