It’s safe to say that as the conductor of the Melbourne Ska Orchestra, the founder of the calypso-driven outfit Bustamento, and a highly successful solo project, Nicky Bomba is a man who wears many hats.
But aside from his many musical endeavours, Bomba is a brother to fellow bandmates Michael and Danielle (aka Mama Kin), best mate and business partner to Joe Camilleri, brother-in-law to John Butler, and a doting dad.
You know, that old saying – ‘If you want something done, give it to someone busy’? So it was no surprise when Bomba, alongside his loyal crew of ska heroes, announced they would release 52 songs in 52 weeks in 2018.
“We called it our ‘One Year of Ska’ mission and it was amazing actually,” the charismatic frontman says.
“The whole concept was a crazy idea that we had the year before last – we thought, ‘Maybe we should just get a lot of songs together as a band’ and somebody said, ‘Maybe we could do a song a week’.
“Towards the end of the year it was like ‘Arghh!’ but it was so much fun. When you’ve got 30-odd people focused on one idea, and when it all comes down to your love of music you can achieve a lot.”
“It was an education in the power of positive energy,” he adds when asked about the project’s logistics. “It was like a military operation, you know? Down to people having to come in at certain times, and timetables and roster systems, and living on coffee, it was crazy but it was great.”
Bomba likes to joke that as the captain of the Ska-ship enterprise sometimes during rehearsal he needed to take action.
“I have a whistle, and the whistle means ‘Shut up’,” he laughs. “No just kidding. Everybody gets it. There’s a lot of love in there, there’s a lot of understanding that something like this is rare.
“It’s something that most members of the band have never experienced or had any success with, let alone won ARIA awards with.
“We have toured the world with this band, all over Europe and we’ve played festivals like Montreal and Edinburgh. We’ve played at Boomtown in London and Istanbul, New Zealand, the States, and Peru.
“We’ve achieved a lot and I think we’re certainly at a high international level. When I see our shows in relation to other shows we’re up there, if not the biggest shows I’ve ever seen as far as an orchestra goes.”
With at least 25 musicians on stage at one time you can guarantee you are in for a treat at MSO’s upcoming celebration tour.
“In Melbourne it’s all hands on deck. Normally there’s about 35 musicians but for Bluesfest it’ll be about 26 people. That doesn’t count our support crew as well – there’s two soccer teams right there.”
Earlier this month, MSO released their One Year of Ska four-disc boxset that includes every song from 2018 alongside the MSO “showbag”.
“We’re bringing back the old showbags. You get a tea towel, a t-shirt, you get a badge, and a sticker and you may even get a bit of vinyl as well.” Jump online now to get yours, but be warned they’re selling fast!”
Melbourne Ska Orchestra launch their One Year of Ska box set at Max Watt’s on Friday May 3. Prior to that, they’ll perform at Bluesfest on Saturday April 20 and Sunday April 21. Head to respective venue and festival websites for tickets.
