The Bamboos (funk Band) - Biography

Biography

The Bamboos were formed in 2000 in Melbourne Australia by NZ-born guitarist Lance Ferguson. The initial line-up consisted of Ferguson, Ben Grayson on Hammond organ, Stuart Speed on bass and Scott Lambie on drums. The band's first live performances were at The Night Cat in Fitzroy.

In 2001 The Bamboos released their first self-funded 7" 45 RPM single containing the songs "Eel Oil" and "Blackfoot", earning them international acclaim from UK funk DJs Snowboy, Mr Scruff, Keb Darge, Patrick Forge and Russ Dewbury.

Their next single, "Tighten Up"/"Voodoo Doll", was released by Kenny Dope (Masters at Work) and Keb Darge (Legendary Deep Funk) on their U.S-based imprint Kay-Dee Records.

The Bamboos were signed by UK imprint Tru Thoughts records in 2005. The debut album Step It Up was released by Tru Thoughts in the UK and by Ubiquity Records for the US territory.

The second Bamboos album, Rawville, marked a stylistic move towards more vocal-based material and featured guests Kylie Auldist (Aust), Tyra Hammond (NZ), Fallon Williams (US/Aust) and hip hop MC Ohmega Watts (US). It was described by UK-based IDJ magazine as "arguably the best funk album of the modern era". Freestyle Records's Adrian Gibson named The Bamboos "the best new Deep Funk band in the world today".

In 2006 and 2007 The Bamboos toured Europe and the UK, performing at venues including the Jazz Café in London and countries including Germany, Spain, Ireland, Italy and Belgium.

In 2008 The Bamboos released a live album, Listen! Hear! The Bamboos Live!, compiled from shows during a week-long residency at The Metro Theatre in Sydney.

Kylie Auldist's debut solo album for Tru Thoughts, Just Say—The Bamboos Present Kylie Auldist was released during this year. The Bamboos also recorded music for the multi-platinum million-selling Nintendo Wii video game, de Blob.

The band's third studio album, Side-Stepper, was released later the same year. The album maintained a higher proportion of vocal tracks and included several songs heavily influenced by the Northern/Motown Soul sound. Kylie Auldist had by then joined the band officially, though Side-Stepper also included contributions from guest vocalists Megan Washington (Australia), Paul Macinnes (Sweden) and TY (UK). Side-Stepper featured the singles "King of the Rodeo" (with accompanying video clip) and "I Can't Help Myself". The album received airplay on national youth radio station Triple J, Mark Lamarr and Craig Charles's BBC radio shows, including the Funk and Soul Show, and was Melbourne community station 3RRR's "album of the week". It was also a feature album on Melbourne's PBS 106.7FM and The Sunday Age named it "album of the month". The album peaked at the #1 position on the Australian iTunes Plus R&B/Soul Top Albums chart.

The Bamboos were included in The Age's "Top 100" list of influential people in Melbourne for 2008 and their "Can't Help Myself" song was nominated in the Blues & Roots Work of the Year category in the 2010 APRA Awards.

The band has performed at events including The St Kilda Festival (2010 Headliners), Byron Bay Bluesfest, Womadelaide, Meredith Music Festival, Falls Festival, Golden Plains Festival, the West Coast Blues & Roots Festival, the Sydney Festival and Tropfest, and have appeared on the ABC TV show Sunday Arts. They have performed as a backing band for international artists including: Eddie Bo (US), Syl Johnson (US), Joe Bataan (US), Eddie Floyd (US), Betty Harris (US), Alice Russell and The Quantic Soul Orchestra (UK). Their music has been featured in Grey's Anatomy as well as Ugly Betty, Underbelly, Bondi Rescue and Packed to the Rafters.

In 2012, the band released their fifth studio full-length, entitled Medicine Man.

The Bamboos released the free four-track EP Live At The Metro through their Facebook page in November 2012.