INTRODUCTION
I'm Kevin and I'm a songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist for Lilac Saints, a local band in the 1990s with several hits on the Singapore 987FM charts. The band has been dormant for some time but I'm glad to say that we'll be having a reunion concert on 6th January 2023 at Esplanade — Theatres On The Bay.
I've been playing guitar since I was 14 years old (34 years ago *gasp*). My go to guitars are mostly acoustic.
PLAYING STYLE
I am mostly influenced by singer-songwriter guitarists such as James Taylor, Don McClean & Joni Mitchell. I like the fact that they're creating whole songs - both melody & lyrics - and performing these songs in an emotionally raw form. I feel that these are true artists who bare their soul for their craft and I admire them greatly for this.
I am predominantly an acoustic guitarist and I do a lot of finger picking, rhythmic strumming, percussive taps or a combination of all three. I love to create whole melodies on the acoustic guitar which can stand out by itself without any backing instruments. And so, when I create a tune on the guitar, I want it to have all the bass notes and percussive strums or taps to make the song sound as full as possible.
When I create a tune on the guitar, I use a lot of sustain & diminished chords to best fit the mood of the song.
My warm up routine varies depending on my mood. When I feel angsty, I strum bar chords up and down the fret board and practise rhythmic patterns. Otherwise, I will just do simple pentatonic or dorian scales.
MAIN INSTRUMENTS
My main acoustic guitars are a Martin Dreadnought Junior (2018) and a Taylor Big Baby (2001). These guitars are both great and have different timbres. So I use these guitars interchangeably, depending on the sound I feel best suits the song I'm playing.
OTHER EQUIPMENT
I just got a Yamaha THR30-II wireless desktop guitar amplifier with rechargeable batteries, hi-fi playback, amp modelling, effects, and Bluetooth connectivity. It's super portable and sounds perfect for acoustic and electric guitars. I added on a bluetooth relay cable so that I don't have to walk around with cables.
OTHER LOCAL GUITARISTS/BASSISTS YOU FIND INTERESTING
Humpback Oak was a band that I was interested in in the early 90s and I was always curious about Leslie Low's (Humpback's lead singer) guitar playing style and chords. His songs were works of art and he made it accessible to the masses.
PHOTO ABOVE
Martin Dreadnought Junior - Warm round tones. Perfect for songwriting.