Jon Adgemis-owned Byron Bay venue ‘ghosted’ DJs seeking months of unpaid invoices

Jon Adgemis’ Public Hospitality Group said it would pay its suppliers and staff after getting a $400m lifeline. Months later this DJ is now in debt of her own, after their Byron venue stopped paying its invoices.

The DJs, the baron and the unpaid bills: Jon Adgemis’ Public Hospitality Group is facing yet more claims its venues are leaving people out of pocket.

DJs who worked for Public Hospitality Group owned Lover’s Lane in Byron Bay say they’ve spent months chasing thousands of dollars in unpaid invoices since the venue announced it was “closing for renovations” in April — and promptly deleted its website and email accounts.

Former investment banker turned hospo boss Jon Adgemis secured a $400 million refinancing deal in May, with a group spearheaded by Deutsche Bank. A spokesman for the group said that money would be used to pay staff, suppliers, and creditors.

Yasmin, who plays under the name DJ Yazmin, has been chasing a $550 invoice she claims Lover’s Lane owes her for more than three months.

The freelance DJ says she previously had to chase months of invoices at a time from the popular nightlife venue and was often spending more hours following up on missed payments than behind the decks.

“They’ve always been very slow with payments” Yazmin said, “but always paid in the end.”

However as of April, “they’ve ghosted me entirely. And I know for a fact I’m not the only one.

“It’s just not right.”

DJ Yazmin is a Brisbane-born DJ based in Byron Bay, who lived and worked in London for six years. Picture: Supplied

Lovers Lane in Byron Bay, owned by Jon Adgemis. Staff learned the venue was shutting down "for renovations" via this Instagram post but haven't been able to get in touch since. Picture: Instagram.

The 34-year-old, who has previously played at Splendour in the Grass and the UK’s famous Ministry of Sound, said it’s “tough to come forward because I don’t want to sound like I’m whinging over a small amount of money, but it is a lot for me, and for freelancers in general.

“That’s two weeks rent for me. I got into debt because I had to use Zip-Pay for my daily expenses while I was waiting to be paid by them, and then got behind on the payments as a result,” she added.

The 34-year-old DJ says she ended up in debt due to her invoices going unpaid. Picture: Supplied

The DJ rents a property in the Northern Rivers and took six weeks to find full-time work at an alcohol company to supplement her freelancing income after the payments never came.

“Byron’s a regional area and things slow down in winter, so there are slim pickings for work,” she said.

Yasmin said she previously made a “comfortable” living DJ’ing four nights a week for several different venues.

“The majority of places pay their invoices within one to two weeks after the event.”

Lover’s Lane would take five to six weeks to pay she said, “but it still came as a bit of a shock.”

Ex-banker Jon Adgemis and boss of Public Hospitality Group. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Swift.

Since April, she’s sent more than a dozen emails, phone calls, Instagram and text messages the DJ sent them, “without a single reply”.

“All my calls get declined,” she said. “My emails started bouncing back. The website disappeared. There’s no construction going on when I drive past, so I don’t even know if these ‘renovations’ are happening. I’m being fed lies,” she said.

Yasmin attempted to chase her outstanding invoices via Instagram Business Chat after her emails to the venue started bouncing back. Image: Supplied.

Yasmin was told to text the venue’s “new manager” to chase her outstanding invoices. She did, with no response. Image: Supplied.

“I ran into another staff member at a festival in May, and she said ‘the last thing I heard is you’ll get paid at the end of June’. That hasn’t happened.”

A spokesman for Public Hospitality Group told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday that they were not aware of Lover’s Lane hiring any DJs on a freelance basis and had no record of the work from the venue. He would not comment on whether Lover’s Lane is having renovations, its staff, or whether it will re-open.

Public Hospitality Group said that they have no record or Lover's Lane ever employing DJs. These text unanswered text messages were sent from Yasmin, to the venue’s manager.

Two outstanding invoices Yasmin sent to Lovers Lane on May 29, 2024.

Yasmin says she still hasn’t been paid, despite repeatedly contacting the business.

Yasmin and new local DJ Ramae Austain-Lazarus freelanced for Lover’s Lane on a $100 per hour rate, and would work three to five hour shifts.

Austain-Lazarus claims he is owed $1160 from the weekly gigs he was playing in January and also has full-time work at a distillery.

“My invoices always took at least a month or two to come through,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “I’m pretty new to the industry, so I didn’t know that was unusual.”

Ex-banker Jon Adgemis, now a wealthy hospitality mogul. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Swift.

DJ Ramae claims he’s owed $1160. Photo: Instagram.

In December 2023, they owed him more than $700. “The former GM tried to warn me against doing any more work there. He said look apparently they haven’t paid their last security team and owe them $50K.”

“I was offered another gig and said I didn’t feel comfortable coming into play until I got paid.

“He paid me the $700 out of his own pocket and said he’d get them to reimburse him.”

Austain-Lazarus continued playing weekly gigs before Lover’s Lane announced it was “shutting down for renovations” on Instagram seven weeks ago.

“I’ve sent [them] many messages and emails, and I haven’t had one message back,” he said.

Embattled Public Hospitality has been struggling for months, heavy in debt and paying high interest rates. One of Mr Adgemis’ money lenders is GEMI Capital, which has had $200 million invested in it from members of Sydney’s eastern suburbs elite.

DJ Yazmin said it’s standard for a venue to take one to two weeks to pay a DJ’s invoice, but that being owed consistently for periods of one to two months put her in financial srife.Photo: Instagram.

Yazmin has at least two more DJ friends who claim they’re owed more than $2000 by Lover’s Lane.

“I just want communication and for them to realise that we can’t afford to lose that money,” she said. “Another big company or investor might write those small amounts off as a loss. But I can’t afford to do that and it’s not fair.”

As recently as last year, Adgemis’s Sydney-centric Public Hospitality group was consistently described as rapidly growing. Its eclectic portfolio includes Oxford Street demi-precinct with El Primo Sanchez, Oxford House and Busby’s; the casual Ricos Tacos and Derrel’s; classic pubs The Lady Hampshire, The Fede`ral and Camelia Grove; plus a few boutique stays. In June 2022, Public bought Noah’s Backpackers in Bondi for $68 million.

However, the companies behind two of Mr Adgemis’ pubs — the Kurrajong Hotel in Erskineville and the Rose Hotel on Oxford St in Paddington — were recently put into voluntary external administration, with the company also losing trendy Greek restaurant Alpha in the CBD.

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