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Bamboo brings down his defenses

Bamboo Mañalac speaks out on why he left his band to embark on a solo career. Interview by Jason Domantay of Yahoo! Southeast Asia. Video produced by Digitank Studios and Yahoo! Southeast Asia. "Questions" song courtesy of Polyeast Records.

Bamboo has never been this visible. He sings and hosts in the Sunday musical variety show “ASAP,” sits as judge of the reality singing competition “The Voice of the Philippines,” promotes his album “No Water No Moon” and performs in gigs.

All these have helped him mature all the more.

“I have grown as a person. I think that’s the bigger thing. I’ve matured. I guess I feel more at home with what I do, more accepting of what I do now,” Bamboo told the press during his pictorial with Yeng Constantino for their concert “BY Request.”
 
Bamboo revealed that he used to be “very reluctant.” But now, he has to relax more because he’s on his own and is working with different industry insiders who have opened his mind to a lot of things.
 
“But going away from a band, being on my own without having the wall and just be out there on your own and having known what to hide behind, I think that has changed a lot of things."

"And as an artist, yes, I have grown, working with great different people. That has informed and helped me along the way. It’s great. I am happy where I am right now.”

More accessible

 
Many have also noticed that Bamboo has become more accessible to fans. He not only replies to Twitter followers. He also posts fan signs on Twitter.

“There was never an avenue to have a direct line with them like a simple tweet. I only tweet sometimes, I do it personally. I respond personally. I like that, I enjoy that. May immediate response agad,” he said.
 
Many rock singers, like Kean Cipriano and Rico Blanco, have tried acting. Is Bamboo ready to do that as well?
 
“That will never happen to me, I’m sorry. I guess I know what I am good at. I know what I am comfortable with. (But) I’ll never say never,” he replied.

Bamboo explains that music is what he “lives and breathes for.”

“I have always said no. I’ve got scripts for certain things and stuff like that. I guess when the right thing comes along, if I feel I am mature enough and I can handle it, why not? But right now, today 99.9%, but I doubt it because I love what I do.”

Concert with Yeng

Bamboo admires “By Request” co-performer Yeng Constantino for her talent.

“She’s great. You can really see that she has an original soul. She pushes that, she strives for that, she tries that. It’s a great thing.”
 
For their concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on August 17, Bamboo and Yeng will be giving in to fans’ song requests.

That’s why Bamboo urges fans to tell him what songs they want him to sing.
 
“I expect to be doing covers and if I am gonna do originals there has to be a little bit of twist. May bago dapat. So I joke around na 'Hallelujah' na polka or cha cha. So I encourage people to sort of be creative also, I think that’s the kind of environment right now and the landscape of living these days.”