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Joe Camilleri and Nicky Bomba.
The natural affinity between Joe Camilleri and Nicky Bomba is
apparent not just in their music but their general conversation;
they are both obviously enthused by their new project together
and have great respect for each other musically and personally.
The project is the CD 'Limestone', borne of the duo's mutual
Maltese heritage and love of reggae and released on their own
Transmitter label.
Although they have been well aware of each other for a number of years, the CD had a fairly long gestation period. "We could have made the record in a few days," explains Camilleri, "but it was just one of those things that took a long time because we've been doing other things. Bomba's quite busy and I've been busy with the four or five bands I've been involved in. When we had our very first recording date which was at Nicky's house, it was just the three of us - me, Ross Wilson and Nicky. It just turned out to be a beautiful day, a nice day at the office which I thought was fabulous."
Adds Bomba, "It was a pleasure to make, it really was. I don't think I've ever laughed so much making a record." The original name to be used for the project was the Newport Reggae Junkies but it was decided the individual names might work better. The pair plays most instruments, and the recording process is variously described as spontaneous and easygoing, practically producing itself.
"The backbone of reggae music is - or the reason we love it anyway - is it's got this essence that is not laboured over," says Bomba. "It captures the magic because it's like you're put on the spot so you have to come up with something because you consider yourself a singer and a musician and you think to yourself 'I've got the goods somewhere', and I think we captured a lot of that. A lot of the spirit is in there that turns us on about that type of music."
Camilleri approaches it slightly differently. "I always find it really difficult hearing anything that I do or I'm involved in because I'm really horrible to myself. I pick anything that I don't like. What I enjoy is the spirit - I think the songs that didn't belong to us, we put a breath of life into, for what it's worth. For our songs, I just know the spirit behind it, the intent behind it is right and it had nothing to do with any financial gain or someone saying 'Hey, do this and you can be number one on the jukebox'. Maybe that's what makes the record sweet, it was about making a record."
One of the covers is a version of Bjork's Human Behaviour, not necessarily an obvious choice for a reggae project. Bomba agrees but is happy to expand. "Obviously, that's not a reggae tune but that was a song that really turned me on as an observer of music and it was great to give it that respect. There was also the thing of whether I was doing it justice or not. I reached the point with that song where it was good, I think I sort of add something but there was a little bit of spark missing. I played it to Joe and he thought he'd put a Moog thing over it. For me, it gave the song an extra fifty percent to the point where it was a definite inclusion on the album. It's great to be able to do that when you've got your own studios, you can experiment with things."
For WOMAD, other musicians including Ethiopian singer and masinko player Dareb Desalegd will join Camilleri and Bomba. The collaboration is an inspired one as reggae's historic and spiritual roots are considered to be Ethiopian, not to mention the mutual Mediterranean heritage of all the artists. "There's a whole full circle thing that happens with that," says Bomba.
Joe Camilleri's final comment on live performance is likely to be an indication of what audiences can expect from them in Botanic Park. "I don't know why, I think it was the first time I saw The Beatles in a recording studio on TV and the guy was wearing a white coat, the engineer and whoever were all wearing white coats and I've been thinking that's the environment of making records, whereas when you go out live there's this other spirit that happens. The adrenalin kicks in and you can smell the blood."
Michael Hunter
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Joe Camilleri and Nicky Bomba play WOMAD Fri 10 and Sat 11 March, & 'Limestone' is available on Transmitter Records (MGM).
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