A purr-fect way to support local music

BELIEVE it or not, the resident felines at "kitty kafe" The Company of Cats are big supporters of local music and have been known to lap up the "live" shows its human owners - who incidentally are also fans of the homegrown music scene - have been hosting at the venue.

"I think they really love it," says Nick Yeo, "mewsic" director and curator of the cafe's Monthly Mewsic Series. "They're always sniffing around the equipment when the band sets up, and from time to time will steal the show by jumping onto keyboards or sitting beside the musicians like they're the kings of the world!"

The concept started one night when Yeo found the cats "hanging around purring" while he was strumming a guitar. "They got really happy and excited by the music and I thought it would be cool to have bands perform in our space," he explains. "We've always wanted to support the Singapore music scene so it's great how this has worked out."

Jaime Wong kicked things off last July and other acts that have played so far include Pleasantry, Sara Wee from 53A, Nicole Verghese and kindakid. Every show has been a sold-out affair.

The Monthly Mewsic Series is open to all sorts of musicians as long they perform mainly their own songs. "We're really open to a few covers but want to encourage artists to share their own original works in a nice intimate atmosphere," stresses Yeo. "Most of our sessions are also acoustic-led to make sure the kitties aren't frightened by anything too loud."

The year's first show will take place on Friday and features singer-songwriter Ethel Yap.

Also an established actress in the local theatre scene, she graduated from London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with a Masters (Distinction) in Musical Theatre and has starred in Pangdemonium and W!ld Rice productions.

The multi-talented artiste has also previously gigged in haunts for local singer-songwriters like Artistry cafe and Barbershop by Timbre.

"I write songs mainly about identity, because I suppose that's the one big topic that I've been examining and trying to pick apart and understand for the past four to five years of my life," says the fan of folk-pop musicians like The Swell Season, Glen Hansard, Lisa Hannigan, Ray LaMontagne and Fleet Foxes, who have all influenced her songwriting craft.

Yap adds: "I've gone through quite a number of significant life transitions within those past few years and so the theme of identity and finding one's place in the world has really resonated deeply within me, and from that, quite a number of songs have sprung up."

It will be the first time the recipient of the National Arts Council's NOISE Music Mentorship 2015 will be playing in front of a different type of audience and she will be rearranging some of her songs to make them sound "gentler" so as not to startle her new feline fans.

"I love it when a song can still stand up strong even when it's completely raw and stripped bare in terms of instrumentation - that's something that my NOISE mentor, Randolf Arriola, taught me," adds Yap. "You know a song has depth and substance when you can play it with the simplest arrangement and it still hits home."

Ethel Yap plays The Company of Cats (6 Mosque Street) on Jan 29 at 8pm. Tickets at S$16 (includes a two-hour stay in The Cat Room) available from Peatix - http://ethelyapatthecompanyofcats.peatix.com/. Check out Yap's music at https://soundcloud.com/ethel-yap and https://www.facebook.com/ethelyapsg/