Thirty Horns

It could be an understatement to say that Nick Caruana, known as Nicky Bomba when fronting the 30-plus horn and big band players in Melbourne Ska Orchestra, is a very busy man. Despite the ever-buoyant tone in his eager voice, the multi-genre project-juggling multi-instrumentalist was burning the candle at both ends on one of his latest projects the night before our chat.

“I just wrapped up working on an arrangement but sometimes when I'm mixing stuff I always find something else to fix and, much to my detriment, I suddenly go, 'Whoa, it's four o'clock in the morning!'”

Having trod many of his own paths throughout the industry, Bomba started out playing in a swag of bands, often with his siblings, including brother Michael and sister Daniella, aka Mama Kin, and alongside her husband John Butler in his John Butler Trio. Bomba, after decades working with other musicians, soon came to front and drum for the Melbourne Ska Orchestra after creating it via a historic event more than a decade ago.

In 2003 the call-out to celebrate ska's 40th anniversary by getting the most number of horns on stage for an unofficial record was met with enthusiasm from Melbourne ska connoisseurs. The enthusiasm remained and the band was born, but Bomba says the size and nature of the group has meant an evolving line-up that has gradually started to settle into its own.

“There's people wanting to join all the time, I get emails a couple times a week asking me if there's a spot,” he explains. “About 70 per cent of the band is from the original line-up, and we have a lot of people that have other projects to do, but essentially we've still got everyone that wants to be part of the circus.”

Circus is one word for it; it's a gathering of like-minded ska fanatics for the band's live shows, film clips and even on commercial TV ads, where you'll spot The Best Things In Life Are Free backing an ad for FreeView Australia. Bomba reasons the main element behind all the happy mayhem is the elements that underpin the genre of ska itself and the band's efforts to better it.

“It is so good, it's got heaps of danger and heaps of fun,” Bomba enthuses. “What we're trying to do with the band is not just be a generic ska band. We do have the chance to say something new. Part of what it's all about for us is to take all the ska and reggae and swing and mix it all up, because that's how ska happened in the first place. That's how all musical forms that I love spawned, by a hybrid and the languages coming together. So it's important to us to have that colour.”

Good intentions aside, when it the time came to start work on their long-awaited debut album after years of sold-out shows and tours, any musician would be forgiven for experiencing some trepidation. But Bomba reveals it was anything but for his band of smooth men and sultry ladies.

“I don't think it was ever a frustrating thing for us to get stuff out at all. It was always a celebration and we never really thought that the record would be an unfeasible thing.”

“The actual recording of the album only took about two weeks all up. Ninety per cent of it is live. It's really the only way you can record a band that size. So we did a lot of homework, myself and the engineer Robin Mai, as far as big band recordings and how they were captured, and a lot of it came down to proper placement of the room microphones, and there's quite a science to that.”

The band of brass, woodwind, rhythm players, singers and even a steel drummer, are getting set for their Get Smart national tour, and there's talk of a documentary and, of course, a follow-up album. With that many players in tow, Bomba says some different opinions are inevitable, but as the leader he ensures that everyone is heard and comfortable in doing so, in the studio and on stage. After all, that's what ska is all about.

“It's like a ramshackle train that threatens to fall off the track but never does because everyone is a happy traveller,” he laughs. “It's difficult to get things up and running in the music industry so we appreciate it when things do come together.

“I've been playing in different bands my whole life and it's funny that this is the one that's getting any kind of traction. It would've been the last thing I thought. That's just the way the world works and it's a beautiful thing.”