Michael Simic / Presenter

Michael Simic is stepping out from behind his Mikelangelo moniker to put his solo career front and centre and perform under his given name. His music and lyrics draw on the evocative beauty of love and nature and can melt even the hardest heart. Simic is a prolific and impressive songwriter and an arresting performer with a powerful voice and presence. Simic started going to live club gigs from the age of 14 seeing inspirational shows by The Cramps Beasts Of Bourbon and The Bad Seeds. At 15 he fronted his brother’s punk band Kill City. At 16 he began writing songs with his school friend Geoff Hinchcliffe. They went on to form Prik Harness, instinctively breaking every rule in the book of pop/rock with crazy antics and epic genre-defying shows. P. Harness released two albums and one EP through Way Over There and still have a rabid cult following in Australia. Simic formed Mikelangelo & the Black Sea Gentlemen in 2000. Influenced by his Balkan heritage, their music draws on the European roots of folk music blended with swing, blues and spaghetti westerns to define their own distinctive sound and live show. The group have released 4 albums and an EP through Rocket and toured widely through Australia, New Zealand and the UK to great critical acclaim and have a strong fan base. Simic fronted the surf rock-influenced Mikelangelo and the Tin Star from 2009-2013. They released their album “The Surf’n’Western Sounds Of…” through Laughing Outlaw to stellar reviews and wide radio play, making album of the week on PBS radio in Melbourne, 4ZZZ in Brisbane, FBI in Sydney and topping the AMWRAP charts.