The Living End’s manager opens up about her shock firing

After more than two decades as the manager of Aussie rock icons The Living End, Rae Harvey has described how she has been unceremoniously fired from her role.

For the vast majority of The Living End’s career, they’ve been managed by none other than Rae Harvey.

An industry legend, Harvey’s career has also seen her manage the likes of 360, Pez, Gyroscope, and defunct rockers Children Collide, providing them all with the guidance needed to become world-class musicians.

However, Rae Harvey has now revealed how her long-running association with The Living End has come to an abrupt end, revealing her recent firing in a Facebook post earlier today.

The post, titled ‘Farewell To The Music Industry’, sees Harvey expressing her shock at the sudden dissolution of her relationship with one of Australia’s most beloved rock acts.

“After 22-years of faithful service, my management agreement with The Living End was suddenly terminated a couple of weeks ago,” Harvey wrote.

“Having dedicated the best years of my life to a band I assumed were a part of my family forever, what a kick in the guts.”

“It is at my insistence that I’m honest about this and there’s no wishy-washy statement about splitting amicably, that’s not my style. I was fired. There…. I said it.”

As Rae Harvey continues, she refers back to the 2016 house fire which resulted in the loss of her “life’s work”, noting how her work ethic and dedicated nature allowed her to continue despite this event.

“The loss did impede me, though after 30 years industry experience and 20+ management under my belt, I needed very little to be effective, my 20 minutes would take hours or days in less experienced hands,” she explained.

“That many years and all the hard-forged relationships managing a now legacy band heading into their twilight years – I could do it standing on my head.”

“Regrettably, this has come at an inopportune time for me, it was sudden with no discussion or time to plan, just ‘seeya’,” Harvey continues. “This massive setback will now free me up for what has become my reason for existing.”

Rae Harvey also noted how with some newfound free time, she plans to devote more energy into her Wild 2 Free kangaroo sanctuary.

“I will now drive that same passion I had for The Living End, which helped enable them to have a life-long career, into a non-paying client like Lily, our miniature matriarch,” Harvey explained in her post.

In an interview with The Music Network back in 2015, Rae Harvey explained how her relationship with The Living End stretched all the way back to 1994.

“My first impression was ‘who the hell are these wankers and how did they get the Green Day support’,” she explained.

“My second impression at Falls Festival 1996 was “I HAVE to work with these guys – great songs and they’re putting on a stellar performance for a couple of hundred people, playing like they’re in front of several hundred thousand.”

For more information about Rae Harvey’s Wild 2 Free kangaroo sanctuary, including how you can help show your support, be sure to check out their website.

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