Matilda D'Silva live at the Esplanade Concourse

Mathilda D’Silva is a woman of many talents. She's a singer/songwriter, screenwriter, producer and director, DJ, presenter, emcee, and an avid baker. She has been playing and singing in bands and folk acoustic duos since she was 12 years old. Her very first band was a blues outfit called The John Doe Band, where she played drums until the band started developing an interest in double pedal work. They decided it was best for her to leave the drumming to professionals and step up to the microphone instead. She participated in Singapore Idol where the nation dubbed her “the Voice”.

Her voice conveys the light and shade that lends subtle nuances to her music, whether it is the funky soul of Etta James, the rock howl of Robert Plant or the forlorn melancholy of Karen Carpenter. Her lack of formal training is no impediment to her talent as she feels that music should be an unprocessed expression of an inner craving. She is also a regular fixture in the local music and media scene.

Q&A session with Mathilda D’Silva

What can the audience expect from your performance?
I would love to take the audience back to the ’60s and ’70s, where despite the Vietnam war, there was a movement for environmental awareness, and instead of pop ballads, songs were about relationships and humanity.

What was your favourite song growing up?
Apparently it was television commercial jingles; as a baby I would start dancing to any advertisement jingle. Anything from the Coke song to the McDonald’s theme, even Channel 8’s opening theme to Sun Wu Kong’s Journey to the West. If it was on TV, I was humming it. Which explains why I work in this field now.

What are your favourite songs from the ’50s – ’80s?
I love sad love songs for some reason, and I'm into anything from jazz to heavy metal, even sappy ’80s ballads. I gravitate towards artists and bands who stand for something, and I particularly enjoy the civic consciousness of the ’70s hippie music scene. Grace Slick is my spirit animal.