Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
Join Cheryl Lee That Radio Chick on Still Rockin' It for news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
What are they up to at the moment? Let's find out .......
Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
What has Wally Maloney from Melbourne Ska Orchestra been up to lately? OR MSO's Global Journey
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musician
Melbourne Ska Orchestra electrifies with their cinematic new single "Walla of Jericho" and prepares for a mammoth global tour supporting their upcoming album "The Ballad of Monte Loco." Trombonist and tour manager Wally Maloney takes us behind the scenes of this explosive ARIA award-winning collective that has become one of Australia's most beloved musical exports.
Emerging from Melbourne's vibrant ska scene in 2003, this "super group" united the city's best ska musicians into what was initially planned as a one-off celebration. What began as an annual event gradually evolved into the powerhouse ensemble we know today. Maloney shares fascinating stories about juggling 26+ musicians across international tours and the Orchestra's remarkable journey from local favorite to global sensation.
The conversation delves into their groundbreaking "One Year of Ska" project that earned them the 2019 ARIA for Best World Music Album - an incredible feat where they released one track every week for an entire year. Using what Maloney describes as a "Motown Model," they created 52 diverse tracks spanning classic ska covers, TV/movie themes, and original compositions. Their new music takes an exciting turn, blending spaghetti western cinematic elements with their signature ska sound, while "Walls of Jericho" tackles timeless themes of conflict with an undercurrent of hope.
As Melbourne Ska Orchestra prepares to tour Australia, Japan, and Canada, they promise the same infectious energy and fluid stage presence that has made their live shows legendary.
What have MSO been up to lately? Let's find out!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
that Radio Chick Cheryl Lee here. Welcome to the Still Rocking it podcast, where we'll have music news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians and artists.
Cheryl Lee:The explosive ARIA award winning Ska Juggernaut that is Melbourne Ska Orchestra returns armed with a cinematic new single Walls of Jericho alongside the announcement of a mammoth global tour headed up by the energetic Nicky Bomba Melbourne Ska Orchestra never fails to deliver, and today we are talking to Wally Maloney who, amongst many other duties, also plays the trombone. To catch up on podcasts from other favourite artists, simply go to thatradiochick. com. au. You're with Cheryl Lee that. Radio Chick and I'd like to welcome into the Zoom room today Wally Maloney from.
Wally Maloney:Melbourne's.
Cheryl Lee:Ska Orchestra.
Wally Maloney:Thanks for joining us, thanks for having me.
Cheryl Lee:Well, you've got lots of exciting things on the horizon, but let's start at the start. What instrument do you play in the orchestra, Wally?
Wally Maloney:I play trombone in the orchestra. I also take care of a bunch of the other kind of managerial jobs as well. I've been with the orchestra since it started in 2003. Wow, and it's been a journey, a big journey.
Cheryl Lee:So you're multi-skilled, you multitask.
Wally Maloney:Yeah, I multitask quite a lot of things I also take care of. I've been the tour manager for the last 10 or more years. Take care of getting everyone to the right place at the right time.
Cheryl Lee:That would be no mean feat with, at times, up to 26 different members.
Wally Maloney:That's right. That's right. Sometimes, if we're overseas, it might be dealing with more people because we'll get additional players in different cities. We always take on a few people, so yeah, jesus that is a job and a half.
Cheryl Lee:My next question was how long have you been with?
Wally Maloney:them, so you've been with them since inception.
Cheryl Lee:That's a lot longer than a lot of marriages. Well done.
Wally Maloney:Well, thank you. Yeah, like I said, it's been a long journey. Nobody expected it to end up where it is now.
Cheryl Lee:Tell me the story of how you got together with these likely lads and stayed.
Wally Maloney:Well, going all the way back then, back to 2003, in Melbourne there was a pretty, I guess, thriving ska community. There used to be kind of regular ska events. There used to be a thing called Ska Bar it was the first Thursday of every month at a pub that no longer exists, and so there was a good group of bands around at that time. There was probably, you know, 10 or 15 bands circulating around the ska around at that time. There was probably you know, 10 or 15 bands circulating around the the ska scene at that time in melbourne. In 2003 they all got brought together to kind of form a gigantic super group. So they got all the horn players from different bands, they got rhythm section from different bands and and nikki came in to um to be the kind of master of ceremonies and then take care of, you know, making sure that everyone's moving in the right direction. Great, big celebration.
Cheryl Lee:I love that term. I mean super group, so you're like a super orchestra.
Wally Maloney:I guess. So yeah, my band at the time was called Trojan Horns. I know that other bands that got kind of combined and amalgamated into Melbourne Ska Orchestra were I thinking back a long time ago. There was a band called 99% Fat Commissioner, corden Boy, scar Loin Groin, there was Bomba and a few other kind of smatterings around of different bands that all kind of combined together.
Cheryl Lee:So you're like a big conglomeration, like a big conglomeration.
Wally Maloney:And then over the years kind of first 10 years we only played like one show a year. And then over the years kind of first 10 years we only played like one show a year we did the first show and it was amazing. There was, you know, queues going around the block at the Gershwin Room in St Kilda, which was at the time one of the coolest venues around. We did that first show as a kind of tribute to 40 years of Ska, because around 1963, there was a big hit song by Millie Smalls called my Boy Lollipop.
Wally Maloney:Yeah, there was a big hit song by Millie Smalls called my Boy Lollipop yeah, which is kind of the first you know real big song to make it out of Jamaica to bring that kind of sound to the rest of the world.
Cheryl Lee:Sort of kicked everything off, didn't it?
Wally Maloney:Yeah, it sort of kicked everything off. It kind of also coincided with a bunch of other kind of things that were happening that helped to spread that sound around the world. So there was a lot of Jamaicans from moving to the UK, bringing the music with them, which would eventually lead to, down the line, their children picking up those songs in the late 70s, early 80s and coming up with that kind of two-tone second wave of the star in the UK. So like Madness and the Specials and that kind of thing.
Cheryl Lee:You are listening to Still Rocking it, the podcast with Cheryl Lee. I'm going to play you the new songs later, but for now the one that started it all my Boy Lollipop, millie Small. Back to speak some more to Wally from Melbourne Ska Orchestra very shortly. . Melbourne Ska Orchestra's got two things to celebrate Firstly, a brand new single Walls of Jericho and then a big tour. We're going all over the place.
Wally Maloney:But let's talk about the single first, because it's actually got quite a powerful message hasn't it.
Wally Maloney:Yeah, it does. Wars of Jericho will be the second single that we're releasing, ahead of a new album that we've got called the Ballad of Monte Loco, which is due to drop in a couple of weeks, which is going to be amazing. We've been working really hard on it. We've kind of delved into this kind of cinematic spaghetti western world where we're combining together this guy and Walls of Jericho is kind of a bit more of one of the kind of more contemplative songs on the album and, yes, the bit more of a uh, one of the kind of more contemplative songs on the album. And yes, the theme of it is is very much, without getting too kind of currently political. There are themes within this song that just, unfortunately, seem to resonate over and over and over again. There's, you know, the futility of war and, yeah, the things that people do to each other, but it's combined together in a way that's kind of, you know it gives hope.
Cheryl Lee:Exactly, yeah, yeah, so did Nicky write that one.
Wally Maloney:Nicky wrote that song. That one was one that he kind of had in his back pocket. So when it came to us putting together the songs for the album, it was like I've got a perfect one to slot in there.
Cheryl Lee:I think he said that it had been brewing for a while and it sort of seems like good timing. You know, wherever you live in, the world at the moment is very uncertain and we're all a bit worried about what's going on.
Wally Maloney:Yeah, like I said, it's unfortunate that this theme could have easily happened in any generation and unfortunately it's happening again in our generation.
Cheryl Lee:So it's good to have a song that recognises it, but also has that hopeful side as well. Yeah, yeah, good luck with the new single and the upcoming release of the new album. The album's called the Ballad of.
Wally Maloney:Monte Loco, you've got a corresponding tour.
Cheryl Lee:And you're going to All over Australia, Japan and Canada. It's a biggie.
Wally Maloney:It's a biggie. Yeah, We'll be taking off for Canada in a couple of weeks. Good to get back there. That'll be our first time there since 2015. It's a little 10-year reunion back to Canada and we're playing a few of our old haunts along with some new ones, which is going to be great. There's some really wonderful shows to play in Canada. It'll be great to be a part of that. And then, when we get back, we're going to have a week off and have a rehearsal and then get back out on the road and go all around Australia.
Wally Maloney:We'll be covering, I think, every state.
Cheryl Lee:You're going everywhere, man.
Wally Maloney:Going everywhere, man, that's the one.
Cheryl Lee:So get onto the Google-o-meter. Check out when Melbourne Ska Orchestra are coming to your town www. melbournescarorchestra. com for the. Adelaideans, Friday, September the 12th, and at the Gov have you guys played at our Gov before.
Wally Maloney:We have. We love the Gov. We've played at the Gov a number of times. Well, most of the times that we've come to Adelaide we've played at the Gov, which is great, and it's always good to be back. It's a great venue and a really nice team to work with down there, so they always take care of us, and I like how the stage has got that kind of curve so you're kind of completely surrounded by the audience. Yeah, we engulf you, yeah.
Cheryl Lee:I think last time I saw you in Adelaide was actually at Hindley Street Music Hall.
Wally Maloney:That's right, yeah, yeah.
Cheryl Lee:Still rocking that podcast with that radio chick, cheryl Lee. Here it is, the Walls of Jericho, the second taste of the band's forthcoming new album, the Ballad of Monte Loco, following on from the group's 2024 upbeat track, john Wayne, which we might listen to a bit later. Back with Wally Maloney after this Looking at the stage?
Wally Maloney:are you in the little orchestra configuration at?
Cheryl Lee:the right of me, or are you on the stage, Karen? And I'm moving around with the effervescent Nicky Bomber.
Wally Maloney:Well, I'd like to say a little bit of both. We've got our stage positions, but we're also very prone to drifting out of our sections and across to the around the stage and into the audience Quite fluid. Quite fluid. Yeah, we can definitely move in and out, in and around the stage. You know sometimes duck off backstage, come out the side around the top, run around the front of the venue, run through the crowd, pop out the back door.
Cheryl Lee:Go to the loo get a drink.
Wally Maloney:Yeah, I mean, sometimes, you know, we put on a long show, yeah you do, and it is very, very energetic.
Cheryl Lee:You've got to see it, guys. Don't dilly-dally, get onto the Google-o-meter. So you guys have had such huge success over the years and but huge success over the years, and Australia should be very, very proud of the Melbourne Ska Orchestra. But there's one thing that you guys did that absolutely blows my mind. Just one, yeah, and obviously it blew other people's minds as well, because it won the Best World Music Album in 2019. But the compilation album One Year of Ska, which saw you guys release a song every single week for a year Like that is 52 tracks. How did you manage to pull that?
Wally Maloney:off. I remember it well because every Friday morning I'd be frantically putting the vinyl touches on everything, getting up at 5 o'clock in the morning so I can just put the little bits and pieces on the track before it releases at 9 o'clock in the morning. It was great. It was a great experience. You know, we kind of went into it.
Wally Maloney:We had a game plan when we went in, so we cut it up into kind of sections for like, okay, well, let's do four albums of 13 tracks each album, which if you total all that up it comes to 52. So that's clear for the year. And from there we kind of just broke it off into chunks. We started off doing like ska classics, kind of like the book of covers that we would like to show people to introduce them to ska just lots of songs that we love and know. And then we went in and did an album of TV and movie themes, which is also part of the genre.
Wally Maloney:So you know, it was big back in the day that ska bands in Jamaica would do renditions of the latest you know TV and movie themes of the movies that were around at the time.
Wally Maloney:So there was like versions of James Bond, guns of Navarone, bonanza, magnificent Seven. Those were songs they did at the time and we did our kind of updated 2018, 2019 versions of that. So we've got like Game of Thrones, star Wars, Curb Your enthusiasm, narcos a whole bunch of our ska versions of a bunch of you know, beloved TV and movie themes. And then we got into originals town. So the last two albums were originals and that's where it got really kind of fun and interesting. So you know, once you've done about 20 original songs, at that pace we kind of used up all of our usual fallback things that we'd go to. So we were just stretching out and going all different kind of directions and working out what we could do musically and we got a lot of great tunes out of it it what we could do musically and we got a lot of great tunes out of it.
Cheryl Lee:It was a great experience of working. That is no mean feat.
Wally Maloney:Towards the end. It was definitely a very I guess kind of like Motown model. We had set up a studio and Nicky was basically living at the studio. We'd have people tracking rhythm section in one room, people in another room writing lyrics for a different song, people recording in horns for a different song in a different room just doing this kind of revolving door of getting all the bits and pieces we needed together to make it work.
Cheryl Lee:You are listening to Still Rocking it, the podcast with Cheryl Lee. What an amazing achievement. Here is one of those TV and movie themes now it's the Pink Panther theme and then we'll be back to say farewell to Wally Maloney from Melbourne Scar Orchestra. Are those albums available? Individually or do they need to be bought as a quartet of albums?
Wally Maloney:Those are available, of course, on all the streaming services as either their albums or as individual songs or as the whole compilation together. Or we will be travelling around. We still have some old-fashioned CDs, which is a box set that we'll still carry around with us because, I mean, it was quite a big thing and even though not many people use CDs anymore, this is a box set of four CDs. You can whack it in the car. We've got days of listening, yay.
Cheryl Lee:Congratulations on that. We wish you all the best with the new single, the new album, the tour. We look forward to seeing you down the front at our town very soon.
Wally Maloney:Great, great, looking forward to it. It's going to be great to get to Adelaide again. Adelaide is such a great city for us, always so good whenever we go to Adelaide. We've been to Adelaide enough times that we've got our own little special routine. We know which places to go Before the show. We're going to go down to this place and have a little something to eat. It's really nice to be in adelaide I agree with you, but I'm biased.
Cheryl Lee:Safe travels until then and we shall see you friday, the 12th of september we'll be there and it'll. Be great thanks once again for uh doing this interview and and uh helping spread the word no, thank you, and it's lovely to meet you and I look forward to seeing you when you come to town.
Wally Maloney:Excellent.
Cheryl Lee:Enjoy the rest of your day.
Wally Maloney:Thank you, you too Bye-bye.
Cheryl Lee:Still rocking the podcast with that radio chick, cheryl Lee. Let's go out with the first single from the album Ballad of Monte Loco from last year, the upbeat track John Wayne. you're with Cheryl Lee, that radio chick. Thank you so much for joining me on the Still Rocking it podcast. Hope to catch you again next time. Get out when you can support Aussie music and I'll see you down the front.