Band name:
Skambomambo

Members and the instruments they play:

DerDUDE:
How did you come up with your band name? Does it have a background??
Skambomambo:
Well the first idea was Engineer Anal. It was some sort of Polish joke which I could not understand. I just imagined telling my friends and my mum, "I've got a great band, guess what we're called." Luckily I managed to turn the guys round to SKAMBOMAMBO. A little bit of ska and a little bit of mambo……… The name is a great name, it rhymes, a one word title, sounds like Chumbawamba, skambamamba and it does have the word SKA.

DerDUDE:
How would you specify your style as a ska band?
Skambomambo:
Our style? A bit of history will do here. I had never listened to ska before I landed in Poland. I just went around the clubs doing covers, the boring stuff like U2, Police etc. One club owner told me about a group of guys who had no vocalist and he would give us lodging etc if we played once a week for him, on condition that we played ska. So I spent a couple of days listening to Bad Manners, The Specials, The Skatellites, Selector, and of course I knew my Madness. That was it. I have been into ska ever since. SKAMBOMAMBO as a band has gone through many phases and it's line-up has been twisted considerably. It is a twisted mix of my own 80's pop, rock, punk and heavy metal upbringing together with younger energetic Poles who were bred somewhat surprisingly on bands like Madness, The Clash and the Cure. The fact that we started listening to roots ska and learnt about the two tone movement etc came up much later when some of our material had already been made. Our strongest points, I mean the songs that our audience most react to ranges from tunes like "Cool Ska ," rocksteady ballad type ska, to the distorted guitar upbeat ska like "Downtown," Our largest hits so far indeed include, L'onda Della Vita and Black Molly which is a ragtown track with a bit of Armstrong type vocal.

DerDUDE:
Which song would you suggest someone to listen to in order to get to know your music best?
Skambomambo:
Indeed any of the above four, starting with Black Molly.

DerDUDE:
Which ska band/personality influenced you the most?
Skambomambo:
Madness and Dr.Ringding plus the Specials, Skatelites, Bad Manners …

DerDUDE:
Apart from ska, what music style influenced you the most?
Skambomambo:
Definitely Funk, I play funk music with my other band AMBULANZA, definitely music with good lyrics, groovy rhythm …..i.e I will always love James Brown and Prince.

DerDUDE:
What message are you trying to get across to people with your music?
Skambomambo:
The message that we are all the same, love the same things, have the same fears.

DerDUDE:
Does ska have a political meaning for you, and if so what is it?
Skambomambo:
Probably it does, but this is what I am trying to do with my music, show that music is music and knows no borders. I sing in English, Italian and French and now I am trying to sing in Polish. Politics are shit and it's about people learning how to live together, share the good and the bad of life, so my ska will definitely never be politically involved. Of course there are scandalous things like Tibet and US Politics, Russian tactics, Religious conflicts etc. But if there is something that I feel like saying abo0ut such subjects I will do so elsewhere, my music is about having a good time, with a joke every now and then. For example, "Baby wanna go downtown, she wanna look pretty. She took the money out of the till and she'll go shopping all day until, all the money runs out dry." (Downtown) or "Black Molly, she went out with Buddy Holly, Dick, Dick, Dick Moby didn't like it no, no, there's gonna be a shoot out, before the dawn." Life's Like that!!!!

DerDUDE:
What were the best and worst venues you've played?
Skambomambo:
Best venues - Ukraine especially in KIew, in Kromatorsk and in Rivne. The audience just went wild. The worst venues……..so far have always loved the gigs. The worst gigs are when I am ill and cannot get my normal draft of cold beer.

DerDUDE:
How would you describe your audience?
Skambomambo:
A weird lot. I don't understand how they know the words to my songs, especially when they were not available on cds, when they are in a language they might not understand, but I respect them a lot. I love them. Mostly it's young teenagers turning into groupies who would follow us all around Poland If they could.

DerDUDE:
Which song do you usually play as an encore?
Skambomambo:
Definitely 'L'Onda Della Vita,' one of our oldest songs and the audience seems to be fascinated by the Italian Language. The other favourite is 'Oh Yeah,' where everyone can join in.

DerDUDE:
Have you got any weird touring experiences worth a mention?
Skambomambo:
Ukraine is a sweet but weird experience especially with the militia, their traffic police who will stop you as soon as they see a foreign number plate, and try to get some money out of you, although this is normally done in a very humorous way. One weird thing that comes to mind was when we were doing Gorlitz in Germany. As we crossed the border one of the guys jokingly told the police that I was from Al Qaeda. When the customs officer saw my passport, I had to explain that I was from Malta and that it is in the EU. They did not want to let me go, till they learnt that I was actually performing that evening. They followed me and did not let me out of sight, even when I needed to go to the toilet, till I started the gig. Once they saw me on stage they relaxed and returned with some local beer which we all shared after the gig. I decided to give them a geography lesson.

DerDUDE:
Which band would you most like to play with?
Skambomambo:
Manu Chau, Dr RingDing, and all the bands I mentioned above plus many others like The Toasters, Reel Big Fish, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Probably many others. We have had the pleasure of playing in front of Babylon Circus and the Rotterdam Jazz Ska Foundation and will never forget the experience.

DerDUDE:
I've always been interested to know how you deal with Nazi-Skins at your gigs.
Skambomambo:
Poland is a very sensitive place to be. One has to be very careful. The policy in most clubs is to just throw them out of they give the Nazi sign. I definitely will not tolerate such behaviour, so I just ask them to leave quietly even if I risk my own neck doing so. I'm on stage to make music, if they have some intolerance or cracked brain problem, they should go and do it somewhere else. It's not only racists and downright stupid, but it also shows a lack of respect for my band.

DerDUDE:
Which band or ska CD do you recommend (apart from your own) to the people out there?
Skambomambo:
At the moment I am tuned in to Giuliano Palma and THE Bluebeats, The Kooks.

DerDUDE:
Who, in your eyes is the "Godfather of Ska"?
Skambomambo:
Prince Buster? Well for me anyway.

DerDUDE:
Which ska site do you particularly recommend? What are your favourites?
Skambomambo:
Skip this one. I'm not big time on the net.

DerDUDE:
What's going to be coming up in terms of gigs or any other projects? Is there a new CD coming out?
Skambomambo:
Well our new cd has just come out, so check out our MADE IN POL-SKA album. We are recording 3 tracks in Polish this week. Then we'll be doing a grand tour in Poland. Hopefully go to Europe and hopefully you can catch us there. We are also working on new stuff, for if things go well, we'll be back in the studios by September.

DerDUDE:
A bit of space for your own comments and anything else you want to add!!!...
Skambomambo:
Well I've written quite a lot. How many Polish bands do you know? Try us out.

Stay Rude.
Mario

DerDUDE:
Thanks a lot for the long and interesting interview!