>Trouble: Everyone seems to like your record this side of the world, and it has come as a big surprise to us that a 45 of the quality of 'Eel Oil' has come out of Australia. How long have you guys been together?

>Lance: I put the Bamboos together in mid-2000. The Bamboo Shack label was started May this year.

>Trouble: Where do you draw your influences from?

>Lance: The Bamboos are heavily influenced by the work of the Funk originators from the '68-'73 time period. The Meters, James Brown, Eddie Bo etc - and also the music of people like Grant Green, Melvin Sparks, Jimmy Smith, Reuben wilson,Boogaloo Joe Jones, Idris Mohummad etc.

>Trouble: Where do you see your sound going in the long run? I mean, alot of people complain about the new funk not being progressive and is just retro.

>Lance: My motivation for starting Bamboo Shack was primarily to shed some light on the Australian Funk scene. We have some incredibly talented musicians and DJ's down here and I felt it was time to promote this. The idea of using the 7" format was inspired by the work of labels like Desco, Soulfire, Stark Reality etc. I enjoy the compositional challenge that the 45 presents - to come up with something succinct, immediate and memorable in a 3 minute or so timeframe.

>Trouble: What do you hope to achieve from the 45?

>Lance: The link between heavy funk and 'modern' styles ensures that there will always be an audience for it. When people see the band they are being entertained but are also hearing a veritable history of the last twenty years of HipHop. When we play something like 'Rootdown(and get it) some people think we're doing Beastie Boys. The actual sonic timbre of hard breakbeat drums is a sound that people are used to hearing - through HipHop, Drum+bass etc, so to take the music back to the source is not necessarily such a radical step. In terms of achievement I am happy just to be able to contribute - The process is the reward.

>Trouble: There must be a lively deepfunk scene in Australia?

>Lance: The scene here is small but appears to be growing again. It reached a peak in the early-mid nineties with the raregroove scene, but then drifted back. The new Deepfunk scene that is happening seems to be bringing people out again, and we get a great response when we play live. There is a regular funk night in Sydney (I don't have any names...), and here in Melbourne DJ John Idem runs Deepfunk Wednesdays at Cherry. The local response to the Bamboos 45 has been enthusiastic - with DJ's like Kano, Ennio Styles, Dean Smith and Dave Sinclair giving it serious play.

>Trouble: What kind of places are you playing live in?

>Lance: The Bamboo's play music to dance to - so we try and avoid any venue that has a policy of 'sitdown and politely clap after songs'. We like it best when everyone is getting down and having fun - it makes us play better. Deepfunk is dance music, and it should never be relegated to that whole 'museum piece' mentality. We mostly perform in Melbourne at The Nightcat in Fitzroy,and we launched BR-001 at Revolver Upstairs in Prahran.

>Trouble: Are you working on an album?

>Lance: There are no plans as yet for any long-players, I want to focus on featuring different Australian acts on a series of 45's.

>Trouble: Is there any chance of a Larry ellis style intro with digareedoo?

>Lance: Sorry, No Didjeridoo in the works - but expect some solid Horn-sections and scorching percussion on BR-002.