Michael Manikus

Hi there, I'm a travelling touring musician, I play piano/keyboards/percussion/guitar/bass/clarinet/saxophone/an d sing. I'm of South African descent but I was born and still live in Brisbane, Australia. There's no place like home, Australia's such a great place, I appreciate my home town so much more after travelling around the world, it's the little things you miss if you've been away from home for a few months, Coopers Pale Ale, a jar of vegemite, Tim Tams...and bowen mangoes!!! It's been awesome to travel though, I've seriously got the bug, I've been touring extensively around the globe for the last four years, some of the experiences along the way have been priceless. I enjoy looking up google earth or finding a map and just walking around and exploring a town, chatting to the locals and experiencing the culture.I love all music, I love how it effects myself and other people, listening, playing, learning, teaching, dancing, seeing live shows, discovering new artists and styles, and continually self progressing. I started playing piano when I was 6 or 7, started taking lessons at 8 and went through the classical AMEB system, when I was 12, I was accompanying my older brother Gavin who plays sax, playing rhythm changes, and extended harmonies, playing with him really opened my ears to jazz/ pop/ groove and funk music. As a kid I wanted to be a sportsman, a soccer player or golfer, I was pretty good at both, but at 16 I was accepted to the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and studied classical and jazz piano, since then, I haven't really looked back in a career as a musician, teaching, then working in the live Brisbane scene, to playing island gigs in North Queensland to playing in some of the great theatres/venues around the world. So far it's been an eperience +