Tell us about your new single/ album/ tour?
We have just released our second album SIERRA KILO ALPHA so we are in the middle of taking this sweet boat to many different places. First up Australia then we head head to London and Edinburgh.The new single FUNKCHUNK is doing great and there is areal connection happening with the crowds.Lots of fun and mayhem.
What’s your favourite work at this point in time?
Well all the songs are like children really, you plant them,nurture them and see them develop into smiling energies. At the moment ESCHER from the new album is putting a big smile on my dial. Captures a lot of the new energy that the orchestra is about.
How would you describe your sound in food form and why?
Our music is like an international exotic array of dishes that blend old school recipes with new ingredients sourced from deep in the jungle. Nice served with a South Australian Pinot.
Tell us a quick, on the road or studio, anecdote.
Touring with this band could be a logistical nightmare but it actually works out quite fine. Extended family vibes…however trying to fit everybody into a small bus is tricky, especially when you end up with extra peeps who want to continue the party after the party. We have some chronic snorers so they have their own wing of accommodation. Dean, our sax player, a health and fitness nut, has us doing yoga at 7 am every morning regardless of bedtime. He’s a hard taskmaster but the results are encouraging.
What, or who, inspires you?
Apart from Dean, our sax player? We get inspired by everyday happenings really. There are so many stories that live within the humanity of the band and all the choices we make on a daily basis. A lot of our songs are about finding solutions to human struggles, celebrating life and observing the world around us.
Which songs do you wish you wrote?
Golden Brown by The Stranglers, Popcorn by James Brown
What’s next for you?
So many things on our plate. Continue this tour overseas, two more singles to release, putting together a documentary on the band, compiling the extra tracks we recorded on this album into a new cd, cooking lessons, abseiling, disco dancing and deciphering the signals we’re receiving from the deep universe.
What’s your scene?
It’s a happy Ska Reggaefied Scooter riding good energy vibe that moves people with the power of music. We’re also heavily into landscape gardening with an oriental twist.
UPCOMING DATES:
Saturday May 28 – Max Watts, Melbourne – with guests Kooyeh
Friday June 24 – Sawtell RSL, Coffs Harbour
Saturday June – Mullumbimby Civic Hall, Mullumbimby
Full tour details available at www.melbourneskaorchestra.
It’s been three years since Melbourne Ska Orchestra’s critically acclaimed self-titled debut launched, and last month saw their sophomore album SIERRA-KILO-ALPHA touch down in stores. [pullquote]“I’m pretty proud of where we are with this album,” enthuses Nicky Bomba. “There’s a presence and punchiness to it that makes us smile. To me, it’s mature songwriting, yet still having that element of sounding fresh, and that’s always a hard thing to do – I think we accepted the mission and delivered.”[/pullquote] The early word from reviewers is in – The Music declaring it their Album Of The Week (April 20, 2016) with Liz Giuffre describing the album as “Sonic escapism at its best.” While Blank Gold Coast & Tom Magazine’s Trevor Jackson called it – stating “It’s playful and catchy as hell, as good ska should be, but the MSO is more than just a big wall of sound paying homage to a genre. From the outset the band wanted to incorporate many other musical elements into their sound – jazz, funk and African rhythms amongst them. … Throughout Sierra Kilo Alpha the MSO is clearly honouring the genre’s legacy, yet they never lose their sense of fun in delivering the outcome.”
