Mikelangelo as The Balkan Elvis in Eastern Bloc Rock. Thursday July 5; 8pm. Canberra Theatre Centre. Tickets www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

It's Elvis, but not as you know it. Here, festival favourite and Canberra native Mikelangelo talks us through his Eastern European roots, being "dead sexy" and what it's like to give The King an almighty transfusion in Eastern Bloc Rock.

Bree: Why did you want to do a show featuring songs by The King?

Mikelangelo: I’ve always loved the sound of Elvis’s voice, so much gentleness, playfulness and power; he’s one of the most naturally gifted singers the world has ever heard. But I’ve never had any interest in being an impersonator.

When it comes to Elvis, there are so many great songs, and let’s face it, no-one is going to sing them better than he did in his most famous recordings and live shows.

In Eastern Bloc Rock, I re-invigorate Elvis’s songs by delivering them in my own way, and making them sound like wild Balkan wedding polkas, or lilting waltzes, or even spooky atmospheric pieces.

It’s wonderful that people still sing and dance along, the combination of the known and the unknown is a great cocktail. Along with the story, the show has lots of laughs and pathos, as well as lots of great music.

Bree: Who is Balkan Elvis/Johnny Presley?

Mikelangelo: Johnny Presley was born in the former Yugoslavia in 1969, and grows up under communism where Rock’n’Roll is outlawed and life is uncertain. As a boy, his nanny, Lada, buys records on the black market and introduces Johnny to the music of ‘The American Elvis’.

When The King dies, young Johnny decides the world needs a new Elvis. He learns to play the hits on his piano accordion and hones his singing and his moves in his bedroom. Even at eight years old, his voice is two and half octaves lower then Elvis, but he is not discouraged that he doesn’t sound exactly like his hero. At 18, he dodges being drafted into the Balkans War and sets off on his adventure to become the next Elvis, which is the story that I tell in the new show, Eastern Bloc Rock.

Bree: Tell us about music in your life growing up in the capital and your Eastern European roots?

Mikelangelo: Canberra in the 1970s and 80s was an adventure. At the end of our street were bushlands where we could daydream, fish for yabbies, ride mini-bikes - and then the short drive into Civic meant movies, theatre, cafes and gigs. It was a great combination of country and city living.

My mum is an English migrant who came to Australia at 18, and my dad is a Croatian migrant who fled communist Yugoslavia. Their cross-cultural backgrounds led to an exciting and explosive home life.

Dad wanted to learn English, so he didn’t teach us his language or play us Croatian music. I think I’ve always been drawn to European music and culture to try to understand that part of myself. As kids, we would speak to dad using his accent, so I’m fluent in Croatian-accented English – even my relatives tell me my accent is good, but then reprimand me for not speaking my native tongue.

Bree: Eastern Bloc Rock is a show that's described as 'dead sexy'. What is about Elvis that gets women all shook up?

Mikelangelo: I think the men get all shook up too, which is good! The best rock’n’roll has always been sexy; the actual words themselves are a euphemism for sex after all.

Like all legendary singers, Elvis had an indefinable quality that drove people wild and upset conservative society. From very early on, that part of him was reigned in by the entertainment industry. Cutting his hair, putting him in the army and contracting him to a long succession of average films was a way of controlling the rebelliousness of his sex appeal, to contain it.

The crushing of his natural talent to connect with an audience, along with the amphetamine habit that started with being prescribed drugs in the army, contributed to his early death at 42.

Having spent most of my career as an independent artist, I can shake it up as much as I like on stage without upsetting my record label or management, it’s a good feeling!

Bree: How important are the rowdy bunch of musicians that back you up in the show?

Mikelangelo: Five years ago in Melbourne, I got together with a band called The Woohoo Revue, we played with musical ideas, and how we could change the arrangements of Elvis's songs, using more minor keys, different tempos and time signatures, and adding traditional Eastern European melodies, while still letting the songs be recognisable.

I sent the recordings to a chap in Edinburgh called Tom Pickle, who arranged them for a six-piece band, with accordion, horns, doublebass and drums. He did an amazing job. We performed a debut Balkan Elvis run at the Famous Spiegeltent during the Edinburgh Festival and recorded an album.

I have a lot of projects on the go, so it’s taken five years for the new show and album to come to fruition. In Canberra, I’ll be backed by members of Moochers Inc. and the Brass Knuckle Band, and will have my Melbourne-based musical director and accordionist Dave Evans helping to bring the beast to life.

Bree: Will fans of the 'real Elvis' love the show?

Mikelangelo: Judging from the amazing responses from audiences and critics at the recent premiere of Eastern Bloc Rock at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, and our preview shows at Peak festival in Perisher, fans love my spin on the King. It feels familiar and new at the same time

The story and music of Johnny Presley lets us reflect on the American Elvis and celebrate his strengths and his shortcomings, and reflect on our own lives in the western world.

Johnny Presley has lots of tough times and challenges during his adventures through the Eastern Bloc, but his story has a happy ending, because in the end he decides love is more important than fame. If Elvis Presley was able to realise this, we may have a lovely and talented 84-year-old man still with us today.