GOMBO
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GOMBO

Perth, Western Australia, Australia | INDIE

Perth, Western Australia, Australia | INDIE
Band Alternative Rock

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"A tounge in cheek look at life"

If you think a two piece feed is something you buy from a fast food chain after a late night out, then think again.

Perth Alternative rockers Gombo are bringing their half of a musical two-piece feed to the Prince of Wales Hotel on Saturday and punters can be guaranteed drumsticks - minus the chicken.

Just of the back of a second placing in the iconic Gozzy Rock battle of the bands competition, Gombo will join Perth psychobilly outifit Blazin' Entrails for a night entitled Two-Piece Feed, a massive double EP launch for both bands.

Growing up in Bunbury and playing at the Prince of Wales Hotel throughout his youth,
Dillon said he was excited to return to the venue and joked he hoped it would give his band a 'homeground advantage'.

Pour Money at Your Feet is the tounge in cheek title of the band's debut EP four track EP, centred around taking life a little less seriously.
"Alot of people revolve their lives around money- our EP is about not taking life too seriously and stressing too much about money" Dillon said

Dillon was first introduced to music by his parents but has his brothers to thank for both his alternative leanings and the band's name.
"My brother started playing the guitar and naturally, because I wanted to do whatever he did, I started guitar lessons." Dillon said
"The name Gombo actually came from my brother, who had a sponsor child of the same name.
"One day Gombo ran away from his village, so we almost called the band Waiting for Gombo, but it ended up getting shortened to Gombo."

Dillon said crowds should be entertained on Saturday as he, drummer Paul Southern and bassist Marco Cilli took to the stage. - South Western Times


"The Music Industry in WA hasn’t got a clue"

Gozzy Rock 2011 came and went…and are we any better endowed with the musical throng from Western Australia?

There definitely were a few unexpected pluses, there was a lot of shit and the so called ‘Music Industry’ who judged the competition are out of their tiny minds!

It’s no wonder there isn’t really a music scene over here.

It’s no wonder that people in WA can’t wait for bands from anywhere else to come here and play.

It’s no wonder that bands with any credibility actually want to play here. Let’s face it, the only reason that overseas bands come to WA to play is for a holiday…for the sun…there may be other reasons, but the point I am making that there is no music scene to be proud of, and it’s down to the music industry people that allow outfits to shit outside the pan.

Anyway…Gozzy Rock…there were 30 bands that were reviewed, and 16 went through to the second round. Then, there were 4 heats with 2 bands going through from each, which means that 8 bands make the final.

The judges had their 8 bands for the final at the Centennial Pioneer Park amphitheatre Saturday 26 February, from between 1pm to 8pm.

Stillwater Giants won with Gombo coming second, and The Kings and Sons won the encouragement award. I don’t know what the encouragement award shit actually is, but I’ve got some encouragement for them…GIVE UP BEING IN A BAND! …God they’re shit…but it’s not their fault. Of course it’s their fault for being shit, but it’s the people that put them through…as I might have already mentioned…are out of their tiny minds.

The Kings and Sons went through the second round heats along with Jake and the Cowboys. They played a 20 minute set and it felt like Julia Gillard had just read War and Peace to me…it seemed to drag out forever. They went on and on and on…

There was absolutely nothing to these bands…utter shit. The two bands that went through were the wrong two bands. Pound actually looked like they meant it. I would call The Cunts and Sons contrived, but they are beyond contrived…believe me. On the other hand, Pound have got great catchy tunes with real meaning. They looked comfortable on stage and played great songs that sounded original, with of course, influences that are shoved in here and there. They were a memorable band…with memorable songs…with memorable stage persona.

For Pound not to go through…I mean, I just don’t think the Judges got it right on the night.

On the night when Gombo played, there was a band called Hey Hurricane and Buffalo Everything. They were both different genres but they both optimised live guitar music.

Hey Hurricane weren’t the greatest band I’ve ever heard, very, very far from it. But they were memorable. They had 20 minutes like everyone else, and they really grabbed the bull by the horns and went for it. They reminded me of The Libertines. HH didn’t care if anyone was even watching, they just bulldozed their way through the songs…all be it they were bulldozing with a lawnmower, but they were bulldozing…unlike most of the other bands in the competition.They even had some young girls at the front dancing, and trust me, it doesn’t get better than that in Gosnells in the middle of the week.

Buffalo Everything, were great musicians with good songs. They didn’t go for it in a way that Hey Hurricane did, but they didn’t have to. They were sort of a heavy Jamiriquai…which was great.

These bands weren’t in the final, but Jake and the Cuntboys and The Kings and Cunts were. I don’t mean to keep abusing them but they were truely awful…if you were there…I mean it’s not funny…I’m now on medication because of it.

But there were other mistakes by the judges in the other heats, too.

Although, they did get it almost right in the final. Gombo were and are fantastic, and in my mind they were the best and should have won. The music is clever, sharp…and you didn’t know what was coming next…really good stuff.

They’ve been together for about a year, I think. I advise folk to go and see them…I’ll let you all know soon.

I did speak to someone at Gosnells council who was involved in Gozzy Rock 2011. And I did ask why The Kings and Sons were put through and she said, “I think the judges were looking for something different.”

After laughing, I mentioned that this was incredible.

I have been watching and writing about bands…from all walks of life for a few years now, which doesn’t mean that they were shit, and I don’t have a right to force my musical opinion on anyone, but I said to the Gozzy Rock spokesperson that they were shit. And she paused…and whispered to me, ” I thought they were shit, too,” and then giggled.

The finalists were Wrongtown, Gombo, Ticket for Two, Here Come the Cavalry, The Kings and Sons, Jake and the Cowboys, Between Oceans and Stillwater Giants. As I said, Stillwater Giants were ok, Gombo were fantastic and the rest were…hugely forgetable.

OK, now for the bands the apparently professional bands that played at Gozzy Rock 2011.

Optamus headlined, and they were fresh sounding.

They have a quality sound…and what I mean by that is they sound really professional. They’re a hip-hop band. And they obviously have their influences, as do we all. White rappers, may take some influence from Eminem…but I am just guessing of course. They do sort of fuse Rhythm and Blues with a modern flick to it.

Hip-hop comes from a working class, lower class background. I know it’s changed, but these ‘wannabe urbanites’ come across like most other bands that I’ve seen in Western Australia…contrived.

Don’t get me wrong, they sounded OK, and they performed good, but as I said before, Gombo were the best band on the day. But as Optamus went into the third song…it was just boring, with no real quality in the songwriting. Maybe I’m just not getting it.

And if you look at the promo pictures…you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say that these middle-class lads are trying to look like working-class herberts. The music sounds like it, too. The Libertines have a line in a song that says, “Poor men dressing like they’re rich…Mugs, rich men dressing like they’re poor…Oh my God, White kids talkin’ like they’re black…”, I think you get the gist.

I don’t mean to have a go at them , but this whole Gozzy Rock farce has really got to me this year…it’s just sending out the wrong message, so I guess I’m laying into anyone who was involved in it. Optamus aren’t half as bad as I’m making out, really.

They’ll be playing alongside the Chemical Brothers soon, at the Future Music Festival at Joondallup. There’ll also be Pendulum and Mark Ronson, so they’ll be hanging with good ‘middle to upper class’ company.

City of Gosnells Mayor Olwen Searle said this year’s bands were fantastic and the judge’s scores were all very close.

“At the end of the heats, only eight bands could make it to the final, which is set to be a great celebration of youth and WA music,” she said.

This is Gosnells, love. This isn’t a celebration of anything. It was advertised as a drug and alcohol free one day festival, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but…rock will be dead if these things are taken away…I mean, there wasn’t even a Bogan in sight.

Maybe next year they should just cancel it…oh…who am I kidding…I ‘ll be there, going on about a couple of bands that I like, slagging off the rest of them, and moaning that I can’t have a beer watching bands outside in 38 degrees heat.

by Wallace McTavish

- Ozzie News


"Gombo 'Pour Money At Your Feet' EP Launch"

Every now and then a local live show rolls along that inspires have what acoholics refer to as a 'moment of clarity'. History is made and the show will be talked about for years to come. The Gombo EP launch was one such show.

The secret is finally out for Gombo as the trio pulled off a set for the ages. Dramatic monolougues and giant face stunts only compliment the rip roaring performance of what must be one of Perth's shining lights of potential. Fresh from riding in the Melbourne Cup, talent-packed Ryan Dillon belted his lyrics with a tone that is unique, boredering on genius. As for the music, picure Tool collaborating with the divine intervention of Lano & Woodley. Crowd favourites The Money Tree and Leadfoot were present, though to pick a standout track is impossible, all were brilliant. Its the certain 'je ne sais quoi' that Gombo have that surely make them the band to watch.

SIMON HOLLAND

- Drum Media


"GIGNITION"

Gombo, were instantly enjoyable with addictive grooves and soaring melodies. It is quite frankly remarkable that frontman Ryan Dillon has room for internal organs with all the talent crammed into his tiny body switching between vocal styles with ease.

Snappy drumming and funked out bass lines has the crowd rocking before seamlessly shifting emotional counterpoints and providing complexity and depth to the tunes.

SIMON HOLLAND
- Drum Media


"THE BROWN STUDY BAND CD LAUNCH"

For the first act of the evening, Gombo hit the jackpot. A nearly full room is hard to come by for an opener but Gombo were incredibly well recieved. The three-piece fielded applause for their mixed bag of alternate rock. The vocals were one of the more surprising features of the set, sounding like Brian Molko but then offset by a rockier bed of thick bass and screaming guitar.

We may expect interesting things as Gombo continue to develop their sound. The group could benefit from an added element or instrument, to widen the scope of their creativity because they appear to be set on experimenting with style. Overall it was a perfect match for the nights proceedings and more than any headliner could ask for in terms of getting punters in early.

_LAURA GLITSOS
- X-Press


Discography

Pour Money At Your Feet (EP), 2010
Next Trick (EP), 2011

Photos

Bio

Theres absolutely no need for smoke and mirrors around Gombo to try and maximise their mainstream appeal, because thats absolutely not what theyre going for. This is not music for the passive listener who just wants pop choruses as background noise while theyre at work... this is music to snap you to full attention and bring your brain to orgasm.

So its a thinky thing Gombo have going on: clever and tech like Mr Bungle, heavy yet weightless like Tool, and playful and weird like Ween... music fastidiously written to challenge its players and their audience alike.

Debuting with Next Trick, Gombos introduction to the world is part laboratory / part garage - science and art colliding in lascivious ways.

And while it is quite pointless trying to explain adventurous or unpredictable music in words, Next Tricks lyrical mentions of pulling a rabbit out of nowhere are fittingly descriptive of Gombos musical sleight-of-hand. Trickery abounds as the song scurries through a twisting and turning rabbit hole racing towards an uncertain end.

Which is a fun place to start.

And Gombo really are just getting started. Based in Western Australia, the band is in the middle of nowhere, beating a new path to somewhere.

For themselves and for people that like their music, Next Trick is Gombo testing the infinite waters of possibility. And it can only get stranger from here...

- October and December 2010 Gombo also performed on Foxtel's television show the Couch on two separate occasions

- November 2010 the Perth release of 'Pour Money At Your Feet' was received by Drum Medias Simon Holland as a Rip roaring performance of what must be one of Perths shining lights of potential

- February 2011 Runner-up in Gozzy Rock 2011

- Currently 'March 2011' Tracks 'Moneytree' and 'Leadfoot' are ranked 5th and 7th on Triple J Unearthed National Metal Charts and 67th and 92nd on Overall Chart.

Band Members