bamboo

Bamboo
Bamboo during a live performance
Background information
Origin	Manila, Philippines
Genre(s)	Rock, Pinoy rock, Alternative rock, Jazz fusion
Years active	2002–present
Label(s)	EMI Philippines, Inc.
Associated acts	Rivermaya Passage Kapatid Introvoys
Website	www.bandanatin.blogspot.com
Members
Francisco "Bamboo" Mañalac (Vocals) Nathan Azarcon (Bass) Ira Cruz (Guitars) Vic Mercado (Drums) Bamboo is a Filipino alternative rock band founded in 2003 by the former vocalist of Rivermaya, Bamboo Mañalac. Band origin Francisco "Bamboo" Mañalac serves as the band's frontman. Contrary to popular belief, the band is not named after him. According to Ira Cruz, the guitarist, the word bamboo relates to strength and durability with an island feel to it.[1] Also, it's very Filipino and Asian at the same time. Their first priority for a band name during 2000s was "Audio Barangay" which means "Audio Neighborhood" in English. However, they realized that its a bit hard to pronounce and it is not that catchy compared to just "Bamboo." They also dropped the name "Audio Barangay" because Audioslave was formed roughly the same time during their band's formation, to avoid confusion.[citation needed] Two of its members, Bamboo Mañalac and Nathan Azarcon, were formerly part of Rivermaya. The other two members, Ira Cruz and Vic Mercado, were former instrumentalists of another band, Passage. Ira Cruz and Nathan Azarcon were also former members of the band Kapatid during that time.[2] Four years after their departure from Rivermaya, Mañalac and Azarcon caught up again with each other, during which Azarcon introduced him to Ira Cruz and Vic Mercado. Music career Bamboo's debut album, As The Music Plays, was released in February 2004 where it received positive response from fans and critics alike. The album also won numerous awards at the AWIT Awards, NU 107 Rock Awards, and MTV Pilipinas 2004. Their second album, Light Peace Love, which was released in 2005, consists of ten songs with differing moods and subjects, and took only 3 months to record. This album has a softer sound with both its lyrics and delivery. For this album, the band added more strings and a variety of other instruments, including a trumpet. The band admitted that this album had a personal feel to it. They experimented with several new styles that may please new listeners, at the risk of disappointing fans of the more conventional rock of their first album. Their third album, We Stand Alone Together, was released in 2007. It contains revived local songs such as Buklod's "Tatsulok" and international songs such as Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" from different generations. It also includes bonus tracks like unplugged versions of their hit songs from previous albums such as "Mr. Clay", "These Days", and "Hallelujah". Once again, opting to do away with the conventional rock image that was attached to them , they produced sounds which were more jazzy than expected. Star Records--backed up by ABS-CBN TV Production and MYX--produced and created the official soundtrack for the tele-epiko "Rounin", wherein the title track “Argos” was performed by Bamboo. A new avenue was opened to the band, as “Argos” is said to be the band’s first venture to record a song for a primetime television show. It is also the first time for the multi-awarded band and Star Records to work together.[3] The band is also part of the “Days of Peace” Campaign by UNICEF with Gary Valenciano.[4] The band's Tomorrow Becomes Yesterday album achieved platinum status on September 28, 2008- two days after its release. Discography Albums As The Music Plays (2004)-Double platinum (a 2-disc repackaged edition was released in 2005) Light Peace Love (2005)-Platinum We Stand Alone Together (2007)-Gold Tomorrow Becomes Yesterday (2008)-Platinum Compilations Full Volume:The Best Of Pinoy Alternative (2005 EMI Philippines) includes As The Music Plays (Jam Version) Rounin OST (2007 Star Records) includes Argos Astig...The Biggest OPM Hits (2008 Universal Records) Singles Year Single Album 2004 Noypi As The Music Plays Mr. Clay Masaya 2005 Hallelujah Light Peace Love F.U. Much Has Been Said Truth Peace Man 2006 Argos Rounin OST 2007 Tatsulok We Stand Alone Together Probinsyana So Far Away 2008 Kailan Tomorrow Becomes Yesterday 2009 Last days on a Cruise Ship Awards Awit Awards[5] Won: Best Performance by a New Group Recording Artist - "Noypi" (2005) Won: Best Rock Recording - "Noypi" (2005) Won: People's Choice Favorite Song - "Noypi" (2005) Won: Best Performance by a New Group Recording Artist - "Hallelujah" (2006) Won: Album of the Year - "Light Peace Love" (2006) Won: Song of the Year - "Hallelujah" (2006) Won: Best Ballad Recording - "Much Has Been Said" (2006) Won: Best Rock Recording - "Hallelujah" (2006) Won: People's Choice Favorite Song - "Hallelujah" (2006) NU Rock Awards[6] Guitarist of the Year: Ira Cruz Won: Guitarist of the Year - Ira Cruz (2003) Won: Artist of the Year (2004) Won: Song of the Year - "Noypi" (2004) Won: Vocalist of the Year - Bamboo Mañalac (2004) Won: Drummer of the Year - Vic Mercado (2004) Won: Listeners Choice Awardee (2004) Won: Album of the Year - "Light Peace Love" (2005) Won: Vocalist of the Year - Bamboo Mañalac (2005) Won: Listeners Choice Awardee (2005) Won: Artist of the Year (2007) Won: Guitarist of the Year - Ira Cruz (2007) Won: Bassist of the Year - Nathan Azarcon (2007) Won: Drummer of the Year - Vic Mercado and Mark Escueta of Rivermaya (2007) Won: Listeners Choice Awardee (2007) Won: Best Live Act (2007) MTV Pilipinas[7] Won: Favorite New Artist in a Video - Noypi (2004) Won: Favorite Song - "Noypi" (2004) Won: Favorite Group Video - "Noypi" (2004) Won: Guitarist of the Year - Ira Cruz (2004) Won: MTV Ayos! Best Commercial Video - "Fiestamazing" (2005) Won: Best Cinematography in a Video - "Much Has Been Said" (2006) Nominated: Favorite Group Video - "Masaya" (2005) Nominated: Favorite Group Video - "Much Has Been Said" (2006) Nominated: Favorite Pop Video - "Much Has Been Said" (2006) Nominated: Best Production Design in a Video - "Much Has Been Said" (2006) 93.1 RX Year End Awards Won: Song of the Year - "Noypi (2004) Won: New Local Artist of the Year (2004) Won: Group of the Year (2004) 89.9 TM Year End Awards Won: Song of the Year - "Masaya" (2004) Won: New Local Artist of the Year (2004) Won: Song of the Year - "Noypi" (2005) SOP Music Awards Won: Strictly Alternative Category Winner - "Hallelujah" (2005) SOP Pasiklaband Won: Best Rock Band (2006) Won: Vocalist of the Year - Bamboo Mañalac (2006) ALIW AWARDS Won: Most Promising Entertainer (2006) Won: Best Major Concert-(Group) (2006) THE 2bU! CLICK AWARDS Won: Most Clickable Band (2006) Box Office Entertainment Awards[8] Won: Most Popular Recording Group (2007) Footnotes ^ "Parokya, Bamboo to rock NJ, NY this weekend". GMANews.TV (GMA Network Inc.). 2007-03-23. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/35492/Parokya-Bamboo-to-rock-NJ-NY-this-weekend. Retrieved on 2008-06-17. ^ Gil, Baby A. (2007-08-10). "Bamboo goes on tour". ABS-CBN News Online (ABS-CBN Interactive). ^ Glorioso, Bot (2007-04-19). "The sound of Rounin". The Philippine Star via ABS-CBN News Online (ABS-CBN Interactive). http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=74064. Retrieved on 2008-06-17. ^ Ayson, Jim (2007-04-19). "Days of Peace: Gary Valenciano and Bamboo sign up for UNICEF campaign". Philmusic.com. http://philmusic.com/main/content/view/114/7/. Retrieved on 2007-08-30. ^ "Bamboo humakot ng tropeo sa 2006 Awit Awards". ABS-CBN News Online (ABS-CBN Interactive). 2006-06-16. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/STORYPAGE.ASPX?STORYID=41890. Retrieved on 2008-06-17. (Tagalog) ^ "Bamboo wins 6 of 15 awards in the 2007 NU Rock Awards". Philippine Entertainment Portal (via GMANews.TV) (GMA Network Inc.). 2007-12-06. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/71683/Bamboo-wins-6-of-15-awards-in-the-2007-NU-Rock-Awards. Retrieved on 2008-06-17. ^ Jorge, Rome (2006-08-11). "Our MTV Awards champions". The Manila Times (via ABS-CBN News Online) (ABS-CBN Interactive). ^ "Vic, Kris, Claudine are 'Box-Office King, Queens'". GMANews.TV (GMA Network Inc.). 2007-03-01. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/32530/Vic-Kris-Claudine-are-Box-Office-King-Queens. Retrieved on 2008-06-17.