Dillon gives up the day job for real music

For Gombo guitarist Ryan Dillon, music is his life — really.

The talented young musician, who grew up in Bunbury, now lives in Perth and proudly lists music as his favourite pastime and day job.

‘‘I work at a music shop and I play music in my spare time,’’ Dillon said.

As well as learning a lot about music in a technical and practical way, Dillon admits that it also means he spends a lot of his pay packet on instruments.

‘‘Yep,I sure do,’’ he said.

‘‘But staff get discounts, which I make the most of.’’

‘‘When you’re in a band, you can easily justify it.’’

Every one needs to have a steady income, but next month Dillon and his band Gombo are set to ramp it up a few notches when they head off on their first East Coast tour, something for which they have been preparing for quite a while.

‘‘We’re all set,’’ Dillon said.

‘‘We’ve hired the gear and booked the accommodation — it’ll be a working holiday.’’

Dillon said the band had booked four gigs in Melbourne over five days and would spend their downtime spreading the word for the remaining shows.

‘‘It’s good to get noticed over there,’’ he said.

‘‘A band needs to play to new audiences— it stops you from becoming stale.

‘‘If you always play in the same places, to the same people, you never push yourself, never leave your comfort zone.’’

But before Gombo head east, they are warming up with a fewWest Coast shows inKalamunda,Albany, Geraldton and of course, Bunbury.

The band play at the Prince of Wales Hotel this Saturday night and describe their sound as Tool meets Bungle, but not as intense.

‘‘We try not to take ourselves too seriously,’’ Dillon promised.

‘‘We’re liable to do something silly on stage, you should come along and find out what that is."