Bamboo's Disbanding, Too... And Something About NU 107

.:First, Sugarfree, And Now, Bamboo Is Disbanding, Too?!?:.

Yes, guys, it’s official. After months of speculation, the band called “Bamboo” is calling it quits, despite numerous hits, a legion of fans, and strong relevance through their music and message.

It’s a bit sad, really, because any vestiges of the original Rivermaya are now left in the hands of solo artist Rico Blanco, considering that the current incarnation of Rivermaya is nothing but a shadow of what it once was, and Bamboo isn’t going to go the way of Sugarfree and continue on without its frontman. Of course, naming your band after your frontman would result in problems if said frontman left the band, sorta like Jon Bon Jovi leaving Bon Jovi, but them’s the breaks.

We wish the members of Bamboo the best in their future endeavours. And on a personal note, I’d riot if the Itchyworms decide to call it quits soon.

.:And On That Note, On The NU107 Connection...:.

Speculation has been high that with the demise of NU107, some of the bands whose rise to prominence have been in no small way aided by the home of NU Rock are now folding up in recognition of the changing of the guard in the music industry. Gone were the days where there was enough demand for a group’s musicality to shine through despite all the slickly produced matinee-pandering solo acts that come and go in the industry while the workhorse bands provide us with longevity and consistency. Now, it’s all about being able to build something, milking it, then cashing out your chips in record time.

I don’t really know what to make of it. While there have been bands that have tried to fill in the shoes of the greats that came out during the 90’s, the 2000’s were mired with groups that were, whether or not they were truly talented, derided for being “gwapo rockers,” where the music of these performers seemed to take a backseat to their looks. It was akin to the so-called wussifying of gangsta rap in the mid-90’s where guys like Ja Rule started wanting to come off as sensitive guys rather than thugs, and to this day, hip-hop and rap still enjoys mainstream acceptance because it has certainly managed to sweep its urban poor leanings under the rug in favour of bling and schwing.

Are we entering a point where the kind of music borne out of the 90’s no longer has breeding grounds by which it could grow and become a force again? Sure, the business is cyclical, but during the key cycles where band music has been on the up and up, we’ve had vanguards of the genre where they mattered, and in particular, NU107 was there during the Eraserheads era and arguably the one that came the decade before that, and even the succeeding decade where these bands still managed to not only survive, but even thrive in the middle of gwapo rock and novelty hits and remake after remake after remake and crappy Bossa wannabe artists.

With NU107 out of the picture, and with television giants clearly intent on fast-paced moneymaking through their artists, would there arise another venue for new acts to take the place of the Bamboo’s and the Sugarfree’s of this new decade? One worries there might not be, and one worries that we might end up homogenous when it comes to our music and unable to give great indie artists a chance to make a decent living out of their art by welcoming them into the mainstream purely because nobody would be willing to let you into the mainstream if you don’t look good in front of a camera.

This isn’t even considering the piracy problem, or the fact that even among the elite musicians in the country, there seems to be a creative drought when it comes to music, with no end to the drought in sight.

C’mon, OPM! I know you can break free from this rut.