After nearly a decade of entertaining audiences around the globe in “kabaret noir” ensemble Mikelangelo And The Black Sea Gentlemen, devilish crooner Mikelangelo has, for the past year, been indulging another side of his multifaceted musical personality, in surf ‘n’ western outfit Mikelangelo And The Tin Star.
After nearly a decade of entertaining audiences around the globe in “kabaret noir” ensemble Mikelangelo And The Black Sea Gentlemen, devilish crooner Mikelangelo has, for the past year, been indulging another side of his multifaceted musical personality, in surf ‘n’ western outfit Mikelangelo And The Tin Star.
“I’ve always loved guitar twang,” he explains, noting that The Tin Star is “a bit surf, but it’s more just cool, instrumental music. And of course, I sing a bit too; I can’t help myself.” And when Mikelangelo sings, he doesn’t merely sing; he performs – sometimes to his own physical detriment.
At a recent Tin Star show at the Northcote Social Club, Mikelangelo was singing the closing song, Action (written for P-Harness, his band from 15 years ago, which The Tin Star now like to pull out at the end of sets). “I was going a bit ballistic. I tend to go out into the audience and attack them with bad kung fu and eye gouges, that sort of thing. It usually goes pretty well, but at The Northcote Social Club I leapt up on the bar and was just kicking at imaginary foes then took a big flying leap off, which didn’t go so well.”
He dislocated his left knee and “fucked” his right foot; he only got off the crutches a few days before the band left for shows in Edinburgh, where he relied on a “very spiffy walking stick, kind of like the sort of thing you’d take grouse shooting.”
But it’s testimony to the physicality – and, indeed, theatricality – of Mikelangelo’s performance style. At a Mikelangelo gig, no matter the band, you know you’re going to get a show. So, even though he admits that “It’s really nice to be playing rock ‘n’ roll again”, as opposed to the theatrical cabaret of The Black Sea Gentlemen, his inherent show pony-ness makes him “unafraid of the golden era of The Entertainer.” As he says, he just can’t help himself.
Fans of The Black Sea Gentlemen needn’t fear. They’re still going great, Mikelangelo reassures. “There are always people who assume that because I have a new band it means the other one is finished, but that’s not the case. I really love playing with Yhe Black Sea Gentlemen and I’ll always do that; we’ll be hanging round like the Buena Vista Social Club in our 80s.”
But for today, The Tin Star are the focus. “I moved back to Melbourne last September, and had my first gig with these guys a few days later,” Mikelangelo recalls, ‘these guys’ being drummer Pete Olsen and guitarist Fiete Geronimo Geier – whom Mikel knew from Canberra, where they all played in a Tin Star proto-band called The Dalmatian Coast Surf Life Saving Club – and bass player Gareth Hill. “They’re all really good players and they’re happy to be ordered around a bit,” he jokes. Fiete, in particular, “nails that sound, with the right amount of twang. We were playing a show in Sydney recently with Waiting For Guinness, and their bass player came up to us after the show and said ‘That’s the way guitar should be played: not too many notes, just really great notes’.”
In addition to Fiete, Pete, Gareth and Mikelangelo, almost every Tin Star show features guest performer St Claire. “We still call her a guest,” Mikelangelo says. “A bit like with Heather Locklear in Melrose Place: in the credits she was always the special guest star, even though she was in every episode. Claire’s got that special feeling. She brings this whole wonderful other element to the shows, and she’s a beautiful singer and a fantastic dancer, and she also brings a bit of sexuality. But we call her a guest so you know she’s her own person.”
While there are no recordings as yet, Mikel says they’re working on it, and hope to have something for fans to take home next year. Until then, they’ll just have to be content with live shows. And if Mikel has his way, there’ll be plenty of those for a long time to come.
“I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t go for years,” he says. “Surf ‘n’ western music is a rich seam. There’s a lot of scope. In a way it’s evolving into an exciting live act but it’s also just a rock ‘n’ roll show which is simply great fun.”
MIKELANGELO AND THE TIN STAR– with guest St Claire – play their first show back in Melbourne since their European tour, at The East Brunswick Club this Saturday December 4. Also on the bill are The Toot Toot Toots, Go Girl Gadget Go Go, Betty Airs (Gerling/E.L.F) and Ancient Slate.
