There is always more fun to be had
Hot off the heels of a wild year touring in Canada and Australia, and Byron Bay, the Melbourne Ska Orchestra’s (MSO) Spaghetti Western wagon trail rolls on, and they’re bringing along the super deluxe edition of their acclaimed album The Ballad of Monte Loco with all the faves, plus a swag of brand-new tracks and honky-tonk renditions of MSO’s staples to Brunswick Heads. It’s braver, meaner and wilder than anything they’ve done before…
Seven spoke to MSO’s big voice Pat Powell in between Tassie shows last weekend, in the lead up to the Bruns show on Friday.
Born in the UK to Jamaican parents and living in Australia since he was 25, Pat Powell has spent decades singing funk, blues, reggae and jazz, and he’s one of the voices out front of the Melbourne Ska Orchestra.
Apart from the orchestra, what’s happening musically for you?
There’s a thing called ‘Riddim ’N Ting’, which I do once a month at a place called Miss Celie’s in Ashfield, Sydney. Then I do a blues, funk, jazz show with another band called James Ryan’s Funktet. I basically do tours. Funk, blues, reggae – everything.
How do you switch between all those styles without losing your place?
You leave home and you go there with that mindset in place before you get there. So I’m fine. A couple of the reggae bands might do two or three of the same songs, but generally speaking, everything’s different.
You began your life in the UK?
Yes, I did. Through no choice of my own.
Where would you have liked to have begun it?
Jamaica. That’s where my parents started. My dad went over first, my mother a year after him, and I was born a year after that.
Why did you come to Australia?
I came out here following my heart. A long time later, that didn’t work either. But it got me here, and I’ve had kids here, and I’m happy. It took me a while to settle and get to know the kind of people I wanted to deal with.
Are there any new recordings coming out for us?
Yes! It’s recorded and mixed, but not mastered. Hopefully I’ll drop something before the end of the year. it’s a band project that I’m driving. Just keep an eye on my socials.
What’s the Orchestra bringing to the Bruns?
We’re bringing up as many people as we can – somewhere in the region of 20. We’ll be having as much fun as we can. There’s new material, in keeping with the Spaghetti Western theme of the last album, The Ballad of Monte Loco. And things we’ve recorded that people may not have heard.
The logistics of traveling must be insane.
It is insane. Everybody flies. I fly from Sydney, everybody else from Melbourne, then we drive up or down the coast. The driving is kept to a minimum.
What appeals about performing with that big a group?
I don’t have to do everything. So it’s sharing. I like lead singing as much as backing vocals. You’ve got an instant party everywhere you go.
What gets you out of bed?
Life itself. I’ve got four great kids, a really great group of friends, and the musical fraternity is massive for me in this country.
Did the reality of teenage Pat’s life turn out how he imagined it would?
No. I wanted to be a drummer, and I wanted to be a soccer player. I wanted to kick a ball on Wembley turf, which I never did. But, I have performed at Wembley, as a singer. I got there, but not the way I thought I was going to get there.
Are you having enough fun?
No. There is always more fun to be had.
The Melbounre Ska Orchestra are playing the Hotel Brunswick on Friday – tickets can be found at moshtix.com.au.
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