It’s not uncommon for musicians and music journalists alike to fall back on the word “funk” when trying to describe a broad array of musical styles. Unfortunately, it’s also not that uncommon to discover that many of the tracks and bands that get labelled as “funk” only meet that description thanks to the most liberal of interpretations.
Melbourne-based “funk” band, The Bamboos, is an exception to that rule.
You would be hard pressed to describe The Bamboos as anything other than “Funk”. Reminiscent of the works of James Brown, The Meters and Eddie Bo, their musical stylings echo with the contagious rhythms, blasting horns and infectious drum breaks that were the trademarks of the 60’s and 70’s funk movement. Which isn’t overly surprising since that’s exactly the era that guitarist Lance Ferguson hoped to revive and emulate when he originally formed the group.
Since their inception, The Bamboos have established themselves as one of Melbourne’s “must-see” local acts. Apart from their numerous, highly acclaimed solo gigs, they have also managed to score a plethora of high exposure support appearances with the likes of Moloko, Dynamo Productions, Jazzanova and Derrick Carter.
This Thursday at Honkytonks, to help celebrate the long-awaited return of “Cocoa Butter” to Melbourne’s club-night calendar, The Bamboos will be educating a new generation of party-goers about the magic of raw “funk”.
In The Mix’s Capcoincidence managed to catch up with Lance Ferguson and took the time to quiz him about the origins of The Bamboos and the search for a definitive definition of “funk”.
ITM: How and when did the Bamboos form?
LF: I formed The Bamboos originally as a four-piece in 2001. I had been playing gigs with thrown together line-ups for a long time and decided it would be nice to assemble some of my favourite players into a regular working band. In 2002 we added a horn section and now vocals.
ITM: “Funk” is a word that currently gets bandied around a lot in music circles and it is often used to describe a wide variety of style (some of which, in my opinion, aren’t really “funk”). How do you define “funk”?
LF: I think ‘funk’ as word means a lot of different things to different people. When I think about Funk as a musical genre, I’m thinking about the style of African-American music that began around ‘67/68 in the U.S and continued in its original, but evolving, form up until the mid ‘70’s. Of course the rhythmic concepts of funk impacted on 70’s Soul, Disco, Boogie, Hip Hop, Jazz, Latin and Fusion styles also – but in terms of pure, hard un-adulterated FUNK music, I think ‘68-’73 is the golden age.
ITM: The deep funk scene in Australia doesn’t seem to get very much press coverage. How’s the scene faring at the moment?
LF: I’m not so sure that there is a Deep Funk ‘scene’ in Australia. The U.K Deepfunk scene centres around club nights featuring DJs playing only original super-rare and new-release Funk 45”s and this is something that I haven’t seen too much of in Melbourne at least – with the exception of John Idem’s now finished Wednesday session. In Melbourne we mostly play in places where DJs will play some Funk, but also spin Hip Hop/Latin/Broken Beat/House etc. I think it could be difficult to sustain a weekly club night devoted only to Deep Funk in Australia.
I would like to see some more live bands coming up who are into the raw sound…send me your demos!
ITM: How conscious was The Bamboos’ decision to play “funk”?
LF: I put this band together expressly to play this type of music. I have an outlet for the electronic music I produce with the Equatorial and Local People labels and so I don’t feel I have to cross over to anything else with The Bamboos. But even within this genre there is still room to explore styles like Afro-Beat, Boogaloo and Caribbean/Latin Funk etc.
ITM: What are the hallmarks of a great funk track?
LF: The 3 or 4 minute format of the 7” single means that a dope funk tune has to get to the point fast. I always listen for the way the different instruments lock into a groove, like in something like ‘Hook & Sling’ by Eddie Bo the way that the Guitar and Bass interweave to create a killer rhythm. Of course the way the track was recorded and produced has a big impact as well. Some of the super-rough 7”s can sound pretty thin and bad on a big P.A – I think the tunes that carry through always have a certain clarity in the bottom end which makes them get over in a club.
ITM: Considering you’ve got a seven piece line-up, do you ever find it difficult to get everybody in the one place, at the one time, for rehearsing/recording, etc?
LF: Organising and coordinating a 7-piece group is always going to be a challenge. Fortunately for me the guys are well into the band and always make themselves available for rehearsals, gigs and recordings.
ITM: Over the last ten years the club scene has become more and more dominated by DJs. Has the decrease in the number of live venues limited the opportunities available for groups such as the Bamboos?
LF: The decrease in live venues hasn’t really affected us because we always play at club-nights alongside DJs anyway. The nature of the music we play sits comfortably with DJ/turntable culture because of its links to Hip Hop sample sources and old-school breaks.
ITM: Your upcoming performance at Honkytonks also heralds the return of “Cocoa Butter”, one of Melbourne’s most popular and, until now, sorely missed nights. How important is “Cocoa Butter” to Melbourne’s music scene?
LF: “Cocoa Butter” is an institution. I played some of my first live gigs there back in the early/mid-nineties with funk and groove bands like Sassy’s Soul Principle and Compared To What. Cocoa Butter was always great in the way that it always featured a live band alongside the DJ line-up. Maybe most people remember it as a funk night – but Kano and the boys were always spinning Latin, Soul, Disco, Boogie, Hip Hop and fresh underground U.K sounds as well.
“Cocoa Butter” also provided a platform for up and coming DJs and performers to play the music that they were passionate about. People like Ennio Styles, Joey Vasquez, Spankie Hazard, Rama, Grantham Clayford , DJ A.R.T and Son Amada all played some of their first gigs there.
The Cocoa Butter Lounge sessions were the place where I was exposed to most of the music that has shaped my tastes to this day.
ITM: Currently there’s a lot of talk about the need for experimentation and progression in music genres. What sort of future is there for traditional funk? How do you keep it fresh?
LF: I think people appreciate good music when they hear it regardless of whether it is ‘old’ or ‘new’. When you are working and writing within a specific genre there are definitely some musical rules to abide by but I think we can also afford to stretch them a little. We like to work in the Hip Hop connection to the live shows with things like extending the drum breaks out and playing a few Funk 45 classics. To some younger people coming up a lot of this stuff is going to be real fresh anyway. If we can draw the links between the old school and the new, fill the dance-floor and perhaps educate a few heads along the way then I am happy.
ITM: Your release “Eel Oil” was well received around the world. What sort of doors has it opened for you?
LF: We sold most of the ‘Eel Oil’ 7”s to the U.K and received props from people like Keb Darge, Ian Wright, Adrian Gibson, Big Daddy magazine and Snowboy. Having a successful first release even at an underground level was good for us and since then we have put out tracks on Tru Thoughts (U.K) and Soul Source (JAP). I hooked up with Keb Darge when we were supporting him on his last tour and we ended up putting out a 45” on his and Kenny Dopes Funk label Kay Dee records. Because of their large distribution, this record has gone out to even more people and has been charted and played by people like Gilles Peterson, DJ Spinna and Mr Scruff.
As far as I know we still have an open invitation to perform at the Londons Jazz Cafe – so we’ll look at getting over there next year when the new album comes out.
ITM: How would you describe a Bamboos’ set to someone who has never had the pleasure of seeing you perform?
LF: Funk is first and foremost dance music. We always come with the intention filling the floor. Expect bass heavy grooves with stretched out drum breaks, blaring horns and dirty organ ‘n’ guitar. We always like to throw in a few classics into the set for the old school B-Boys!
ITM: What can we expect from the Bamboos during the next year (releases, tours, scandals, etc)?
LF: At the moment we are busy writing new material for the Bamboos album which should see a release early next year. It will include everything we’ve put out on vinyl and feature some special guest vocalists and musicians. We are also doing Russ Dewburys ‘Jazz Bop’ tour in November alongside The Quantic Soul Orchestra and vocalist Alice Russell.
Also, rumour has it, Keb Darge will soon be returning to our shores and we’ll be sharing the bill. Stay tuned….
The Bamboos perform this Thursday 16th September when Cocoa Butter returns to Open Sesame at Honkytonks.
