Band Profile: Mas Headspace

Band members:

Adam Charbonneau, 25, student at U of W, vocals

Mike Hrechkosy, 33, music teacher, drums

Mitch Kruse, 21, socio-cultural assistant, guitar/vocals

Jamie Cobb, 34, transportation, guitar

Chuck Kovach, 32, carpenter, bass/vocals

            As we enter the practice studio with walls covered in graffiti, Mike Hrechkosy, the drummer, asks me if I mind if he smokes. We are behind the scenes with one of the top indie bands in Winnipeg, Mas Headspace. Their next show is at the Park Theatre on April 16 at 8 pm. They have spent six weeks in a row on top of the KICK FM top 40 chart, and the record for any band is eight.

Being a top indie band in Winnipeg isn’t too glamorous, says Adam Charbonneau, the lead singer. But he adds, “It’s fun, it’s a very enjoyable thing to do live in the moment when we’re playing for a crowd and people are getting excited.”

Maybe not glamorous, but he says, “It’s awesome to create an album and have people come and tell you that they listen to it on the way to work.”

The band has already seen enough success to get recognized on the street. Jamie Cobb remembers a time when a stranger approached him last summer in Gimli, “I was at Tim Hortons, and some stranger came up to me and said, ‘Hey man, you play guitar in a band, I saw you at Grand Beach!’”

Dylan, 30, who doesn’t want his last name published, has been a fan of the band for two years. The last Mas Headspace show he went to was at the Park Theatre in December, and he says, “They are certainly theatrical and entertaining. They keep you guessing.” At that show, actors did integrated monologues between the music.

Mas Headspace credits a big part of their exposure to being played on KICK-FM. The station manager at KICK, Rick Baverstock, describes Mas Headspace as “delicious funked-out grooves.” Baverstock says, “Sometimes it takes a few listens to really get a song. I got them right away.”

The only problem is Baverstock doesn’t know which track to add to the playlist next because there are so many gems on their first full CD, Saffron Airfield.

            On Portage Avenue in a second floor studio the band usually practices twice a week for three hours. Like many indie bands, Mas Headspace wants to get signed to a record label one day, but Charbonneau makes a point of saying, “That’s what we want to achieve, but we want to do it the right way. We want to do it recording the kind of music we want to make.”

            The band members say they don’t have an entourage, but sometimes they have actors and dancers that will perform on stage to add a theatrical aspect. Kruse says, “We really just have a little circus around us, people with odd talents.”

            At a recent show when a friend of the band came on stage wearing a red ring master coat, and he then walked around with a giant balloon structure he made. This is just part of normal life for Mas Headspace as a local indie band.

            With the friends and fun comes some work though, the band members are responsible for the transport and set up of all the gear. This is something that comes with being an indie band. They also all have other jobs to sustain themselves financially, except for Charbonneau, a student.

            In 2009, it cost $7,000 to produce their first full CD, Saffron Airfield, but the band has sold enough music online ($0.99 a song on iTunes) and CDs ($10 each) to more than break-even. Usually all the money the band makes goes back into promotion and producing more music.

            Depending on the venue and time of the year, Mas Headspace will make between $300 (smaller show, like the Cavern) and $500 (bigger show, like the Park Theatre). A perk of the job is that some venues allow the band to drink for free. Charbonneau adds, “Hey, if this is what I’m doing in ten years, at least I’m out on a Saturday night drinking for free.”

            If you want to listen to Mas Headspace, they are available at CD Baby, Into the Music, and iTunes. The band plays about once a month at local venues like the Pyramid and the Cavern. Check the band’s website for gigs, pictures, and videos at www.masheadspace.com.