SINGAPORE – Mention Singaporean singer-songwriter Kevin Mathews’ name to young, aspiring indie musicians here, and what you will see are looks of admiration.

It is not only because Mathews is a music man through and through. The 54-year-old founded bands such as The Watchmen and Popland back in the 1990s and has come up with some memorable songs such as the No 1 hit My One And Only, as well as I Love Singapore, The High Cost Of Living and Pasir Ris Sunrise.

He has helped with the music for films such as Eric Khoo’s Mee Pok Man, as well as Invisible Children, Lucky 7 and The Carrot Cake Conversations, among others.

He has been instrumental in the music scene as a mentor under the National Arts Council’s Noise Music Mentorship Programme and for the Esplanade Youth Budding Writers Programme, and as a judge for the 2009 and 2010 editions of the Baybeats Festival.

He also runs artiste management company KAMCO Music, through which he helps manage the careers of Singapore music acts such as TypeWriter and Lydia Low. Along the way, he has helped curate various music showcases such as Stagefright and Original Sing; and is the man behind events such as the upcoming Power Of Pop Songwriters Gallery that showcases up and coming musicians. He even finds time to run pop culture blog Power Of Pop.

In the past few years though, Mathews has been channelling a large part of his energies to creating his own new music, including 2013’s full-length release Emo FASCISM and 2014’s four-track EP #alpacablues.

He will be releasing his latest album Present Sense, which he said is his best record yet. Mathews will launch the album at Artistry Cafe on Sept 18.

The album’s title reflects what Mathews always tries to remind himself — to enjoy the present and to relish being able to live a life filled with music.

“I am worried about the future constantly, it’s part of my personality,” he said. “Especially in the last five years, when there’s been a bit of uncertainty about what happens next. But I’ve also learned how to live in the moment.

“That’s what Present Sense is all about — to live in the moment.”

And at the moment, the best thing about his work in the music business is the fact that he gets to meet like-minded folks.

“The advantage of having done stuff for more than 20 years, and finding people who first heard my music when they were 12 or 13 years old, is that I have met a lot of people, and their stories are quite interesting,” said Mathews, who has mentored acts such as Obedient Wives Club, In Each Hand A Cutlass, Lost Weekend, Cashew Chemists, Pleasantry, Adia Tay, Jaime Wong, JAWN, The Little Giant, Joie Tan and Theodora.

“One of the guys who is playing with me now, Nelson Tan (who also plays in progressive rock band In Each Hand A Cutlass), said he was inspired to become a musician because of my music. Previously, (music director) Jonathan Lim also came up to me and said, ‘Kevin, your CD was the first CD I bought’.

“That was, to me, mind-blowing. And it is very humbling, because you feel a sense of responsibility, and you feel people do look up to you. It is very important to use that influence because there is so much talent here,” he added.

Still, Mathews admits that his musical journey has not been an easy one. Since he quit his job as a lawyer five years ago to pursue music full-time, Mathews, who doubles up as a teacher at Republic Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic, has been “looking over (his) shoulder — financially”.

“I do everything freelance now, so, technically, there is no security, and there is a bit of uncertainty,” he mused. “But that is what makes it interesting. Everything is new and everything is different.”

However, Mathews has no regrets. “I was in the legal industry for 20 over years, whether it was in practice or corporate. I quit mainly because I couldn’t handle the stress anymore, I was practising very long hours and couldn’t commit to being in the music scene. It was very hard. It all came to a head, and I just decided to quit and do something different.”

He added: “It’s tough, but also satisfying and rewarding.”

Kevin Mathews/The Groovy People will perform at the Artistry Cafe on Sept 18. Tickets at S$20 and S$30 (from kevinmathews-artistry.peatix.com).