From The Mean Streets Of New York:
The Bamboo Kids!

By Jens

The Bamboo Kids is one the most talented punk/rock'n'roll combos in the recent years, and their outstanding selftitled debut album on Get Hip Records caught my attention with its superior display of influences from classic r'n'r to that timeless NYC punk sound of the late 70s. Lesser bands are hyped through various mainstream media like MTV, but few can touch Bamboo Kids' knack for turning out classic r'n'r tunes. I had a nice long conversation with Dwight "Dee" Weeks (vocals, guitar), Vince "Cheech" Cecio (bass, vocals), and drummer Chris "Rosie" Orlando about the secrets of this young comet in the world of rock'n'roll, believe me, these kids are goin' places!


LC: NY Press named you 'best unsigned band' in 2003, and even an underground icon like Maximum Rock'n'Roll dug ya, that must have been a great boast at the time?

Dee: I won't deny that having people say nice things about you feels good. It probably got us in some doors, too. There are a lot of good bands in this town, a lot of good people. I was really hoping for two years in a row until Rosie pointed out that we had been disqualified by signing and that that was actually better. That Rosie, he really has his head on straight.

Vince: It's always nice when people notice you and write about you. When they say nice things that's even better.

Chris: 2003 was good year for us. The Chinese New Year just passed. It's the 'Year of the Cock' we're hoping our cocks will be receiving the accolades this year.

LC: Then Gregg Kostolich (The Cynics and Get Hip Records boss) signed you?

Dee: I won't deny that either.

Vince: That is true. I think MaxR&R said we they should sign us, so they took the advice.

Chris: Yeah, Gregg signed us last March. Gregg started his label from the ground up with $500 in the 90's. We have a lot of respect for his work with The Cynics and the label he built. We played with The Cynics at our release party in NYC in March and they were great.

LC: That's a great catalogue to be a part of, even though it's more garagerock than punkrock...

Dee: We're a bit out of place, I guess, but the label is really just about good rock and roll. I never refer to The Bamboo Kids as punk - never. Always rock and roll. If it's possible to be more dead than rock and roll, punk has managed to do it. The word is meaningless now. I give you Good Charlotte.

Vince: Yeah, Garage rock, punk rock. I don't consider us either really. It's all rock and roll. But whatever, I guess Amazon and the distributors and record stores and all that need some way to label you when they put you on the shelf.

Chris: I think its great that Get Hip is expanding their tastes in terms of their release and it shows that rock and roll shouldn't be categorized.

LC: I'd imagine you guys got a huge record collection since I hear lotsa different influences. A track like 'She Got Off' is pretty Thunders-like classic NYC punk, while 'Caught In New York City' has a melodic Cheap Trick powerpop feel to it, and with 'Right On' I thinking of MC5 and Radio Birdman...

Dee: I actually have a very small collection, it just has a bunch of styles in it. I'm a big believer in ignoring genres. Every type of music has a few great artists. Those are the people I'm interested in. Why should I waste time and money on a B-level artists, when I can listen to a master? As far as influencing our music' The music that comes out of me is rock and roll along the lines of the bands you've mentioned. I love a good Renaissance mass, but I don't hear them in my head as I go to sleep. I hear simple, dirty rock and roll, so that's what I play.

Vince: I like all sorts of stuff. I listen to all the rock and punk like MC5, the Stooges, Ramones and the Stones, the Clash. But I love old R&B and blues like Howlin Wolf and reggae like the Wailers and Toots and Maytals and Motown and all the stuff that influenced the guys you mentioned.

Chris: Genre is not important. Great songs are.

LC: You've made nice little b&w video for 'Caught In New York City', that's just you partying, hanging out and playing in the Big Apple. Was it fun shooting?

Dee: It was fun. A good friend of ours, BJ Smith, shot it with some help from his production crew. It really is just us running around on rehearsal night and a gig in NY. A nice snapshot of our lives circa 2003. One thing I noticed when we were editing the footage is that when I'm drunk, I don't shut up. Sorry to all my victims.

Vince: Yeah that was a lot of fun and BJ shot it for free. He's a good man to follow us idiots around with a camera for no money. We did it in January too. It was cold. Luckily we were drunk.

Chris: You're all forgetting that he is an Emmy Award Winner, that's BJ 'Emmy Award Winner' Smith to you. He's a great friend, and deserves respect. BJ dove into the project and got all kinds of other people to help. It's people like that help stupid little bands like us do something we never thought we could do like make a video. We're talking to him about making another one for up coming record.

LC: You toured Norway and England November last year, any chance of coming by Copenhagen?

Dee: I would love to go to Copenhagen. I love touring Europe. Absolutely love it. I consider myself a privileged man every time I get on a plane carrying my guitars.

Vince: I really hope so, I love touring. Going new places. Any suggestions where we should play in Copenhagen?

Chris: I went to Copenhagen in 2002 while traveling. I remember trying Absinthe for the first time. Sadly, I don't remember much else. (been there, done that, Chris, haha)

LC: Any difference between European and American crowd reaction?

Dee: England is a lot like NY. Real jaded crowds. You gotta work hard to warm them up. Small towns are happy to see something new, generally. People are the same everywhere. Europeans ask for autographs a lot more. That's thrilling.

Vince: They are both big Continents with lots of different cities. I think that we've had good shows and bad shows, as far as crowd reaction is concerned, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Chris: European crowds are better. Sorry Americans.

LC: Any crazy Spinal Tap-ish tales on the road, did Courtney Love offer blowjobs etc.?

Dee: All I'll say is stay away from Norwegian psychiatric nurses.

Vince: I didn't know Courtney Love offered Spinal Tap blowjobs. I must have missed that issue of Spin. As far as we are concerned: I plead the fifth.

Chris: I'm sure there have been. I almost exploded one Summer night at a show New York. Luckily, the sweat stopped the combustion and saved many lives. As for Courtney, it isn't polite to kiss and tell.

LC: There's been a buzz on the NYC scene in the recent years, but I kinda fail to see what Mooney Suzuki, Strokes and The Rapture has in common, haha, what's you take on the 'hype''. Has it done you any good? And tell me about your 'Street Team'...

Dee: I never notice the NYC hype. There was a time a while ago where some people outside the town were sick to death of hearing about Brooklyn bands, I know that much. Our path and the Strokes' path rarely cross. I think we use the same guitar repair guy. That's about it.

Vince: Again, I must have missed that issue of Spin.

Chris: That's all over, man. Hype can be a good thing and a bad thing. I think now its more of a bad thing. I think some people might associate NYC bands more with fashion instead of what matters, like the music. As for the 'Street Team'' it's a small, but wonderful group of people from all over the world who are kind enough to put up posters for up when we come to town, mostly. They work for free besides getting some records and shirts and stuff. I wish we had more of them.

LC: Name your fave record and movie of 2004?

Dee: I don't know any records from last year. My favorite record of 2004 was "Sandanista"! My favorite movie? I don't know. I rarely go to movie theaters, so I see movies late.

Vince: Re-release of London Calling. I saw "Carrie" on TV last night and it was very enjoyable. I forgot that the Greatest American Hero was in that.

Chris: I don't think I was able to afford any records this year because of a promoter who screwed us out of a lot of money in France know as Buzz The Sheriff. I've never met a bigger liar in my life. It was a shame because all the French were so nice to us. We hope to come back. Movies? hmm, I had incredible luck by getting a free trip to Venice for the film festival this year. I saw a bunch of great Italian B-Movies from the 70's by Di Leo like "Orgasmo", "Milano Calibro 9", "La Mala Ordina", and "Il Boss". Good stuff.

LC: Which rockstar/actor would you most like to go out drinking all night with, and why?

Dee: Keith Richards. Why? Please. And Peter O'Toole. I'd give anything to share a botttle of cognac with him. You just can't be more charming. I'd like to sit with Beat Takeshi and have a drink, too. I wouldn't want either of us to say anything, though.

Vince: Keith Richards but that's cuz I have suicidal tendencies today.

Chris: Vince and Dee from The Bamboo Kids, I have a hard time accepting change.

LC: What's the Bitchin' Panda on your site about?

Dee: I get a hankerin' for some political commentary, so I get my rocks off on the Bitchin' Panda blog Rosie set up so I would stop talking to him about how disgusting things in this country are these days. I rarely get the time to do it these days. I miss it terribly.

LC: Anything to add and future plans for world Bamboo domination?

Dee: We want to hit more countries in Europe this fall and we're dying to get to Japan. That's my rock and roll fantasy playing Japan. After that I could die happy. We're recording the new record next week and are very, very excited about it. We're working with a producer for the first time and we like it quite a bit. But mostly we're proud of the songs. Very proud. And in the end, if I know I've written a good song, everything else can go to hell.

Vince: We haven't been to the Far East. Maybe we can be part of the six party talks with North Korea and get them to end their nuclear proliferation. If not I'd just like to play in Japan.

Chris: The world's already dominated by greedy corporations and conservative fuck-wads, we can't compete with that. Support your local independent record store and buy records from independent bands. Everyone else needs it as much as we do.


http://www.thebambookids.com

The Bamboo Kids photo credits: Ami Barwell, Abigail Cameron, Andre Costantini, Mark Giddens, Jenny Jenny, BJ Smith, Angela Weiland, Fredrik and Tammy Held