About Bamboo the Band

About Bamboo the Band

If you are also a fan of the rock band Rivermaya, you'll know that the enormously popular Bamboo Manalac fronted that band in the 90's. Rivermaya is credited with changing the entire soundscape of the Philippines music industry. And while the media often compares the sound of both bands, Bamboo's bassist Nathan Azarcon who was also a member of Rivermaya, firmly states Bamboo has a totally different sound. In fact insists, not only is it a "better band", but the "best band he has worked with so far." He and Manalac are childhood friends. When Manalac left in 1998 because he just wanted to do something different, Azarcon soon left too.
After 4 years, Manalac and Azarcon once again caught up with each other. Azarcon introduced him to Ira Cruz and drummer Vic Mercado. On their first jamming session together, they knew they had a great sound in the making. The camaraderie between these four is hard to miss. Especially between Manalac and Azarcon.
Bamboo released their debut album As The Music Plays in February 2004. The response was more than gratifying. The album achieved not only double platinum status, but became the biggest selling album by a group in the Philippines for that year! The album also walked away with numerous awards at AWIT Awards, NU107 Rock Awards, and of course MTV Pilipinas 2004, proving their appeal to fans and critics alike. Their next album, Light Peace Love, consisted of ten songs of differing moods and subjects, which is a pretty amazing achievement considering the album only took 3 months to record. This album has a softer sound with both it's lyrics and delivery. For this album they added more strings and a piano - even a trumpet.