ARTLESS BASTARDS
EPISODE 7.

LINDY HUME

Lindy Hume is currently the Artistic Director of Ten Days on the Island, a biennial festival held in March across Tasmania. She is one of Australia’s leading directors, acknowledged internationally for fresh interpretations of a wide variety of repertoire, and for progressive artistic leadership of international festivals including Sydney Festival and Perth International Arts Festival.  

As a director, Lindy has created more than 50 major opera productions across Australasia, as well as USA, Europe, UK and Scandinavia. She has been Artistic Director of West Australian Opera, Victoria State Opera and then OzOpera and most recently Opera Queensland. Lindy is also recognised as a champion of new Australian work across a range of performance genres.

The recipient of an Australia Council Theatre Board Fellowship, Lindy holds a Graduate Diploma in Arts Administration from the University of South Australia. In 2007, she was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by The University of Western Australia in recognition of her contribution to the cultural life of Western Australia.

Lindy served as the Chair of South East Arts and was on the board of Regional Arts NSW.  Public interest in her idea of developing an assertive counter-urban arts practice has now led her to develop her ideas into her PhD research exploring the working life of artists in regional Australia; and how work made by artists living in regional Australia flows into the national and global cultural ecologies. She is currently Creative Director for the Four Winds Festivals 2021-2022 in Bermagui.

MICHAEL SIMIC

Michael Simic is a prolific and impressive songwriter and an arresting performer with a powerful voice and presence. Michael 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 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.  

Michael 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 western 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.

Now stepping out from behind the Mikelangelo persona, Michael Simic is about to release a new solo album Caravan Songs, which was penned in a caravan out the back of a converted church where his small family live near Braidwood in country NSW. Caravan Songs puts Michael’s intimate storytelling and reflective ballads front and centre.

In addition to his musical adventures, Michael is working as a Regional Music Officer for Music NSW, covering the area of the southern tablelands and highlands.