Melbourne Ska Orchestra
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Melbourne Ska Orchestra

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“Aw man,” says Bomba as he recalls the set. “Something’s happened. The pennies dropped. The crowd really connected with us, by the time we were into the fourth song it was massive –packed – and finding out later there was about nine-and-a-half thousand people [watching] was pretty amazing.” Whipping up a crowd is something that Bomba has been doing for the better part of 20 years and with the MSO for ten. But why the sudden prevalence of MSO in the last year, when most outside the ska scene had perhaps not ever heard of them?

“I used to own the MSO with a friend of mine, with whom I started the business with. We were the guys that put the band together. Then a couple of years ago he got quite busy with his work so I bought the name from him, and that’s pretty much when it started happening, I started taking it seriously. I managed to get Bluesfest (2012) I suppose, that was a big one, and it all blossomed from there. But getting that one was a bit of a coup you know? And because I could take control of it, and drive it where I wanted to drive it, I started writing more songs for it and realised it could be quite a strong musical force. And apart from doing the whole original ska vibes – I wanted to offer a new sound, a fresh approach to the genre, that’s kind of what spurred things on.”

Despite this fresh approach, MSO’s debut album is not without a tip of the hat to ska’s origins. The rude boy scene of the ’70s saw violence and gang behaviour synonymous with ska, and this, blended with Bomba’s own experiences of growing up in Melbourne and spending a lot of time on Lygon Street, the hotbed of Melbourne’s criminal underworld, ultimately led to the title of the latest single Lygon Street Meltdown.

A real feature of not just the ska scene but the blues and roots scene as well, Bomba has played in Bomba (infamous for their interactive live shows whereby drum circles amidst the crowd and conga lines are often common occurrences), Bustamento (his more calypso and mento inspired band) as well as his solo project. Oh, and somewhere in there he manages to play drums for the John Butler Trio. “I like to see them as all little seeds,” he says of his various projects. “Some of them have a quick growth spurt, then they plateau and another one comes up. But as far as being a musician’s concerned it’s actually good because you have all these kind of different ways of making a living.”

At times he is the frontman, other times he’s the conductor, at others the drummer, but the one thing never changes in between each band is that he is always an entertainer; a conduit between band and audience. “I feel obligated as a musician and entertainer to make sure the crowd and the band are connected. As far as all the roles are concerned I think the conductor, ring leader, master of ceremonies of the MSO is one of the most powerful I’ve ever experienced, especially when you play music you love.

“I don’t try to plan things too much, there are couple of things that you usually do that connect, but generally I like to get a feel from the audience, whether they’re cheeky or they’re raucous or they just want to dance, and I try to pick up on that. It’s a little like having a conversation with the audience. You have an hour on stage and it’s like, ‘Okay we have an hour together, what’s the best way for us to get to know each other?’” Getting to know the crowd and being able to work and entertain them has never been easier than it has as conductor of the MSO according to Bomba. “It’s such a unique ramshackle beast that I love to bits – with the other bands I might be on an instrument or stuck behind the kit. It’s a lot of freedom a lot of opportunity to really work the audience [with MSO].”

BY GARRATH WESTMORE