I was lucky enough to have an interview (which consequently turned into more of a chat) with the Prince of Gore, Tomba. He reveals the rise of Alphamale Primates (AmP), the fall of metal band “Shabira”, some future performance dates and some more delightful information.

Huge props to Tomba for taking the time to be a part of this, as I’m sure many of his fans and the readers of EJ.com will enjoy reading this interview and getting to know him a little better!

Jack: So when did you first get introduced to dubstep?

Tomba: In 2005. It was with Borgore to be honest, we were at our local Tel Aviv bar and this DJ played dubstep and we fell in love, started skankin’.

Jack: Awesome, so when you heard it, did you guys instantly know you wanted to produce it too?

Tomba: No, we played metal at that time. Nah, sorry, hadn’t even played together yet, but it took awhile. We formed AmP as a beatbox group like 3 years ago, after me beatboxing and Asaf MCing in the car haha. Eventually it turned to a producing thing in late 2008. But asaf was mainly on the buttons. I only really started producing under the alias of Tomba a bit less than 2 years ago.

Jack: Right, because you and Borgore seemed to go on your own separate paths, was that a mutual decision?

Tomba: Erm yea. It’s less of a dramatical thing than it would seem, I just didn’t spend a lot of time on music since I had work (I’m a software engineer, coder or however you want to call it), so Borgore just continues alone. After half a year or so I realised I needed to do it.

Jack: So how did you first start producing, what equipment, software, set-up etc?

Tomba: Started on Cubase, and I have the same set-up I have till today. Except I changed the monitors, I had really shitty ones, but they sounded pretty decent for the price. Now I have KRKs.

Jack: Nice, and have you got any inspiration for your tracks, anything that influenced you and your production process. Maybe some of your metal roots?

Tomba: Well, life? There are so many factors influencing the work process of any artist, musician, painter or whatever. But musically, yeah I would say metal is one of the biggest. Also trance and DnB, but mainly metal.

Jack: Played for a band called Shabira am I correct?

Tomba: Yes, I formed it alongside the bassist Or and guitar player David, later we added Asaf as the drummer and had a couple of tryouts for vocalists, till Menny came along. But then after we recorded our first song, he decided he wants to be religious and left the band, which led to its end.

Jack: That’s a shame.

Tomba: Yeah, me and Asaf are still pretty pissed about it till this very day, I’m seriously telling you we would have made it.

Jack: Is there any chance of some sort of metal/dubstep fusion in the future?

Tomba: Well, Asaf and I have been thinking of a live act for a long time, also started to actually practice for it, but thanks to lack of time and now long distance since I live here in NL, it’s a bit hard to make it happen. But it will happen, for sure.

Jack: That’s awesome to hear. Are there any other future gigs or events your fans can look forward to?

Tomba: We gonna have an Israeli reunion in Belgium, at Turnhout in the 5th if I’m not mistaken. I have a gig in LA pretty soon as well, and planning on my UK tour this start of March and a Canada mini-tour end of March.

[Chit-chat removed]

Jack: Your music has been labelled as “brostep” sometimes, what do you think of that title?

Tomba: They can call it whatever they want, as long as they keep talking about it and I keep doing my thing. I would call it dubstep, but some people at dubstepforum would resent it too. But definition is just a thing to assist with communication, it’s more for other people than for yourself.

[Chit-chat removed]

Jack: Favourite dubstep artist?

Tomba: 16bit. No doubt.

Jack: Oh, why’s that?

Tomba: Well, they’re unique, and their sound level is the best in the biz, plus they’re aggressive yet so musical.

Jack: And what about more “mainstream” artists like Flux Pavilion?

Tomba: Flux is awesome, plus he’s funny as fuck in person. And he got those airy smashy snares everybody wants.

Jack: Haha, so nothing against the more mainstream producers?

Tomba: I got nothing against anybody but people who are against stuff.

Jack: Nice way of looking at it. So on to your sound, how hard is it get that metallic Tomba sound?

Tomba: Not that hard, you go to Massive, set OSC1 to 6, OSC2 to 6 and OSC3 to 6. Bam.

Jack: So with that in mind, how long would a production time be for a track, roughly.

Tomba: It varies between tracks, sometimes I get stuck on the smallest detail forever. Sometimes I finish a track in 2 days, but overall I finish the main part of the track in around 1-2 weeks. And then I leave it be, and finish it in stages when I’m stuck on other tracks.

Jack: Would you say you’re a perfectionist?

Tomba: Yes. So would my girlfriend. But seriously, you have to be one in order to produce music.

Jack: Right, so if there was one thing you could say to any budding musician, be it dubstep or metal, what would it be?

Tomba: Do your thing, always aspire to get better, and make sure you look back to your history, sides to your fellow musicians and forward to the future.

Jack: Awesome. So what was your hardest track?

Tomba: I guess my first tune [Choke on Coke], I worked 3-4 months on it and wasn’t happy with it for a long time. I still think idea-wise it’s one of my best ones since I put so much thought into it. Sound-wise it sounds like shit.

Jack: In my opinion, the VIP was better than the original, sounded much more like the Tomba we know now.

Tomba: In my opinion as well, some people like the original better since it was less polished I guess, more RAW. Well I think as you progress you tend to lose rawness, since you study the sound and perfect it more. But I see nothing wrong about it, it’s not soul music, it’s electronic music. It should be carefully planned and orchestrated murder.

Jack: Haha, dubstep summed up that.

Tomba: Yeah.

Jack: What was the best country you’ve performed in, and worst?

Tomba: Worse was London, England. Was booked for Dubfreaks, 2nd edition. Walked in, got introduced by Integral, which has a huge voice, everybody was cheering. Got in the venue, 30 minutes later venue shut down.

Jack: Ouch, why?

Tomba: Some underage girl tried sneaking in 40 grams of mephedrone and, straight after, some guy got stabbed. Yeah, that was my British debut. Great venue and crowd though.

Jack: What about your best country?

Tomba: Israel, still. Most insane crowd ever, in my EP release party. One of the most epic parties I attended. Not even as DJ, Inspector [Dubplate] and Funtcase just murdered it and people were mushing everywhere on my set.

[Chit-chat removed]

Jack: What hardware do you use?

Tomba: I don’t use any hardware, strictly VSTs.

You may notice the interview is laid out strangely, but that’s just thanks to our tangents and random conversations. Blame Tomba, it’s not my fault he’s hilarious.

Plenty of news regarding Tomba, so here we go. Keep an eye out for Tomba’s two new releases: Jaws EP coming out on Dubline Audio and Brace for Impact EP [TBC] coming from Buygore. Also, he’s got a video competition on the way for his new track Brace for Impact (check out video below), so keep an eye out on his Facebook page.

Speaking of that, Tomba is promising to release a free song if he gets to 6,500 Facebook likes before January 20th. Not long left and only 320 more to go!

On a final note, to any venue directors, Tomba is still booking for his UK and Canadian tour in March – contact Tomba or check out is Facebook page for more details.

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