“I want to move away from the church thing though. We’re more like a soccer team.”
This inclusive sentiment characterises the band’s approach to ska music. In the same way the upbeat rhythms of Jamaican ska fused with aggressive English punk to form two tone, the Melbourne Ska Orchestra are proud of their strong multicultural roots.
“We’re big fans of funk, rocksteady and South American vibes, and we’re developing hybrids with calypso that are uniquely our own,” says Bomba, who is of Maltese heritage. “We’re wearing our own colours now.”
Bomba is acutely aware of the Orchestra’s place in the history of the genre and is resoundingly enthusiastic about the video clip for their latest single Satellite, and the upcoming album Sierra-Kilo-Alpha.
“We’ve grown up,” he says. “We’re no longer under the apron strings of the UK sound, although that’s still represented in the music we play today. It’s not perfect, but there’s a sense of adventure to it.
“The first album was a collection of all the things we’d been doing over the years. We weren’t really a serious entity until 2009, so that was really a statement about everything that had come before. This new album is more a sense of, ‘This is our voice.’ We’ll always harp towards the old stuff because of our love for ska, but this new clip is moving towards the future.”
A recent tour overseas saw them brushing shoulders with the likes of original rude-boy Stranger Cole and two tone legend Rhoda Dakar of the Body Snatchers. They were also met with an overwhelming response from ska aficionados in Turkey.
“It was a real honour to be playing with the people there,” Bomba says. “The thing about ska is, and it’s why the Orchestra works, there is a real love for the music. It means fans – they can be kids, parents or even grandparents – still have the energy. Stranger Cole is 75 and even I had trouble keep up with him.”
Connecting with Stranger Cole meant the band were invited to provide three tracks for a short film, Beverly, which tells the story of a young rude-girl growing up amongst the volatility of the Thatcher era. For the Melbourne Ska Orchestra it’s a veritable coup, and a nice culmination of the hard work they’ve put in. However, it’s also a stark reminder to Bomba of how the music scene has changed.
“My first release was on vinyl, because that’s all there was. Now you can just press a button and you’ve downloaded your song in seconds. Somewhere along the way the music was cheapened. We’re trying to highlight the value of music as it’s perceived. There are a lot of processes involved; recording, rehearsal writing.
“It’s gotten to the point where the only source of revenue is playing live. It means our music is political in some ways, but also it’s motivational. You figure out ways to survive. If your trajectory is about making the best art you can and being positive about it you’ll manage.”
He seems confident, but a band of their size is difficult to manage without the help of government grants, and he laments that the Arts Council had its funding reduced. “Our human race is a creative species. We have the technology to live quite comfortably, but we don’t have that balance right yet.”
BY JAMES ROSS
