Australian band Royel Otis — anchored by the duo of Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic — followed up their highly acclaimed debut album, Pratts & Pain, with Hickey, released August 22, 2025. Shortly thereafter, they embarked on an ambitious tour in support of the album, resulting in their third visit to Minnesota for a concert at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul.

During their time in St. Paul, Maddell and Pavlovic walked over to The Current to play stripped-down versions of songs from Hickey. Afterwards, they sat down for a fun and wide-ranging conversation with host Jessica Paxton. Watch and listen to the session above, and find the interview and a complete transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jessica Paxton: Hi, I'm Jessica Paxton, I'm the afternoon host here on The Current, and I am joined today by the dynamic duo of Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic, aka Royel Otis, who are here in town, performing tonight at the Palace Theatre. Your Meet Me In The Car tour, along with special guest bby in support of your sophomore album, Hickey. Welcome back to The Current.

Royel Maddell: Whoa.

Otis Pavlovic: Thank you. Nice introduction.

Royel Maddell: Did you have that all, like, memorized? That's crazy.

Jessica Paxton: This is my job. This is what I do for pennies on the dollar. So yes. So the new album, Hickey, it's been described, or, I think one of you guys said the album title is because "Love bites harder than any other emotion."

Royel Maddell: Yeah, apparently someone said that.

Jessica Paxton: Yeah, those sound like really deep words for someone who I'm guessing is kind of new to the love game?

Otis Pavlovic: Two shallow dudes?

Royel Maddell: Smoke and mirrors.

Jessica Paxton: Smoke and mirrors, say no more. I also read that, which I love this, "Lyrics that break your heart and put you back together again at the same time."

Royel Maddell: Who said that?

Jessica Paxton: I don't know. I read it somewhere, and I thought that's so beautiful.

Royel Maddell: Probably one of ours as well.

Jessica Paxton: I was gonna say, I'm sure one of the two of you said that, so take credit for it. You got to take credit where credit is due.

Royel Maddell: Yeah.

Jessica Paxton: Well, it's a fantastic new album. It's, like I said, your sophomore release on the heels of your soaring debut, Pratts & Pain, that seemingly made you like international household names.

But let's go back to the very beginning. I'm interested in knowing how you guys came together as a musical duo. My understanding is that you both were already pursuing music individually. How did Royel Otis happen?

Royel Maddell: I think I'd given up on music by that stage. And I'm not sure if you...?

Otis Pavlovic: I was just kind of getting started. I don't know. We kind of, we had, like, a lot of, like, mutual family friends and stuff, like, growing up, but never really like crossed paths. And then around like, 2018, 2019, we had, like, mutual friends and stuff, and we'd be at the same bars, and just ended up hanging out a couple of times and talking about music and it kind of just went from there.

Royel Maddell: Yes, it's not that fun of a story. It's bit boring. But there's a skydiving version of it that's really good.

Jessica Paxton: Say no more. Do tell.

Royel Maddell: I was a skydiving instructor when Otis had his 18th birthday, and his girlfriend at the time got him a—

Otis Pavlovic: Surprise.

Royel Maddell: Surprise skydiving lesson. And so we were about to jump out of the plane, and he was strapped to my chest.

Otis Pavlovic: He was, like, squeezing me whole hard.

Royel Maddell: Yeah, like a little baby koala. I was worried about him. It's scary when you're up there. It was also my first time jumping as well.

Jessica Paxton: Now you tell him this!

Royel Maddell: Yeah, yeah. And then when we jumped out of the plane, I was like, "Put your arms out," you know, "There's nothing we can do now, if we ... you know, we're at God's will." And he was screaming. It was like perfect pitch, and so I started harmonizing with it.

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah, and he's doing little guitar melodies.

Royel Maddell: We landed safely, and I was like, "Man, you got to get into music." He was like, "I've got this demo." Handed it to me there in the field, and the rest is history.

Jessica Paxton: You guys need, like, a comedy routine. That was amazing. Wow.

Royel Maddell: That's as far as it goes.

Jessica Paxton: Wow. That is kind of, I think, the best origin story I have ever heard, especially the idea of him being a little baby koala.

Royel Maddell: Usually they don't strap them facing you, but this was an exception.

Jessica Paxton: Wow, wow. How do I even go on beyond that? Well, that's amazing. So shared love of certain artists, certain music? I mean, I feel like there's such a — I'm a huge, huge fan of, like, what I call jangle pop, and your guitar playing, like, just makes me want to swoon. Like, I get like a lump in my throat. But then your vocals come in, and it's like the pairing of the two are so lovely, but also kind of off kilter in the most beautiful way. And so I just feel like, How did that even happen? Like, sometimes the universe really gets it right.

Royel Maddell: Who would you put into the category of jangle pop?

Jessica Paxton: Oh, well, I'm a big fan of old school like Marshall Crenshaw, Nick Lowe.

Royel Maddell: Sick!

Jessica Paxton: Yeah, yeah.

Royel Maddell: Hell, yeah. I would love to get a little list off you.

Jessica Paxton: Well, let's talk. Right back at you.

Royel Maddell: I like the sound of "jangle pop." That's cool.

Jessica Paxton: I would like to say that I coined that, but I don't think I did. I don't think I can take credit, but really, it truly is beautiful. So you have this skydiving adventure, you're immediately betrothed to each other musically. So two EPs, Oysters in My Pocket, Sofa King, and I want to clarify I said Sofa King, and then these cover songs that you did: Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Murder on the Dance Floor," and then the Cranberries' "Linger," which I guess was a huge sensation. I will admit, I just checked that out for the first time the other night. And again, I mean, I'm of an age, you know, when the Cranberries were big back in the '90s, and who wants to take on Dolores O'Riordan? And I watched this performance. I watched probably, like, two or three different versions of it, and seriously, it slayed me. Like, so beautiful, and I did not expect that. And again, the stripped-down guitar, the voice. Why that song

Otis Pavlovic: I don't know. We were running out of ideas.

Jessica Paxton: I love how you're so self deprecating.

Otis Pavlovic: But like, we also just love the song. Yeah. It's a special song. She's amazing. The Cranberries are amazing. And, like, I think at the time, we were in L.A. and we had this session coming up, and we weren't going to do it with a full band, so it was just like, I knew the song, Roy knew the song, it was like, "We can do this." But then we were also like, is it a bad idea to attempt doing?

Royel Maddell: Yeah, it's one of those songs where you, like, you don't ... There's songs that I don't think you should, anyone should cover. That's one of them. And I'm pretty sure when she was joining the band, she made them agree that they would never do covers. So it's kind of ironic in that way. But yeah, like that, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Boys Don't Cry," I don't think those songs should be covered.

Jessica Paxton: That's interesting that you say that, and I do agree with you that, especially as a music lover, there's certain songs, certain artists that it's almost like they're so sacred that you—

Royel Maddell: Don't touch it.

Otis Pavlovic: "U Can't Touch This"!

Jessica Paxton: Don't touch it, exactly. But I also think there's something about a cover song — and a really, like, knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark cover performance that is such a connector — like, even if somebody is new to a band or new to an artist, you perform an iconic song, and immediately the crowd, like, comes together, and it creates that idea of nostalgia, and we're all part of this singular voice, and you have that sing-along element. And so I think there can also be something really ... Like sometimes covers get sort of a bad rap, but I think, in a way, it can be such a beautiful way to create community.

Otis Pavlovic: For sure. A song like that's been around for so long.

Royel Maddell: Yeah.

Otis Pavlovic: It's kind of like, I guess, like, just paying some respect to it.

Jessica Paxton: Yeah.

Royel Maddell: For those who hadn't heard it before, it's like when Paul McCartney did a song with like, Kanye?

Otis Pavlovic: "ForFiveSeconds."

Royel Maddell: Yeah, yeah. And everyone was like, "Kanye just made this old dude whole famous."

Jessica Paxton: Exactly!

Royel Maddell: Oh my god!

Jessica Paxton: But sometimes you need stuff like that to happen in order for certain generations to look back and pay homage to what came before and then connect the dots and see that trajectory, you know, where, like, musicians were inspired by certain artists, you know, and that led them to where they are today. Did you guys both grow up in a household where music was on a lot?

Otis Pavlovic: The Cranberries were on.

Royel Maddell: Cranberries were on massively. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The Cruel Sea.

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah. A lot of Pixies.

Royel Maddell: Deep jungle. You know that?

Jessica Paxton: I don't.

Royel Maddell: It's a lot of, like, Solomon Island lullabies with techno beats on it.

Jessica Paxton: Very cool. You we definitely need to...

Royel Maddell: You'd recognize some songs for sure. And by the way, before, I was not comparing us to Kanye and Paul McCartney. I just want to make that clear.

Jessica Paxton: I hear what you're saying. So you released your debut album, Pratts & Pain, incredibly well received. Follow-up now, Hickey, released about 18 months later. Did you feel a lot of pressure to get another album out?

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah.

Jessica Paxton: Thank you! Yeah.

Otis Pavlovic: Long story short. But like, it wasn't like necessarily a bad pressure, just like, just kind of keeping it moving. It's like, well, there is pressure coming from other people. Self pressure? Probably a bit of both.

Royel Maddell: We also didn't really have much time to, like, feel the — are they new shoes?

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah.

Royel Maddell: Nice!

Jessica Paxton: I was kind of eyeballing those, too.

Otis Pavlovic: You like them?

Jessica Paxton: Yeah, I do. I was noticing your shoes too.

Royel Maddell: I'm loving the whole, like...

Otis Pavlovic: The whole brown?

Royel Maddell: The whole yeah, yeah. Very autumnal. And autumn's here in Minnesota.

Otis Pavlovic: It's a good word.

Jessica Paxton: It is.

Royel Maddell: It's all bleeding coming together.

Jessica Paxton: I think it is. So again, you guys are, like, just "Aw shucks." But you know now, recently, I read that the ARIA Awards, which is kind of Australia's version of the Grammys, one of the most nominated bands, you ended up winning Best Rock Album, Best Band, Best Rock Group for Pratts & Pain, your debut again.

Now you're on tour in support of Hickey, a fantastic new album. Is this your third time in Minnesota? I was trying to do the math, and I think three times in like, two years? A relatively — so you were at the Amsterdam, and then you sold out First Ave, now you're going to be at the Palace. What is it about Minnesota audiences that just can't get enough of Royel Otis?

Royel Maddell: You gotta ask them. We don't have a clue!

Jessica Paxton: You don't feel the love? You don't notice it when you come to town?

Royel Maddell: We share the love, for sure, yeah.

Jessica Paxton: Yeah?

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah. We've got to talk to our agents as well, because they do all the routing stuff, and we're just like, the ones that worked, we'll come back.

Jessica Paxton: So you're on the road, tour bus. What's it like being on the road? Because it seems like it's just been — and part of the reason I brought up the three times in Minnesota, it's like nonstop release of music, nonstop touring. That's got to be a grind. How do you, like, how do you find distractions when you're on the road? I know you were talking before about different movies, trying to take in film. Like, what's your best sort of go-to distraction when you're on the road?

Royel Maddell: Mario Kart.

Jessica Paxton: Mario Kart.

Otis Pavlovic: Switching a lot. The Nintendo Switch. Fortnite.

Jessica Paxton: So a lot of the video games.

Otis Pavlovic: It's kind of like a good detachment. Yeah.

Royel Maddell: Chili-roasted pistachios.

Otis Pavlovic: Pickles.

Royel Maddell: Yeah.

Jessica Paxton: Pickles! Anything pickled.

Royel Maddell: Otis pickled.

Jessica Paxton: Anything pickled, yeah.

Otis Pavlovic: And also, just like, sleeping.

Jessica Paxton: Oh, dude, I feel you on that one.

Otis Pavlovic: Although it's pretty hard on the bus, recently. It was pretty bumpy.

Royel Maddell: I'm still like, I feel like I've gotten off a roller coaster. You know when your legs are, like, not working that great?

Jessica Paxton: Kind of wobbly, kind of wet noodles?

Royel Maddell: Yeah, yeah. Wet noodles.

Jessica Paxton: Yeah. Feeling that still.

Royel Maddell: Don't make me hungry!

Jessica Paxton: I want to circle back a little bit to, you guys are from Australia. I'm in love with all things Australian. I think a big part of that is the, to me, at least, there's this sense, and I feel this in your music and even like how we're having this conversation right now, there's this focus on beauty and sunshine and community and togetherness, but there's also this sense of like, the bittersweet and the dark underbelly and the sardonic humor. And I think about like my favorite music from Australia, bands like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds or Courtney Barnett. But also film; like, I feel like Australia is, to me, just such a creative hotbed. And I think about television shows and films in particular, like the films of Jane Campion, George Miller, of course, but that, again, that sense of, like, the dark underbelly. Can you talk a little bit, I mean, is, do you feel a sense of that?

Otis Pavlovic: It does kind of have that — like, one of my favorite films is actually Australian, but it's like a weird—

Royel Maddell: The Man from Snowy River?

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah, The Man from Snowy River.

Jessica Paxton: Yeah, yeah.

Otis Pavlovic: But that's kind of like its own thing. But I guess there is like a dark underbelly, a little bit. Like there's definitely spots in Australia which have its own thing, like in Sydney, like King's Cross.

Royel Maddell: Yeah, it's definitely kind of underbelly there.

Otis Pavlovic: In a bunch of shows. There's a show called Underbelly, now I think about it.

Jessica Paxton: Oh, really?

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah.

Jessica Paxton: OK.

Royel Maddell: It's like, I think with Australia, because it's so, like, sunshiney and everything, I think everything sort of has that sound. Like, sonically, bands that come out of Australia just always seem to kind of, at least have a little bit of, like…

Otis Pavlovic: Beachy.

Royel Maddell: Beachy.

Jessica Paxton: Beachy, upbeat. Poppy. Yeah, very danceable.

Royel Maddell: It's like Chopper, as well. The film, Chopper.

Jessica Paxton: Yeah.

Royel Maddell: That's like, super dark, but it's like, a funny film.

Jessica Paxton: Well, and that's kind of what it is. It's like, it's so dark, but it's funny. And I feel like there's something, in fact, that was another quote description of your music that I really liked was that, "It's not just an album about heartbreak, it's about the strange, beautiful tension of feeling both broken and alive at the same time." And so it's that, like, that beautiful contradiction of, again, the light and the dark, you know? The the sad and scary, but with the funny, and the like really kind of weird humor.

Royel Maddell: I think Australians take the piss out of themselves a lot. You know?

Jessica Paxton: That's a good quote.

Otis Pavlovic: Self deprecating.

Jessica Paxton: Self deprecating, exactly. Which, you know, and then again, that sardonic humor.

Royel Maddell: My dad always said, "If you can't laugh at yourself, you're missing out on the biggest joke in the world." There you go. And I think he was having a dig at me when he was saying that.

Jessica Paxton: You guys have some good lingo, too. What's some good Aussie lingo I need to incorporate into my — I mean, I've got like, "You betcha" and "uff-da." Minnesota stuff.

Otis Pavlovic: We like to shorten things a lot; like, if we say like, "this afternoon," we'll say "this arvo." "See you this arvo."

Jessica Paxton: I don't think I can pull that off!

Royel Maddell: "See you s'arvo." Instead of "see you later," "Kelly Slater." I don't know how, like, Australian that is, given he's not Australian.

Otis Pavlovic: "Let's go for a walk," "Tony Hawk."

Royel Maddell: Tony Hawk!

Jessica Paxton: What was that?

Royel Maddell: "Left, right, good night."

Otis Pavlovic: "Sweet as." I think, we say, you guys don't say "sweet as."

Jessica Paxton: "Sweet as."

Royel Maddell: And like, "heaps."

Otis Pavlovic: "Heaps" and "keen."

Royel Maddell: "Keen."

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah.

Royel Maddell: Oh, also, do you guys ever say "flat out"?

Jessica Paxton: Maybe?

Royel Maddell: Because I was talking to someone last night, and she was like, "What? I have no idea what you mean." But "flat out" is like, busy. "Oh, I can't; I'm flat out."

Jessica Paxton: Oh, I like that. It's kind of like you have a flat tire because you've just, like...

Royel Maddell: That's one way to think of it.

Jessica Paxton: ... gone so many miles, you can't take it anymore.

Royel Maddell: I just assumed everyone said that.

Jessica Paxton: Flat out. Oh, man, I should be taking, like, copious notes here. So when we talk about music, let's talk about some good vernacular, too. Fantastic. Well, we're so excited to have you back in town again. It's an amazing new album. It's super fun music. It's also, really, I just feel like beautiful listening to the three songs you guys performed from Hickey. There's such an awareness and an insightfulness. Obviously, we're from very different generations, but you know, I'm like, "How can these guys be singing so eloquently about heartbreak and love? What do they know about any of this stuff? They've barely been around the block." But it's like, it's transgenerational. It's just, it speaks to the human experience. And I think there's something about love and loss that is so universal, and your music really encapsulates that in a really fun, beautiful, heartfelt way. 

Otis Pavlovic: Thank you so much.

Royel Maddell: That's so complimentary.

Otis Pavlovic: So kind.

Royel Maddell: We needed this.

Jessica Paxton: Well, say no more. I love talking to you guys. So again. Palace Theatre tonight, special guest, bby.

Royel Maddell: They're rad, by the way.

Jessica Paxton: Continuing on the tour. Absolutely great opening act. What's next? You get to go home any time soon and just chill before you feel the pressure of the next album?

Royel Maddell: Well, we're touring.

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah, in a week or so.

Royel Maddell: Yeah.

Otis Pavlovic: But back to Australia. We don't really, we're gonna be, like, pretty in and out, like, going to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Jessica Paxton: So it sounds like the nonstop touring is—

Royel Maddell: Foreseeable future.

Jessica Paxton: ... is the foreseeable future.

Royel Maddell: Because we just booked all those festivals next year as well.

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah, but we get some — like December, it kind of all finishes, and then we get some time after that.

Jessica Paxton: Awesome. 

Royel Maddell: Christmas, we'll...

Jessica Paxton: Christmas.

Royel Maddell: Love Christmas.

Jessica Paxton: Yeah, what's a good — I'm a big fan of Paul Kelly. What's the big Christmas...

Royel Maddell: The gravy.

Jessica Paxton: Exactly. Who's making the gravy? Yeah.

Royel Maddell: That's a big Christmas song.

Jessica Paxton: That's a big Christmas thing.

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah.

Royel Maddell: Prawns.

Jessica Paxton: Prawns.

Royel Maddell: Yeah, which is...

Otis Pavlovic: Prawns, turkey, ham. All of it.

Royel Maddell: God damn. Some apple sauce.

Otis Pavlovic: Yeah. Some oysters sometimes.

Royel Maddell: Oysters.

Jessica Paxton: In your pocket.

Otis Pavlovic: Always.

Royel Maddell: Apparently, if you want to — because you got to, like, peel the prawns and stuff — apparently, if you want to get rid of the smell of the prawns on your fingers, you like touch stainless steel.

Jessica Paxton: I've heard that. I was gonna say copper or stainless steel.

Royel Maddell: Copper?

Jessica Paxton: Yeah.

Royel Maddell: That'd be classy. Hell, yeah.

Jessica Paxton: I feel like I could talk to you guys forever. You're way too funny. So we're going to wrap it up with I just got to say, in the words of Sophie Ellis-Bextor, DJ, "let's burn this GD house right down."

Otis Pavlovic: Boom.

Royel Maddell: Let's do it.

Otis Pavlovic: You betcha.

Royel Maddell: You betcha dupa.

Gallery: Royel Otis in studio

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Songs Performed

00:00:00 Say Something
00:02:18 Who’s Your Boyfriend
00:04:47 I Hate This Tune

All songs from Royel Otis’ 2025 album, Hickey, available on Ourness / Capitol Records. 

Musicians

Royel Maddell – guitar
Otis Pavlovic – vocals

Credits

Guests – Royel Otis
Host – Jessica Paxton
Producer – Derrick Stevens
Video – Evan Clark
Audio – Cameron Wiley
Graphics – Natalia Toledo
Digital Production – Reed Fischer, Luke Taylor

External Link

Royel Otis – official site