It was nothing short of a miracle to Ooi, whose guest room was converted into their studio, that “everyone was interested in (putting out the album) and had the passion to drive it forward at this stage of our lives”.
Yet, even with a common goal, it was often challenging to get together. Each of them had “different obligations”, including Oh’s then soon-to-be-born third child. Sometimes, months went by without a jamming session.
They were “very understanding” of each other’s schedules, like being mindful of when Oh’s wife would give birth and aiming to record as many tracks as possible before then, recalled Cheong.
JUGGLING DAY JOBS, FAMILY COMMITMENTS
Then they met industry veteran Daniel Chai, who became their music producer.
Chai, who has worked with Stefanie Sun and Kit Chan, told CNA Lifestyle he was “enthused” about Fool’s Decade because they wrote original songs – “especially in Singapore where a lot of times cover bands are still much more appreciated”.
The band also had “a certain sound that’s really very different from your regular cover band”, he said.
The Gen X-ers were not your average fresh-faced early-twenty-somethings shooting for superstardom. For one, they already had full-fledged careers in unrelated industries, which many might see as a sign that they weren’t really interested in music. But for an industry that tends to put passion on a pedestal, Chai felt their demanding day jobs ironically gave them an edge.
“Whenever they play together, it sounds fresh. Because when you play every night at the bar or pub, you can get a bit jaded as with every job. So they have a certain freshness in that sense because they don’t play regularly like that,” he explained.
Chai, with more than 20 years of industry experience, also found Fool’s Decade to be “mature in a lot of aspects” and “more grounded in what they want to do”. It was “quite easy to work with them”, he added, because they’re not “a new, young band where there are a lot of ideas (that) don’t really work”.
