Canberra-born singer songwriter Mikelangelo, aka Michael Simic, joins beloved Bungendore duo, Shortis & Simpson, for the latest instalment of their Under the Influence series. CW spoke to Mikelangelo ahead of the show, coming to The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre on 4 November.
- Tell us about the show.
We’ve shared a lot of the songs and stories with each other and found where our musical passions and journeys meet. In the end, we’ve made a show that is about all three of us, and how we became the performers that we are. The songs in the show are as diverse as Nancy Sinatra, Ennio Morricone, and The Count from Sesame Street! We’ve written songs and have included some well-known tunes of Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen.
- What drew you to music and songwriting?
My mum sang me gunfighter songs and bushranger ballads as a babe in arms and read me poems by William Blake and Coleridge’s epic Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. These mythical tales helped me understand the power of songs and storytelling from a young age.
Mum encouraged me and my brother and sister to be creative and made the time and space at home for us to write, play music, draw and make up plays.
When I was 16, my older brother Vic asked me to sing for his band. I felt right at home on stage, so I just kept performing and it became my career. From there, it was artists like Johnny Cash, Iggy Pop, Nina Simone, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen who first inspired me to start writing songs and to find my own voice.
- What inspires your music?
These days it’s time in nature and my family. My wife Rose and I have two little kids – Sunny, nearly five, and Miro, nearly two. They inspire me every day with their love, creativity and sense of adventure. We live in Braidwood, and I feel like the bush and the river have sent me a lot of songs in the five years we’ve been here.
I have a little old caravan in the garden, it’s my songwriting place. I go there at night and look up at the moon and the shadows of the trees, listen to the wind and the creatures of the night, peeing on a bush has never been so romantic. In my caravan, by the candlelight, songs come calling.
- Do you have any career highlights?
So many! Music has been my life for over 30 years. Playing in the Famous Spiegeltent around the world for many years has been amazing. All the shows I’ve done at the Sydney Opera House have been exhilarating; it’s a venue that is at the top of the list for a lot of artists.
But I have to say, I really love it when I get to play a gig at Braidwood preschool, where my kids go.
Putting down roots and being part of the community here is so good after a life of lots of touring. It’s hard sometimes, I miss some of the other lives I’ve led, and all my good friends scattered around the world. But I wouldn’t trade where I am now, I love being a husband and a father, and staying put more is an invitation to go deeper with my songs and storytelling.
- What’s next for you?
We’re planning to take the show to festivals, halls and theatres in the future, in a family-friendly way when possible, so Rose and the kids can come along.
Followers of Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen will be happy to hear that we’re planning to record a new album next year. Somehow, it’s been seven years since our last album, so it’s high time for us to get back into the studio. The band has been together for 23 years now, so it feels like family.
Answers condensed for publication.
Catch Mikelangelo in Under the Influence with John Shortis and Moya Simpson at The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre on 3-4 November; theq.net.au
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