WHEN Melbourne Ska Orchestra band leader, Nicky Bomba, was plotting the group's ambitious year-long album project he kept coming back to Jamaica's famed sound systems.
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Back in the '50s and '60s sound systems were vital in the development of ska and reggae. Sound systems were makeshift concerts on streets or in dancehalls where organisers would assemble large stacks of speakers.
Over time rivalry between sound systems became fierce and in order to remain popular DJs promised regular new music, with acts writing fresh songs to perform on a weekly basis.
That's where Bomba's plan came in. Over the course of an entire year the Melbourne Ska Orchestra recorded a new song every week in their Collingwood studio ready for a 9am Friday release.
"We kind of adopted that mentality," Bomba says. "We thought of it that way. We're doing a gig on Saturday, or Friday, and we need to get a song prepared to go out on Friday morning.
"Sometimes it was down to the wire, sometimes it flowed beautifully. But everyone was just on call and by that time we'd set up shop in Collingwood, much like the Treasure Isle [sound system] in Kingston.
"People were coming and going and there was lots of late-night souvlaki and people sleeping in the studio."
It was a mammoth undertaking. Not only did the Melbourne Ska Orchestra have to complete fresh recordings each week for a year, Bomba had the logistical challenge of coordinating a 25-piece group.
"When you've got that many people it's like a military operation or like a soccer team," he says. "You've really got to think of it as a bunch of people you have to move en masse.
"We were writing stuff on the fly so it came down to who had an idea, who's going to develop it, and there's a core team and someone to manage the lyrics, then engineering and coordinating and catering too.
"That's was our biggest thing really. The guys eat a lot."
The result was the 52-track One Year Of Ska, which delivered the group their second ARIA Award for Best World Music Album last month. Half the record is a mix of ska classics and covers of movie and TV themes like Star Wars and Game Of Thrones, while the rest are originals.
For Bomba, who has previously drummed in the John Butler Trio and funk band The Truth, One Year Of Ska was among his proudest accomplishments of his 40-year music career.
"When you look at the body of work we did, and how it was put together and coordinated, it was an indication of the power of positive energy and love for the music," he says.
"It's understanding there is a lot involved and you've got to leave your ego at the door and put in time for the vision."
The Melbourne Ska Orchestra play the Cambridge Hotel on March 12.
