The Bamboos

Australian soul ensemble the Bamboos moved beyond their initial stripped-down deep funk roots toward a bolder and more seasoned collective, raising production standards while landing domestic radio airplay. Their earliest 45s and 2006 debut Step It Up delivered old-school, largely instrumental funk that stressed cyclical grooves, minimalism, and analog recording methods. Over time the group collaborated with additional singers, most consistently Kylie Auldist, who contributed to every release thereafter. Albums such as 2010’s 4 wove in hip-hop, psychedelic pop, and film-score textures, while later projects including 2018’s Night Time People offered the band’s most broadcast-friendly material. With 2021’s Hard Up the Bamboos revisited their foundational deep funk approach.

Founding guitarist and member Lance Ferguson, who also records electronic material under the Lanu alias, launched the outfit as a quartet in 2000 for a run of shows at Melbourne’s The Night Cat. The original lineup featured Ben Grayson on Hammond organ, Stuart Speed on bass, and Scott Lambie on drums, delivering direct New Orleans funk modeled on the Meters. After those performances the Bamboos added a horn section of Ross Irwin on trumpet plus Anton Delecca on tenor saxophone and flute, while Danny Farrugia took over drums and Yuri Pavlinov handled bass.

Taking cues from Daptone founder Gabriel Roth, the band issued its first independent recordings as vinyl 45s that drew interest from Tru Thoughts. They cut their Tru Thoughts debut Step It Up in 2005; it surfaced the following year. Although largely instrumental, labelmate Alice Russell appeared on two tracks. Rawville followed in 2007, a far more vocal-oriented set that included rapper Ohmega Watts alongside singers Tyra Hammond, Fallon Williams, and Kylie Auldist. After touring with Auldist, Tru Thoughts signed her as a solo act. The Bamboos supported her on 2008’s Just Say: The Bamboos Present Kylie Auldist and also appeared on her live album Listen! Hear! Live!!! as well as the Northern soul-styled Side-Stepper, which further featured Melbourne vocalist Megan Washington and British rapper TY. Tenor saxophonist Phil Noy had joined by this point.

Their soundtrack work for the Nintendo title De Blob reached the widest audience once the game achieved multi-platinum status and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Additional placements appeared in Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill, Ugly Betty, Underbelly, and the film Crazy Stupid Love. The 2010 album 4 arrived with rapper Lyrics Born on one track and a stronger psychedelic dimension. Medicine Man, released in 2012, expanded the vocal roster to include Aloe Blacc, Tim Rogers, and Megan Washington alongside Auldist and Ella Thompson. The Rogers-led “I Got Burned” became the group’s biggest crossover radio success, peaking at number 14 on the ARIA Australian Singles Chart.

Fever in the Road, issued in 2013 on Ferguson’s Pacific Theatre imprint, featured vocals exclusively from Auldist and Thompson. Keyboardist Simon Mavin performed on the record before departing to concentrate on Hiatus Kaiyote; Luke Saunders replaced him. Following the success of “I Got Burned,” the Bamboos toured with Rogers, presenting both You Am I catalog arrangements and new material. The 2015 collaborative album The Rules of Attraction appeared on Atlantic, and the pair continued performing together through 2016. Ferguson issued the solo album Raw Material in 2017. After further personnel shifts the long-delayed Night Time People finally emerged in 2018. By Special Arrangement, an orchestral reinterpretation of Bamboos songs plus select covers, came out in 2019. Tenth studio album Hard Up had been slated for 2020 but, after live activity halted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, surfaced in 2021 once the band resumed the stage with two Melbourne Symphony Orchestra-backed performances. Returning to the group’s early raw funk aesthetic, Hard Up contained seven Auldist vocal features plus guest spots from Durand Jones, Joey Dosik, and Ev Jones.