“We were playing at the Australian World Music Expo and we met Malcolm Haynes [Talent Buyer for Glastonbury],” says Bomba. “He’d seen us live and loved us and told us that, ‘If you can get over here, it’ll be great’. We are buzzed about the opportunity.”
You’d think that organising 25 musicians to travel extensively would be a logistical nightmare. However, Bomba is confident about their prospects.
“They’re a very professional bunch of people,” he enthuses. “We’ve all been doing it for quite a while. The number of people isn’t really the issue. What you can do with six people, you can do with eight, twelve or 20. It’s like a Contiki tour – you just have to make sure that everyone gets on the bus. It helps that egos are left at the door. There’s a lot of love for the band and it flows nicely. It works out that finances are the only real hiccup.” This is where the Melbourne ska community comes to the rescue.
“Members of the Australian ska community, especially in Melbourne, support each other when they can,” Bomba explains proudly. “A good example was when that helicopter crashed into the pub Esperanza were playing at in Scotland. We organised a gig and raised money for them then and it was heartwarming to see everyone helping out. The Transmitter Music label is holding the event [Operation Offbeat]. It’s its first annual event. They’re all going to have a purpose and the purpose of this one is to raise money for flights for us to go overseas. When you have to buy tickets for 25 people, it adds up! So, the ska community has banded together and we’ve got four happening bands of that genre together on the bill as a result.”
The element of community is only one of the things that Bomba loves about ska. “When I was first exposed to reggae and ska, it was the ‘2 Tone’ movement that came out of the UK in the ‘80s,” he recollects. “It was part of the nu-wave, punk explosion at the time. Later, we learned that it was actually the second wave of ska, drawing inspiration from the beautiful explosion of all this music that came out of Jamaica in the ‘60s. It has always resonated with me. It’s got this air of excitement, danger and flying by the seat of your pants and it’s got this element of community. All of these people are always involved.”
The value of the collective carries through to the way the Melbourne Ska Orchestra make their music. “In terms of process,” Bomba says, “I created the seeds of about 70 per cent of the songs. Then I took them to a smaller group to workshop and refine. Then the songs went to the think-tank. We had two great sessions. Sometimes those things aren’t productive, but ours were. The only rule was that there were no rules and everyone got to put in their two cents. That way we came up with a whole lot of seeds, which turned into songs for the Orchestra. It’s an interesting way of constructing an album. I’d definitely do it next time. That doesn’t even always happen in smaller bands, so it’s remarkable that we do it. Having everyone involved is a sweet thing.”
BY MEG CRAWFORD
