Flame Trees

Let's cut to the chase right now: 2012 was a massive year for The Bamboos. The Melbourne collective, who have been around since Y2K, have long been recognised as one of our country's premier funk and soul acts, dropping classy studio LPs and delivering the goods onstage, anywhere from intimate lounges to large outdoor festivals.

But while the group had earned plenty of global respect and experienced many career victories, mainstream crossover success still eluded them. That was until Medicine Man dropped in June last year. The record introduced The Bamboos to a wider demographic, and more specifically a younger one, thanks to lead single I Got Burned, a liquid smooth cut featuring Melbourne rock icon Tim Rogers. It was the nonet's first charting song on the triple j Hottest 100 (#54) and has created more interest in the band than ever before. It's been a hell of a long road, but finally The Bamboos are getting theirs.

Lance Ferguson answers the phone at his Melbourne home studio in a relaxed and chatty state, surprising considering his admission that his partner's expecting their first child “literally any minute”. The Bamboos founder, guitarist and songwriter recalls his first encounter with Rogers while the two men were looping the country as part of the Big Day Out circus a few years ago; the taut, tattooed rocker fronting You Am I, Ferguson playing guitar with Washington. After seeing each other around the backstage traps they struck up a conversation and immediately hit it off, finding a personal connection in between constant musical ravings, chatting like the audiophiles they are. By the end of the tour an offer of collaboration had been extended to Rogers for The Bamboos next record. He was immediately interested, leaving the New Zealand-born Ferguson to put together the necessary framework.

“When it came time to do the record I felt that I didn't have a musical vehicle for Tim from the outset, and it was sort of halfway through the process of making a record and it felt like the [album] was missing a certain something and I wrote I Got Burned after a recording session.” Ferguson put together a “bad vocal demo” before sending the track over with a message to manipulate as needed. Rogers didn't want to change a thing. “For me that was immensely validating because I look up to someone like Tim Rogers as a songwriter, so that was really cool.

“It was a very quick sort of process,” he continues, “and I knew right away that this was the song that would really suit Tim's whole vibe and voice. That happened halfway through and it was completely unexpected, and it ended up being the single off the record that spoke to people more than anything else, so it's weird how these things turn out.”

On paper it almost seems like the ultimate odd couple – the scruffy rocker with the stylish funk band. However, it's clear that Ferguson isn't interested in musical boundaries or operating in an expected way. With Medicine Man, all he was focused on was the individual tracks and making sure they stood up on their own merits. And listening to the record, the results speak for themselves.

“I really came into that album going, 'I just really want to write some good songs', and also perhaps involve some of my friends, and it just really felt like all of the collaborations on the record were just natural and genuine progressions, but we were already in an embryonic state,” he explains. “And just the conversations I had with people, like I spoke to Tim and said we should do something, and I obviously already had a relationship with Meg [Washington] and she was definitely up for doing stuff. But it felt like it was all very natural, it wasn't a case of me calling my manger and going, 'Get this guy'; it was more organic and I feel a lot more genuine.

“It wasn't convoluted in that sense that I wanted to make an album aimed at some demographic and I needed certain guests because it will get me these [fans] – it was really unlike that. I go into these albums to try and write some songs that I feel are cool and are saying something and have some sort of emotional integrity or whatever. But I wasn't thinking of any of that in the genesis of these songs, it was just, 'Let's try and make some music that means something'. But at the same time I'm really glad that the album was a success that it was but I just don't ever go into it with a contrived notion of expectation.”

Let's be clear right now – The Bamboos have long had impeccable pipes in their ranks; Australian/Samoan Kylie Auldist has been fronting the band since 2006, while newest member Ella Thompson jumped on board in 2011, just before the Medicine Man machine kicked into action. But with more guests on this latest long-player than ever before, Ferguson has been able to shine a fresh light on The Bamboos. He says that every great vocalist he's worked with he's watched from afar, and all the ones he loves have one thing in common – an intense persona.

“I love singers that come out and do their thing in an unapologetic and unabashed way,” he says. “Tim Rogers is Tim Rogers, and he comes in and he owns it and he makes it himself. That's what I look for in any vocalist. So when I come up with [an idea] for a song I hope that someone with a strong enough personality will be able to come in and make it their own and also take my ideas and push them to become something that I never dreamed of or expected. And people like Tim Rogers and Megan Washington and Aloe Blacc; their sound is so signature that they're the kind of vocalists that are able to do that just by being themselves.”

This forthcoming tour is billed as 'Tim Rogers and The Bamboos', but when Time Off spoke with Ferguson he was still unsure as to the exact role that the You Am I veteran was going to play. Some guitar work hasn't been ruled out of the equation. But he was clear in saying that The Bamboos weren't going to act as a backing band. These will be structured shows, built around vocal rotation, with all hands on deck; just with a little more rock star firepower than usual.

“It's always exciting because you never know where it's going to go,” smiles Ferguson, genuine anticipation flowing through the phone line. “But if you do it with someone who's strong with their own musical identity you know it's going to go somewhere with conviction – they'll take it where they want to take it.”

The Bamboos and Tim Rogers will be playing the following dates:

Saturday 23 February - Perth Festival, Chevron Gardens, Perth WA
Thursday 28 February - QPAC, Brisbane QLD
Friday 1 March - Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 2 March - Leongatha Memorial Hall, Leongatha VIC
Thursday 7 March - The Hi-Fi, Sydney NSW
Sunday 10 March - WOMadelaide, Adelaide SA