Bamboo is marching to the beat of his drum

MANILA, Philippines - It’s a frenetic afternoon as rehearsals and setup are in full swing, t-minus an hour before the unveiling of this year’s three new Axe Black men. Unfazed by all this is Axe Black’s main man Bamboo, strumming chords casually in between hair and makeup, conversing at a personal level with the staff and crew, no small talk. Here’s a veteran performer, former and founding front man of some of OPM’s greatest bands Rivermaya and then Bamboo, and since 2012, a solo artist while looking after the next wave of OPM as a mentor for reality TV show The Voice, revving up The Voice Kids Season 3. We caught up with Bamboo on the stripped down, back-to-basics appeal of his latest work, how he’s seizing the Internet, learning and then bending the trappings of celebrity, and what lies beneath the deeper undercurrent of just going with the flow.

SUPREME: We couldn’t help but notice your evolving new look since going solo.

Bamboo: Initially, there was an unconscious effort to clean up better when I did my first music video after leaving the band and going solo. No Water, No Moon — I had slick hair and all — that album was a search to rekindle the joy I had of playing music again. “Bless This Mess” is me just having fun again. I figured it out eventually and now it’s just me in a black shirt with holes again.

What’s the story behind the live set feel of your latest album “Bless This Mess”?

95% of “Bless This Mess” is vocally live. The first song, Nothing like you, was recorded live. We ran it straight through and I was gonna do the dub of the vocals again but after hearing it live, it was just too good. As I recorded, I was going to tweak a note to make it perfect but there’s something special about something real and enjoying the grind, the dirt, the imperfections.

How has it been like releasing a new album given today’s new music landscape?

I’m still figuring it out. With the technology available, artists can just put their stuff out and figure it out. The great thing about how music is produced these days is nothing is ever finished. You can re-do into different versions.  That’s what I’m doing now, focusing on the music itself and changing things up instead of promoting it.

To what extent did the Internet help you?

It opened up things I’ve defined for myself. When I started out with social media initially during my start at going solo, I tried to do everything — Twitter, this and that — and I felt spent when I tried to play the game that way. I figured out my online identity, which is also true to who I am. I measured myself with my own standards and how many likes or hits isn’t the measure.

Discovery of great artists in music, poetry, photography and visual artists is the best part. It’s selfish because it inspires me to keep pushing. Mainstream music these days does not interest me. It’s become 50 shades whiter than vanilla.

As a solo artist, how are you doing now?

I’m comfortable — as a performer, a songwriter, as everything, as just me. Not sure when the day came. What I’ve reached now is a maturity. From the people I’ve met, the people I surround myself with, it’s a different vibe and I put that in my work. The music affects my life and the life of the people who hear it. It becomes this whole different thing. I’m just willing to go through the motions without seeing the end game.

How has The Voice changed you?

I have mentored two adults and four kids. During the first season, I felt like I had to define myself through these artists and push my taste. Cause who would give an Ed Sheeran song, Give Me Love as a finale song when Ed Sheeran wasn’t even known here yet? Then I saw that the show isn’t the end game. As a mentor, I showed them it should just be a part of their journey; that win or lose, what’s important is they defined who they are.

I listened more. The kids — I never wanted the kids. But I was surprised I enjoyed it most because I connected with them. It wasn’t winning. Like J.K. Labajo, he makes me listen to stuff he’s listening to and he listens to good stuff. We’ve informed each other’s tastes.

Do you feel the need to communicate differently since you now speak to a bigger audience?

People may view me as more show business now, but nothing has changed inside. The Voice has only allowed me to show a different side of myself. Lyrically at some level, as I write poems for my music, I just stop and think there’s no need to complicate it if it hinders being understood.

This self-assuredness — what’s the secret behind it?

I’ve always had a drive. I get it from my support group, the people who love me. It’s where I get my strength. I know I have the softest of cushions to fall back on.

Photo by PATRICK DIOKNO

Produced by DAVID MILAN

Jacket by THE ARTISAN

and LYN SUAREZ