Update: A previous version of this article identified Ho Zhen Ming and Ang Siew Ching as local poets. We have corrected it.

It's not everyday that you come across a local band made up of mainly history majors - which was why The MadHatter Project caught our eye.

Mad (lol) name aside, their work is pretty impressive. Take this song Teochew Porridge for example:

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What seems like a little ditty on comfort food quickly slides into a contemplation of the frivolities of life and the anchor that keeps us steady.

Consisting of Mark (lead vocals), Jamie (drums), John (bass), and Zhizhong (keyboardist, vocals), The MadHatter Project (TMHP) began in an NUS graduation show.

"The graduation show was called The MadHatters - so instead of your mortar board, you wear some other mad hat," explained Jamie. The graduation show needed to put together a band for live entertainment, which was when the team members found themselves thrown together.

"Mark, myself, John, and another person (a member who is no longer with the team) formed a band and we played and we thought we sounded pretty decent."

It turned out that the graduation show gig was a springboard for the band to continue making music, and with Mark writing songs, it was easier for the band to perform their own original music.

Being history majors has definitely influenced the work they produce.

"A lot of our songs are reflections of our lives - a number of factors, like them (Mark, John, and Jamie) being history majors and understanding Singapore's change over time - that naturally comes into play when we write songs."

For The Time Being

TMHP will be staging For The Time Being - a multi-disciplinary production showcasing many of their original works alongside art pieces by local visual artists Ho Zhen Ming and Ang Siew Ching, and poetry by Stephanie Dogfoot.

For The Time Being brings the audience through a journey of contemplating how we respond to the changes in our spatial landscape - a journey that must be familiar to most Singaporeans who live in a city perpetually filled with construction hoardings.

This message is encapsulated in a song known internally to the band as "Bishan". Explaining the inspiration for the song, Mark muses that travelling through Bishan today is a completely different experience from what he remembered from his younger days.

"When I walked to school, there was a huge empty field with dew rising. It used to be a very nice thing to look at in the morning and now you don't have that anymore because it's been replaced by an ugly condominium."

Far from being a one-dimensional critique of the lack of preservation of our heritage (Ellison Building, anyone?) though, TMHP wants to widen the discussion to include a variety of conflicting perspectives.

"For example if you ask our parents if they want to go back to living in kampongs," quipped Zhizhong, "chances are they'll say no."

"I think that as we grow older, we developed a sense of maturity about such things, so it's no longer just about preserving things or being nostalgic - because I don't think it's the Singapore Spirit," added Mark.

"I think the Singapore Spirit is: Yes there is a sense of sadness, of holding on to things, a sense that things are moving too fast, but it is counterbalanced with the other sense that things have to move fast. And it's that conflict that we are trying to explore."

A universal experience

The band is also hesitant to limit this showcase into yet another footnote in the Singapore Story, which is why none of the promotional material for the upcoming shows have mentioned Singapore specifically.

"We think most of these things are very universal in city life, so while our experiences come from Singapore, we want to try to widen the discussion," said Zhizhong.

"If you abstract the thing down to its essence, then these experiences and problems are something that people across borders share," added Mark.

The band concedes that a message as abstract as this is not as easily grasped by the public when compared to say, a walking trail or museum tour, which was why they spent a few nights uploading articles which they termed Daily Lullabies.

"We wanted to use three to four nights exploring a theme - to take you through the scenes," explained Jamie. "The show can be pretty abstract and musically symbolic. These articles can help you get a better sense of what the show explores."

What's after this?

Unsurprisingly, for a band which readily embraces the conflict of change, it doesn't peg itself in a hole when it comes to the future.

"People say oh you're a musician so you're stuck making music, or if you're an artist, you're stuck drawing - but maybe [our future is finding] what's the best way to express ideas and find that process to create that art," said Mark.

"It is being able to work in a way that's bigger than our individual parts - exploring new collaborations and partnerships, exploring new themes, and mainly finding the best means of expression."

Now, that sounds like a pretty mad, rad hat to wear.

For The Time Being:

Dates/Times: May 12, 8pm (sold out); May 13, 3pm and 8pm

Venue: 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore 239007

Ticket price: $25 (available on Peatix)

For more details, you can visit The MadHatter Project's Facebook page.

Top photo by Joshua Lee

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