A taxi driver once struck up a conversation with me about John Molina. Claiming he knew his parents, he remarked that local band frontman is a filial son who really takes care of his mother.

1. These Boys Are Clean

"Filial"wouldn't be so strange a word to describe John Molina if he wasn't a seasoned rock singer of 13 years, with chiseled looks and a lean body covered in tattoos. As it turns out, John and the members of Krueger are even more down-to-earth than the average man on the street.

"The rock star image gives people the wrong impression,"says John. "The bad boy package that people see on stage is not real. We're actually very normal people."

Indeed, the band's work schedule may not allow them much time for themselves, but John catches up with his friends and family over the weekends when he's not playing, and the rest of the band - Matt the bass player, Boy the lead guitarist, Vanny the keyboardist and Fazli the drummer - usually spend their personal time with their friends, watching movies or just hanging out at home; a rather simple life for a band with extraordinary talent. Boy even adds this anecdote: twice he was recognised by bank tellers who picked him out as a guitarist. They said, "What are you doing here?" To which he replied, "Uh, I want to cash my cheque..."

2. All Those Years

Though Krueger has been around for about 10 years, the new line-up was only formed early last year, and took about 2 months to get their act right for the live stage at China Bar. But as young as the new line-up is, the members are by no means green in the music business.

The band members were largely self-taught musicians, and Krueger is a full-time job for all of them. Individually, they've even played around the world, such as Manila, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Fazli started learning drums in a military band in secondary school and has been banging skins for 10 years, and Vanny, of Filipino descent, started performing at the tender age of 10. Boy, the other Filipino in the band, has been in the industry for over 10 years, while Matt got his break from a local Malay band competition called Anugerah in 1996, and both have never looked back. Boy and Matt have also played with Krueger for over 5 years in a variety of nightspots, from the Europa network of pubs, to Sparks Disco, to their current home in 7 Magazine Road, China Bar. And John's own talent for singing began in a bathroom at age 5. His career in music really took off when "someone brought me to Taiwan, to sing for a band whose frontman, an American, had to leave. I've played non-stop ever since."

On stage, Krueger sets the house on fire. Their fan base has ensured a full house at China Bar almost every night, especially Fridays and Saturdays. "It's fun playing music when everybody loves music," says John. But Krueger, though considered by many to be a veteran band in the local rock music circle, humbly plays down the honour. John states, "I would consider Sweet Charity a veteran band. We've just been around for a while."

3. Been There, Done That

The band acknowledges there is a difference between Krueger and other bands in Singapore. "Experience plays a big part in our work," John says of the group. Since Krueger's beginnings playing for Europa, their exposure as a live band has seen opportunities many other aspiring local musicians can only dream of, including guest performances with other established rock bands such as 9 Lives (fronted by Douglas Oliviero), an endorsement with local retail chain Project Shop/Blood Bros, invitations to judge rock band competitions, and the odd celebrity musician popping by China Bar to jam with the band on stage.

John himself was invited to sing in Jaliboy's English version of the "Reaching Out" single, a tsunami disaster commemoration project originally written in Malay, featuring local talents such as Wendi Koh, Sheikh Haikel, Abby (9 Lives) and Shirlyn Tan (The UnXpected). "Jaliboy was my first drummer," John remembers fondly, adding that the "Reaching Out" single, "It was for a sad cause, but a good cause.'

4. Strange Requests

On whether they ever had problems with the crowd they played in front of every night, the band gave blank looks all round. "Generally the Singaporean audiences are all very well-behaved," they say. "Maybe it's because we're an all-male band."

Indeed, the members of Krueger tend to take it really easy when it comes to over-zealous fans. John has, on several occasions, received surprise kisses from females who rush up on stage without prompting, and when asked if the band has had any underwear thrown at them a-la Tom Jones, they all laughed and John remarked, "That's a positive thing, isn't it?"

They do, however, have strange requests, ranging from sappy love ballads ("Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You"), and on the night of the interview, a request for a Cantonese song (Krueger is made up entirely of non-Chinese members). The band also declines requests for overplayed songs like "Hotel California" and "Stairway to Heaven"

As well behaved as the band describes their audience to be, a line still has to be drawn when it comes to acceptable behaviour. "Sometimes," says John, "we do get the occasional attention-seekers that want everyone to know that they know the band. We've had people throw ice at us on stage before, but I've put a stop to that now. It's just downright rude."

5. Rocking On

Meanwhile, the band has no plans to come up with any recordings of original music. Matt says in a matter-of-fact way, "I've done original songs in my previous bands, but writing music is just a hobby for me."

John adds, "You can't really survive on cutting singles and albums in Singapore. The local English music market is not quite developed enough for anyone to be able to make a living out of it."

So ingrained is the idea of playing music that the thought of doing anything else is alien to the band, though Boy playfully admits after a little thought, "I want to be like John Molina..." much to John's amusement.

And so, Krueger will continue playing live as they always have been. No one in the band even wants to quit the nightlife. In fact, they all agree they would probably play for the rest of their lives if they could. Says John confidently, "We've never thought about retirement at all. I will be playing as long as I live."

Krueger plays Mondays to Saturdays from 10.30pm onwards at China Bar,