Lanu

The New Zealand born, Melbourne based producer Lanu is best known as Lance Ferguson, the lead guitarist and creative head honcho of funk/soul band The Bamboos (widely regarded as one of the finest funk bands in the world), but under his solo alias he explores all the other influences that get his musical heart beating. His first Lanu album, 2007’s ‘This Is My Home’, was a distinct departure from the raw, live deep funk of The Bamboos; informed and inspired by the digital rhythms of West London and Detroit, it created a sound brimming with future soul and broken beat flavours, forward-thinking production and intuitive jazz sensibility. With four increasingly acclaimed Bamboos albums now behind him, March 2011 sees the release of the highly anticipated second Lanu solo album, ‘Her 12 Faces’, which draws on his current passion for creating a sonic world where Beat culture collides with indie, dream pop, lounge and folk music, alongside his ongoing affinity for contemporary beats. All this, coupled with spellbinding vocals from Australian pop sensation Megan Washington(who has recently had a Gold-selling album and won two ARIAs, the Australian equivalent of Grammys/Brits/Mercurys) marks another stylistic point of departure for this innovative and ever-evolving producer. You may remember Washington as the super sweet voice of The Bamboos’ ‘King Of The Rodeo’ cover, which came out to great acclaim back in 2008, and here they continue their great working partnership. The new single, “Beautiful Trash”, has already been identified by Starbucks and iTunes in the US for major profiling, as well as being A-listed on Triple J national radio in Australia, and played by UK tastemakers including Steve Lamacq and Nemone on BBC 6Music and John Kennedy on XFM. Between The Bamboos, his Lanu solo work, and productions for others including Tru Thoughts label-mate and Bamboos vocalist Kylie Auldist, Ferguson has produced nine full length albums and fourteen singles for Tru Thoughts since signing with the label in 2005. Having earned huge worldwide acclaim from the likes of Mr Scruff, Keb Darge, DJ Food, Kenny Dope and Snowboy, among a long list of renowned music minds and tastemakers, Lanu is refreshingly untethered by genre boundaries and others’ expectations, constantly evolving as a songwriter and drawing on his experiences as a DJ, performer and music obsessive to create striking new productions. www.lanu.com.au