On the Gold Coast leg of their national ‘Medicine Man’ tour, Lance Ferguson of The Bamboos sat down for a chat…
From unsung raw funk to three-time Aria award nominees, Melbourne collective, The Bamboos, have broken barriers and exceeded expectations throughout their twelve-year career. With five critically acclaimed albums to their name, the nine-piece outfit have made waves across the globe, effortlessly etching themselves into the core of mainstream consciousness.
“It wasn’t always this way,” Lance simpers modestly. “It’s been a big year!”
And big it has.
Oft alluded to as the ‘musician’s musician,’ Medicine Man has seen the group swap technically precise funk for dynamic melodies and catchy pop-hooks, pulling the rug out from under those who like to pigeonhole.
Featuring the gritty croons of Melbourne rock legend, Tim Rogers on ‘I Got Burned’, alongside guest vocalists Bobby Flynn, Megan Washington and musical chameleon, Daniel Merriweather, The Bamboos evolution in style and sound has far surpassed that of previous records.
“I’ve really tried to develop and improve my songwriting since our last release, and I think it’s starting to click,” Lance explains.
“We had a great team behind the record as well, that’s a huge part of it. I mean, there’s so many great bands out there who just aren’t being heard because of poor management or distribution, so we were really fortunate this time around.”
Packed to the brim with high-powered riffs, it’s easy to see why the groups ‘all killer, no filler’ release has resonated with a wider audience, picking up three Aria nominations along the way.
“We were up for Best Independent Release, Best Urban Album and Best Australian Live Act, which especially meant a lot to us, because we always try to put so much energy into our live shows. It’s something we really pride ourselves on,” Lance remarks.
“We’ve been making music for so long – the bands been together for over a decade – so it felt good to finally be noticed.”
Off the back of Medicine Man’s unequivocal success, the band are heading back to basics in the studio – setting their sights on even bigger things for the year to come.
“We’ll be recording a new album in May or June, which is exciting. Aside from that, we’ll be touring throughout the year, and heading overseas a bit later on.”
“Mostly, we’re just really excited to invest some time and get some new music into this project. It’s going to be fucking amazing!”[lightbox type=”image” title=”Pictured: Lance Ferguson” href=”https://gcmag.com.au/wp-content/uploads/lancefergusoninshot.jpg”]
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