The Bamboos’ Lance Ferguson on Australia’s Soul Scene

After 25 years at the helm of one of Australia’s most celebrated funk and soul outfits, Lance Ferguson isn’t just looking back, he’s looking around.

To mark The Bamboos’ milestone year, complete with a tour and deluxe compilation album, he has shared a list of Australian soul artists everyone should be paying attention to.

The Bamboos are hitting Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne next month for their 25th anniversary tour, and to help mark the anniversary, they have teamed with Impressed Recordings to release a deluxe compilation The Bamboos Best on gold marble double vinyl and CD.

Out now, the compilation features 20 of their best and biggest songs, including many that have been unavailable on vinyl since their original release, and one track appearing in the format for the first time.

“It’s an honour to release a compilation of a simply incredible, seminal band, influential to millions around the world, and – always – funky as all hell,” said Impressed Recordings Managing Director Luke Bevans.

Ferguson said it felt like a good time to take a look back: “We cherish those memories of music, shows, recordings, albums and tours – but above all and everything else – it’s all about the wonderful human beings around the world that we’ve had the great pleasure and honour to meet, perform with, play to and (hopefully) give something.”

At the same time, he said The Bamboos’ enjoy looking forward, and has provided a list of the best soul artists in Australia:

Love Music?

Get your daily dose of metal, rock, indie, pop, and everything else in between.

Renee Geyer

With a voice that could be both thunderous and tender, a fiery determination and an uncompromising spirit, the late-and-truly-great Renee Geyer was Australia’s very own Queen Of Soul. Songs like “I Really Really Love You”, “Sweet Love” and “Be There In The Morning” are quintessential examples of Australian Soul Music. One time Renee came by my studio to discuss a potential album project and we instead spent most of the time talking about Donnie Hathaway’s ‘Extension Of A Man’ album, I’ll always treasure that memory…A true legend.

Hiatus Kaiyote

Roaring out of the gate in 2015 with their debut album ‘Choose Your Weapon’, this four-piece Melbourne group (fronted by the irrepressible vocalist Nai Palm) have gone on to receive multiple Grammy nominations and the praise of Questlove, Prince, Erykah Badu, Pharrell Williams and many more. Hiatus seemed to reinvent the Neo-Soul/Future Soul genre overnight – even on a global level – and you can hear (and see) their influence worldwide on a whole generation of bands that have come down the line.

Mondo Freaks

This group is a 10-piece all-star superband featuring some of my favourite musicians, like Graeme Pogson, Luke Hodgson and Gillan Norman-Funk Gregory Jnr…they are almost like “The Avengers of Funk”. The Mondo Freaks sound borrows heavily from ‘80s Boogie, but they have put their own 21st century spin on things too. Make sure you check them out live and look out for the self-titled debut album in October.

Emma Donovan

Emma Donovan belongs to the esteemed Donovan musical family and her star has steadily risen thanks to the heart-felt authenticity she brings to every project she touches. Her voice is powerful and majestic – drawing on an endlessly deep well of emotion and strength. Her 2014 album “Dawn” with The Putbacks (one of my all-time favourite Aussie Rhythm Sections) is a real modern classic of the genre.

Laneous

I first heard Laneous and his band in Brisbane when they opened for The Bamboos many, many years ago. There was something excitingly non-conformist about his approach to song-writing and performance, it felt (and looked) almost like a Punk Rock band playing Jazz harmony-enriched Neo-Soul tunes. Laneous is a truly gifted musical force with an incredible voice and an utterly unique guitar playing style – he deserves to be a household name. Check out the heavenly last section drop on his tune “Hold My Hand” if you need any convincing.

Skylight

I’ve included this band here as an example of just how storied and rich the history of Australian Soul music is. Skylight, a group featuring musicians Bonnie Lever, Mike Clarke and Greg Cook put out the album ‘Skyhigh’ in 1974 and it features startlingly great versions of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin’ On’ and Donnie Hathaway’s “The Ghetto”. There have always been musicians in Australia with an ear to what is happening in music overseas, but impressively, more and more now we see them leading the charge rather than simply following.