Wonfu plays lullaby

(From left) Hsiao Min, Tu Pi, Twiggy and Mami of Taiwanese band, WonFu.
(From left) Hsiao Min, Tu Pi, Twiggy and Mami of Taiwanese band, WonFu. PHOTO: WONDER MUSIC

Having a baby daughter has been a wonderful experience for Taiwanese singer and guitarist Hsiao Min.

Aside from inspiring songs and letters, she has also brought about an unexpected benefit - cleaner floors. As babies are always crawling about, the filthy carpets at his band WonFu's record label, Wonder Music, were changed to wooden flooring.

Hsiao Min, 37, says with a chuckle over the telephone from Taipei: "Can't imagine how long the car- peting has been there, it might even be older than me."

He married WonFu bassist Twiggy, 35, in 2013, and their daughter was born this January. The group includes female lead and guitarist Mami, 32 and drummer Tu Pi, 34. They will be performing songs from their new album Papa I Want To Be A Star at Switch on Nov 18.

The record also marks the debut of the baby and she can be heard gurgling on the track Cuckoo, which is a lullaby.

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Hsiao Min says: "She was crying most of the time during recording as she was hungry. We managed to record a snippet and used that."

The band's cheerful sound is unchanged. Since their self-titled debut record in 2003, they have been making fans smile with chirpy tracks on topics such as mini-skirts, geese and naughty sheep.

Hsiao Min says of the new album: "A lot of the happiness we feel as a family has gone into it, be it in specific songs or the vibe of a song."

He says: "At first listen, many people think it doesn't sound like WonFu. But there's always been a more emotive side to us and we'll continue to explore it."

His letters to his daughter have been published. The title, Gei Nv Er De Xin (Letters To My Female Goose), shows his sense of humour as "female goose" - his term of endearment for her - is the homonym for daughter in Chinese.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 14, 2015, with the headline Wonfu plays lullaby. Subscribe