Lance Ferguson won’t tolerate wallflowers when he and his soul/funk band The Bamboos return to Sydney to ring in the New Year. The gig tops off what has been a very busy group for the group, who have been touring and playing live extensively to celebrate their 15 years in the music industry, and are currently working on a brand new studio album.

In this interview with Jackie Smith, Ferguson delves into why their music is loved worldwide, dream collaborations, and his admiration for a new generation of artists.

You’re performing at Circular Key on New Year’s Eve. What are you most looking forward to when returning to Sydney?

Well, for one, Sydney for The Bamboos has always been one of our most fun audiences to play. In the early years of The Bamboos we would always love to come to Sydney. It’s very much a party town for us and on New Year’s Eve, it’s gunna be more so.

But we’re recording a new album right now, so it’s gunna be great because we will get to road test a few new, brand new songs that we’ve never even played before live. We’re gunna be pulling out some music no one’s ever heard before … and that’s something I’m really looking forward to.

From those who haven’t seen you live before, what can they expect from one of your live performances? Will this gig, in particular, differ from your usual sets because of the occasion?

I don’t know that it will necessarily. We’re going to play some new material which is going to be [different] from our perspective, because it’ll be new music for us to play. But whether we play in a smaller venue or a festival, we do try and bring some kind of intensity whenever we play.

It’s definitely going to be a set for people to dance to – it’s kind of at the core of what we do when we play live – we’ll be hooking up with two … DJs too. I guess if I was going to say to someone who’s never been to a Bamboos’ show before, “Be prepared to not be a wallflower. It’s a non-wallflower event.”

What are some of your favourite songs from your back catalogue, and which ones get the best reception when performed live?

There is one song off our record called Fever in the Road, and it’s called The Truth. It’s a real slow, feel good … It starts with our vocalist Kylie [Audlist] on the piano, then at the end, it’s almost kind of a tornado of stuff going on, and it always seems to get a response.

But then, The Bamboos have been known for our live mixing, where we put songs together, and it’s a non-stop live mix … [That’s] always fun because we keep everyone dancing the whole time.

You’ve done a fair bit of touring and had a few live performances this year, with your 15^th anniversary celebrations, and appearing with Tim Rogers at Lands Lost Festival with Tim Rogers. What do you enjoy most about touring and performing live in general?

I’m in the studio at the moment doing our eighth studio album … I think the studio is one environment and the live environment another environment. [They’re] quite different ones for me in my own head. I’m right in that studio and pacing round and listening to stuff, trying to get stuff [as] imperfectly perfect as I can …

I equally love presenting music to people live. I could never just stay in the studio … We started out as a live band, so it’s at the heart of what we do. It’s always a real treat to be able to present new music to people, and have them react.

You’ve had a few line-up changes over the years. How has that affected the dynamic of the band, if at all?

Yeah, there’s been quite a few members through the band, off and on. I think one of the problems [is] that I really like to bring to the band people who are on top of their game with what they’re doing, but then what happens is people grow really amazing at what they do, become band leaders – or are already in amazing bands – and take off.

 [Ex-keyboardist] Simon Mavin was in the band for many years, and has gone off, conquered the world … and people like Ella Thompson – she’s got an amazing band called GL, and doing her solo stuff and stuff with Dorsal Fins.

People who are amazing at what they do [are] probably not going to stay in the band for long because they’ll end up doing their own thing, but I still want to work with these kinds of people because it’s a good fit for the band …

As you said, you’re recording a new album at the moment. How’s that process going?

It’s pretty cool. That whole process starts with me locking myself up in my home studio for several months, getting the basics of the record together, and now we’re actually recording the stuff in the studio with John Castle, who’s been my long-time co-producer and great friend.

We’re tracking chords, the whole band and putting that together. It’s nice to be out of my head, in my studio, and bringing music out to the band [to] see how they interpret it, see how they bring it to life. They always really do! Also, I’ve been writing a bunch of songs with Kylie Audlist, our vocalist. It’s great to bring it out of the shadows, and see if it’s worthy of anyone else.

I read that you recorded The Rolling Stones’ Can’t You Hear Me Knocking? How did that come about and what was that process like?

Yeah, that was about seven or eight years ago now. We got asked by that magazine [Mojo] – You know how some magazines came with a CD on the cover? Some still do. – and they were doing a Rolling Stones special and we were really excited to be asked to do that.

We decided to record a version of Can’t You Hear Me Knocking? because a lot of Rolling Stones music is soul music and specifically Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?, I could just hear it right away, that we could probably do something with that song. A lot of people liked it and we continue to play it in our live show even now.

What are some of the highlights and lowlights of your career so far?

The highlight for me? The Bamboos have played around the world in our time, and for me, being able to make my own music and travel the world and play to people is a big dream from the start … We’ve been to the States, the UK, all over Europe and Japan. That’s one of the highlights and a dream come true to be able to share music with people all over this planet.

In terms of lowlights, I don’t know. I feel like that dream come true of playing your music around the world feels like a gift. I feel lucky to be in this job. I don’t know that I can complain about too much at all.

How does an international audience compare to an Australian one?

Look, I can speak for the UK. They have a real appreciation of black music and jazz and soul and reggae. A lot of black music basically is entwined in their history. When we’ve played in the UK, because they had the heritage and appreciation of the roots of the music, where we’re coming from, people would light up with the sound. Over the last 10 – 15 years, it’s the sound of, what you would call, more raw soul music. It really has become [popular] all around the globe, and people come to Australia, on tours that we’ve gone to, usually they have seen us play, they have our records.

People generalise about what cities are like and we’ve played to really amazing and giving crowds all over the world.

You recently did a Q & A session with Harts. What was it like to be on the other side of things [asking questions as well as answering them]?

Yeah, we did this mutual thing where we asked each other questions. It was fun. I highly rate Harts. He’s an amazing guitar player, for one. He’s a young musician. Being on the other side of things – he’s in his early 20s – it was interesting for me to ask, see his headspace, and quiz him on a few things.

When I was his age – I’m a lot older than him now – I was not doing anywhere near what he’s doing. By the time he gets to my age, he’s gunna be absolutely star quality. It was definitely a thrill to get inside his brain.

I’ve done a radio show on Triple J [and] I’ve done some interviews, but it is always good to pick the brains of another musician, and see how they think.

How has the music industry changed over the years?

Well, a lot of people talk about the rise of streaming and all that, but, you know, … From my perspective, if someone comes through or comes up [and is] ridiculously amazing at what they do, it’s gunna strike a chord with people. The psychological aspects have changed, the way music is modified and what not. At the end of the day, when someone can perform live and blow people’s minds, that’s the way it’s always been. In some ways, it’s changed a lot but in other ways, it hasn’t changed …

Some of the technological aspects like Soundcloud, Bandcamp, where you can put your music, these are an improvement from back in the early years when I started making music. The only option was to put out a CD at the time. I started out putting out vinyl. That’s an advantage, [that] you can get your music out globally without any distribution channels. It wasn’t closed down, but it was harder to get in on.

You’ve done quite a few collaborative projects over the years, most recently with Tim Rogers. If you could collaborate with an artist you haven’t had a chance to yet, who would it be and why?

Right now, I would love to collaborate with Anderson.Paak. He’s a multi-instrumentalist and producer, and amazing vocalist from America. He’s involved in a few projects. He knocks me out. I love his music. I would definitely love to play with him, if I had the chance. Also Neil Walker.