Counting Blessings

There were a lot of new faces, voices and releases in recent rock history. For Bamboo, it’s been one triumphant year.

It’s a Tuesday night and Peligro is getting packed rapidly. It is perhaps no surprise to the popular hotspot, but it seems that people were arriving for a special reason.

“Bamboo’s playing,” someone says. Yes, the awaited show of the night is about to start. Onstage, the guys onstage are a dynamic force and their set commands everyone within earshot. Their vibrant set soon ends and, expectedly, the crowd asks for more. Obviously, no one can get enough of the charismatic group: frontman Bamboo Mañalac, bassist Nathan Azarcon, guitarist Ira Cruz and drummer Vic Mercado oblige to the barrage of camera phones clamoring for attention. The four declare that they have no complaints whatsoever. Ira concedes that they get really tired, but refuses to be burned out. “Physically tired, but mentally walang problema.”

What they are, actually, is grateful. It has been a tremendously exciting year for the band. They appreciate everything, Ira says: the good, the bad, the ugly, all of which somehow contributed to the success they have today. Bamboo mentions how in the past year, “Madaming pinagdaanan. We played the in biggest bands before. This year, it’s like we put 5 years [worth] in one year. Everything happened this year. You name it”
Everything included a triumphant debut album, the busy schedule dotted with packed provincial shows, radio hits, TV guestings, media interest and awards (they were big winners at the last MTV Pilipinas Awards as they took home the “Best New Group,” “Best Group” and “Best New Song” awards), criticisms and rumors.

If anything, this remarkable ride has “tested our brotherhood.” Nathan tries to illustrate their relationship by calling themselves a “military unit. Everyone has a role to play. I guard your back, you guard mine. Parang, ‘I won’t let you down.’” While the band protests to the term, they agree with the idea. “Walang iwanan,” Bamboo affirms. The statement gets a chortled exclamation from Vic, “Pero nung pumunta tayong Cebu, inwan nyo ako sa airport!” The comment elicits a round of laughter and jibes, a testament to the camaraderie that holds them together.

“We’ve been blessed,” Nathan muses about his band. The boys take a moment to exclaim how much the band means to each of them, with claims expressing that this is the band they’ve always wanted. Bamboo depicts how serious he is: “I’m already thinking 10 years down the line.”

The boys talk about the things they want to achieve: reaching the South East Asian market, going international, and even throwing in nation building in the mix. At the very least there is a second album, which fans and fence sitters are already watching out for. The band though are not fixating. “That will hinder our creativity, our thought process.” They refuse to be deterred from doing their best, just as how they approach everything, in songwriting and in performing, whether it’s for 20 or 20,000 people.

Looking back, Bamboo sums it up neatly. “It gives us the motivation to do better, as persons, as musicians.”

published in Preview, January – February 2005 issue