Tomas Olesen takes a listen to the brilliant new Bamboos album and asks a few questions of front man and producer, Lance Ferguson.
Any new release by the Bamboos is sure to get fans of their brand of antipodean neo-funk excited, but this is a milestone album. Those who have followed their fantastic run of 7”s and previous LPs on Tru Thoughts will know what to expect, Good King Wenceslas funk: deep and crisp and even.
This album may well be the one that will fling them into mainstream awareness though. They seem to have refined their sound to a point now where it is no longer so derivative of original funk. Listening to the Bamboos' take on music is like listening to funk and soul through a sampler in the hands of someone like fellow Tru Thoughts artist, TM Juke. In the same way that Mark Ronson condensed the sound of so much classic soul, funk and jazz on to Amy Winehouse's 'Back to Black', here the Bamboos have managed to condense everything that is fantastic about funk and motown records into a coherent whole that looks squarely forwards. It's all the killer with none of the cheesy filler.
The first thing that is always striking about The Bamboos is the drums. The drummer, Daniel Farrugia, is definitely one of their secret weapons and they play to this strength. Any band prepared to put out a 7” cover of the Winston's 'Amen Brother' must be confident that their drums are on point and in fact the drum break on lead single 'On the Sly' is reminiscent of the famous break of said record. 'Red Triangle' is instrumental and again the drums are just sublime: stylistically it sounds like Corduroy meets the Bar-Kays.
Lyrics Born appears on 'Turn It up' which is sure to sell some albums to a more traditional hip hop audience. Although it's a good tune, there is a partnership formed there that feels like it could be more fruitful in the future. 'Keep Me in Mind' does indeed keep me in mind, of golden era Curtis Mayfield! Kylie Auldist's vocals are particularly powerful on this track. In total she appears on 7 of the 12 tracks and it is perhaps Kylie who is the real difference this time around.
The Bamboos have always been a ridiculously tight funk band, and as they've matured they've grown into their sound: it's become less derivative and more their own. But it's now that they seem to have made Kylie a more official part of the band that their sound is finally complete. As such, this is also a complete album, and from the opening 'On The Sly' to the killer 'Keep Me in Mind', it's a triumph of real song writing and musicianship.
That they are exceptional musicians and write their own material should not even be a talking point, it should be expected of professional musicians. In this world of cynically manufactured and marketed rubbish, however, it is reassuring to find people still making music properly with no nod to what is supposed to be 'now' and in the process seeming all the more 'now' for their lack of pretension.
The first record I owned was Public Enemy's 'Don't Believe The Hype' 12". At that time It seemed like music from the far future. We instantly formed our own High-School Hip-Hop group. Even back then music seemed like the most important thing to me.
What sort of music do you listen to now? Favourite styles/artists. And do you perceive an effect of that on the music you make?
At the moment I am finding inspiration in all kinds of things. Musically I find it more effective to NOT listen to Funk/Soul stuff when writing songs for The Bamboos as I often come up with more unique-sounding material. While I wrote '4' I was listening heavily to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lalo Schifrin, Phoenix, Burt Bacharach, Just Blaze and Kings Of Leon's first album. My new solo record is equally influenced by Folk, Indie and ambient sounds as well as Electronica & Hip Hop
If you were stuck on a desert island for the rest of your life and you only had one side of one 12 inch for company what song would that be?
Harry Nilsson - 'Everybody's Talking At Me'
Are there any aussie artists you think deserve to be big in 2010, your fave unsigned/unknown?
As far as recently signed upcoming Oz artists I know that Washington is gonna be huge! As far as un-signed artists I really rate The Bamboos trumpet player Ross Irwin's new recorded solo material.
What things do you like most about being a musician?
Being able to travel the world playing my own songs to people is absolutely the best feeling for me.
What's are the worst aspects of being a musician?
I think it's mainly worse for the non-musicians around you. It feels to them like I never stop working but to me it's not work.
Lily Allen made a big deal about retiring from music because of illegal filesharing...how do you feel about it? As someone who seems very focussed on playing live, does it effect you, or is the focus on live a reaction to the lack of revenue from album/single sales?
It's next to impossible for music not to leak these days (especially when it is being promo-ed). Hopefully the more your music gets out there legally OR illegally it will still draw more people to the live shows which no-one can counterfeit. Youtube just isn't the same.
Where do you see music going? What are you looking forward to or dreading about the future of music?
Music has just opened all the way up. We can draw from anything and everything and it doesn't have to be branded as retro anymore. I always look forward to hearing people twist up the past to push music forward.
What has been your favourite gig you've played and why? Same question about gigs you've seen.
Headlining the St Kilda Festival on Valentines Day 2010 was massive. An impending storm, people as far as I could see and our lead singer giving the brawling mosh-pit a good telling-off!
The best gig I've seem recently was Rev Al Green @ The Palais in Melbourne. Now THERE is a showman!
A bit morbid maybe, but, what would you like as an epitaph?
"Here lies an Atheist. All dressed up and nowhere to go"
I'm not suggesting you're the kind of person who'd kill anyone but if you were to kill Lady Gaga how would you do it?
I don't want to kill her! ...I WILL kill all the members of Nickelback with a flame thrower though.
How do you feel about your new album in terms of what it means to you and how it compares to what you've done before?
To me it is cool because it sounds like it's an album by The Bamboos rather than being some non-descript Soul/Funk Record. Maybe we've finally found our sound at last. Someone once told me never to get rid of your cliches because they are what become your own style in the end. My band are pretty harsh critics on my songs and they seem to think it's the best album we've done if that's any gauge.
Any good anecdotes or disasters that happened during the making of the album?
At times during the making of this album I nearly went insane. That's what happens when you care too much. At least I have a decent soundtrack for my therapy sessions.
What do you think about the current state of music and where do you see it going in the future?
At any given point in time people are making music that you may love or hate. I am not feeling commercial R&B right now. Most of it is really annoying. It seems like all they play on my TV are songs with T-Pain guesting on auto-tune. Retail-wise soon we'll all be paying for subscription-based music services and that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. The way I see it going is that live music is going to just keep getting bigger and bigger. The Festivals have always been there but now they are just HUGE.
Which artist would you most like to collaborate with and why?
If I could collaborate with anyone in the whole wide world right now it would be someone like Feist. I like to be around people who are no-bullshit true song-writers.
What's the best and worst things about living down under?
Best: The Weather
Worst: It takes 23 hours to fly to London
It's just been British Pie week here, Aussie pies are particularly good...what's your favourite Pie?
I have recently started making my own homemade pies. Chicken & Leek is going strong. That doesn't mean I don't still hit the local bakery or the dreaded 7/11 '4 and 20' though.
What's your all time favourite bit of music equipment and why?
My Gibson ES-335 Guitar. It somehow always manages to make me sound like a better guitar player than I actually am.
When you get to the great gig in the sky who's going to be on the line-up?
Nick Drake, Miles Davis, Joy Division, Burt Bacharach, James Brown, The Stooges, Robert Johnson, A Tribe Called Quest, The Sundays, Marvin Gaye & The Smiths.
What one thing do you regret buying more than anything else?
A Roland JV1080 Synth (it ain't ever gonna be retro-cool)
What's in the pipeline for 2010?
June tour of Europe/U.K with The Bamboos, finishing my new solo album and taking more time out to visit my Mum.
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