The creation of Bustamento has a thoroughly romantic tale that personifies the choices of Nicky Bomba – to follow his heart and be inspired by his surroundings. After the album Intrepid Adeventures To The Lost Riddim Islands enjoyed a truly positive reception (and an ARIA nomination but you know, awards whatevs), Bomba and the Bustamento crew are taking their island love up and down the east coast.
Catching up with Nicky Bomba is a case of squeezing yourself in between his many gigs but as Bomba acknowledges, balance is still the key to life in this industry. “[I] spent a couple of days at the Kuranda Roots Festival in Cairns and played on Saturday night. I do this Allstars thing where all different musicians join me for an unknown musical adventure. There’s always a bit of magic that unfolds. Today we did a small but lively gig at the Bingil Bay Cafe near Mission beach. The support was the local under 10 music group – sounded sweeeet!” Bomba says before explaining how he manages so many different projects. “I’ve learnt that a real sense of peace comes when you get the balance right: music, nature, chillin’, thinking, creating, friends, love, eating well. You get the picture.”
People may not immediately view Malta and islands within the Caribbean as similar but from what Nicky Bomba has experienced; he identifies a lot of parallels to lifestyle and therefore culture. “I think the connecting quality is the spirit in the music and the highly social atmosphere that unfolds when you live on a small bit of land surrounded by water,” he says. “There is a definite connection with the ‘make it up as you go along’ attitude that we love to explore when we can – keeps you on your mental toes if they even exist. Bustamento is great at doing that; we’ve known each other a long time and we are able to follow tangents at the blink of an eye. It’s a pleasure to play with these brothers.”
Bomba seems to have created a genuinely united family in the Australian (and international) music scene. While other artists cry foul at the rigidity of the local scene and the suffocation of the industry of large, Bomba seems to thrive and Bustamento is another testament to that. So is the industry simply what you make of it?
“Firstly, I think if you are making a living solely from music then you are successful,” he says. “I still pinch myself that I can do that. The exploration of music and development of your craft is all inspiring and exciting, thinking of all the possibilities as you remain the eternal student. There are so many albums to make, songs to write, grooves to concoct, gigs to do, dreams to follow; chart success only happens to small portion of the industry. The other 95 per cent are just doing their thing. Just make sure you have fun doing it.”
For the most part, Bomba still does have fun doing it. “I’m loving music even more now,” he says. “We’re forever discovering new things to play, experimenting with whatever. I find the older you get the quicker you get to the point of the song. Music is like a partner for me, but we do have our falling outs.”
The Bustamento journey, as with Bomba’s many other creative pursuits, has undergone an evolution from its beginnings and their time in the studio has been somewhat of a catalyst for that. “The big change was the way we recorded the album,” he explains. “There’s a magic that happens when we play together live and capturing that in a recording can be difficult. I think we did well in reaching that goal. We had massive help from our sound engineer, Robin Mai. It has taught me to be a lot more relaxed with my vocals and to let the music speak for itself.”
Bustamento is certainly not a side project and is currently getting the attention of each individual in the band as much as anything else. “[We plan to] keep doing what we do well – touring, performing, etc. – and another clip maybe,” he says. “We’ve got more songs in the archives that will see the light of day soon enough. Regardless, it’s always fun.”
BY KRISSI WEISS
