Ex-Gang of Youths guitarist Joji Malani is a ‘love machine’ in a new telco ad

If you recognise the sharp-dressed chap in the new amaysim campaign, give yourself a prize.

Joji Malani, former guitarist with Gang of Youths, leads from the front for the Australian telco’s new commercial.

Malani is singing and swinging his guitar in the “Little Sim, Big Love” ad, hitting us repeatedly with the line “I’m just a love machine.”

The campaign was developed by 72andSunny for amaysim, which has been in business for 10 years offering a range of SIM-only mobile plans, and now boasts about 1.2 million customers.

Malani surprised the indie rock world when he left Gang of Youths in 2019, at the very peak of their powers.

The band cleaned up at the 2017 ARIA Awards, bagging eight nominations and winning trophies for Best Group, Best Rock Album and the coveted Album of the Year category for their chart-topping second LP Go Farther In Lightness (Mosy Recordings/Sony Music Australia).

At the same time, the global touring market opened right up for the Sydney band. In recent years, the group has had bookings for Austin City Limits, Pinkpop Festival, Rock Werchter, Lollapalooza, Osheaga, and at London’s Alexandra Palace.

Joji Malani stars in an amaysim commercial

Another career high came in 2018, when the Gang performed ‘What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out’ on the U.S. Late Night With Seth Meyers.

Malani announced his separation from the band last October, while they were on the road in the U.S. and Canada with Mumford & Sons.

They parted as friends. “He’s lovingly given 8 years (practically the bulk of his 20s!) to this project, and a few months ago made the tough decision to leave GOY and move on into the next phase of his professional life,” read a statement at the time. “8 years is a long time for any job, and we are so grateful to have had him for as long as we did.”

Malani has continue to pursue music. According to feature published last month by the ABC, Joji has written and recorded two albums’ worth of material under his solo project Pei, has been producing for several other Australian artists including Charlie Collins and launched his own music label, Broth Records.

Read more here.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.