Our story began when a Japanese guitarist met a French accordionist in Pai, North Thailand. Both travelling musicians, together they hit the road, touring Japan, France, and Italy, trying out their experimental new concept of Gypsy Reggae in the streets and on stage. After arriving back in Thailand, they began playing with a Thai reggae bass player, Lue, and together they formed Bamboo Tambourine. After recording a 5 track album in December 2017, they then toured in South Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and joined Jai Thep Festival, the Rec Room Bus Tour, and An Bang Reggae Beach Fest. In Vietnam, they recorded a live concert during the Rec Room Tour, in collaboration with Daniel Eiland on bass. In August 2018, they opened the show for reggae guitarist, Mike Love, back in France.
Now, back residing in North Thailand as of Fall 2018, the three members of Bamboo Tambourine are working on their next album while playing weekly gigs around the picturesque town.
OSAMU
Born in Japan, Hokkaido, Osamu started playing electric guitar as a teenager, learning music from a jazz guitarist. He moved to Sapporo where he began playing with an amateur reggae band, while he also started his professional career as a singer, working in local nightclubs. It wasn’t long before he switched back to guitar, playing in the backing bands for many artists, joining jam bands, and supporting musicians on their album recordings.
After playing for many years for other artists, he decided to create a personal project: a funky eight-piece jazz band called “Meme8”, where he took on the role of songwriter, lead guitarist, and lead singer. The band toured around Japan for six years, recording an album in 2009 and releasing a single in 2010. Meanwhile, Osamu was also a member and co-songwriter in a few other bands: “Aura” – an Ethnic Pop band who released an album in 2010 – and “Urban Funk Orchestra” – a funky jazz group who released a live video in 2016. Osamu was heavily involved in the local music scene, helping to realize many creative projects in Hokkaido, organizing events and welcoming touring bands.
As Meme8’s journey came to an end, he formed an acoustic guitar duo with a French artist, called “One Tribe”. Deeply affected by the 2011 Fukushima tragedy, both artists wanted to leave Japan and start a music career overseas. They toured in South-East Asia together and recorded two music videos in 2016. With “One Tribe” and with his solo project, Osamu turned back to reggae music and recorded his solo album, “Paradigm Shift” in 2017, which was released in Japan. This album catalyses the concerns of a modern citizen in an ultra-modern country affected by a nuclear disaster.
As he released this album, Osamu left Japan for good, relocating to Pai, Thailand, where he formed a new duo with accordionist, Alice, slowly opening his music style to a gypsy influence. His collaboration with local blues bands in Pai, and gypsy bands in Vietnam expanded his range dramatically. The collaboration with Lue, starting in 2017, definitely brought a new colour to his musical style, and would lead to the creation of Bamboo Tambourine.
ALICE
From France, Alice studied piano at the French National Music school for ten years. During this time, she played in piano concerts and joined the choir of symphonic orchestras. Studying mostly classical and academic music, she also discovered
Leaving school with a classical background, she took a break from music to start
With a group of accordionists, she discovered traditional dance music and
As she kept travelling, Alice decided to bring her accordion with her on her trips around South-East Asia. When she eventually settled down in Pai, North Thailand, she joined several jam sessions and started giving solo performances around town, where she also started singing. In 2016, she met Osamu, who was touring with One Tribe, and started a collaboration with him. She slowly evolved her musical style and became one of the very rare accordion players in reggae music, adding her own gypsy touch to Osamu’s style. Together, they travelled and played in Japan, Europe, and South-East Asia, slowly creating their original sound. Looking for a third member, they asked Lue to join their project in 2017.
LUE
Originally from Thailand, Lue studied for two years in a private music school in Bangkok, playing bass guitar in various music venues around the city while working for a professional recording studio. At that time, Lou was also playing in a Thai Pop/Folk/Rock band called “Zuzu”, whom he played with for 5 years, touring around Thailand.
Lue decided to escape the big capital and moved to Krabi, in South Thailand, to further expand his musical horizons. He joined several music projects in the Andaman Sea area, and became an integral part of the local artists’ community, playing mostly Reggae, which is very popular in that region.
He was a member of “Gelly Fish” for three years, a reggae/blues band, and the bass player for “Job 2 Do” for six years; a famous Thai reggae band, who toured all around Thailand and Sweden. He recorded Job 2 Do’s album in 2005, which featured the national hit, “Do Ther Tum” (Doo Doo Doo).
Later, Lue decides to bring his big adventure with Job2do to an end to focus on some personal projects. He travelled between North and South Thailand, keeping a strong base in Krabi. He then formed “Rasta Flower”, a reggae duo with a German musician, and recorded an album in Pai in 2009. In 2013, Lue joined the group “Rythme of the Andaman,” with musicians from the Andaman Sea area, and recorded the album “10 Year Tsunami Memorial,” for the victims of 2004 Tsunami in South Thailand. In this album, he tries to promote a message of environment protection in a region that has become more and more polluted as Thailand’s economy and tourism industry has exploded.
Lue finally moved to Pai full time, where he started playing with local blues bands. This is when he met Osamu and Alice and decided to join them in crafting an original music concept, mixing the reggae backbeat with European and Asian musical influences. Just after recording their first album together, Lue arranged a tour for the group in the Andaman Sea during the winter of 2017. That was the beginning of Bamboo Tambourine.
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A Recap of 2018
2018 started on the stage, at Cigar Bar, Koh Lanta. At that time, we were touring Lanta Island and Krabi – Lue has many musician friends there, and it was a great chance for us to discover the local bands. After playing a concert with Tai Sawan in Koh Jum on December 30th, we played with Sak Can Do at Joy’s bar in Krabi. With South Thailand bands, we found very similar influences to our own, mixing reggae and gypsy music.