It is the stuff of dreams...

Picture a couple of young guys interested in music.

One is a former ski-bum who dabbles with his
keyboards and a home studio, helping his musical
friends lay down their musical experiments.

The other is an advertising copywriter at 92 CITI
FM, a Red River College creative communications
grad who plays and sings in a band called Fargone.

Singer/guitarist Trevor Tuminski, the copywriter, is
eager to record some of his own material outside
the auspices of Fargone. He's looking around for a
cheap place to record.

Keyboardist/guitarist Dave Swiecicki, who spent
much of his time after high-school snowboarding
and skiing in Alberta and B.C., has been producing
and recording and mixing music within his circle of
friends and is looking for someone new to work
with.

They live just minutes apart from each other in
East and North Kildonan -- but they haven't met.

Yet.

"Some friends introduced us," Tuminski says. "And
I asked him to produce my stuff. As we got into
the project, he was playing on everything, and so
what started as a solo project sort of merged into a
collaborative effort."

By mid-1998, the two young musicians had a
decent tape together but were unsure what to do
with it.

So, with the gall that comes with complete naivete,
Swiecicki made a phone call that would change his
musical life forever.

"I'm a big admirer of Pierre Marchand, Sarah
McLachlan's producer, and I managed to get his
phone number through an acquaintance," Swiecicki
recalls. "I left a message for him at Wild Sky
studios asking if I could send him some material.

"He called back and said 'Sure, send it out,' so I
sent him four songs, looking for some professional
advice.

"I was just looking for feedback, really, but he
obviously took it one step further."

What Marchand did was call back, and ask
Swiecicki for permission to forward the tape to
Terry McBride, manager of Sarah McLachlan and
Barenaked Ladies and founder of Vancouver label
Nettwerk Records.

"Nettwerk called us back right away," says
Tuminski, taking up the story. "So, the next thing
we knew were in Vancouver, doing a showcase
for all the Nettwerk brass, in the offices, with just
an acoustic guitar and a piano.

"We got offered a contract almost on the spot."

That was the fall of 1998. Swiecicki, now 25, and
Tuminski, 24, didn't even have a band name, let
alone a band. Some 18 months later, they are
hopping with anticipation.

Jet Set Satellite's debut album, Blueprint, hits
record stores across the country on Tuesday.

The duo -- which has been augmented by the
addition of live drummer Tetrault -- has a video on
MuchMusic for first single The Best Way to Die.
The song is being played heavily at rock radio
across the country.

As Swiecicki and Tuminski sit and tell their story to
a reporter over drinks at a North Kildonan
restaurant, it seems as though they can't quite
believe what they've done.

"Yeah, it is a pretty fairy tale story, isn't it?"
Tuminski grins.

You'd think the Brothers Grimm were writing this
story, given what happens next.

After signing their deal, fielding a few hometown
interview requests and getting through the
Christmas season, Swiecicki and Tuminski and
their record company set about finding a producer.

Eventually they settled on Michel Pepin, an
engineer/producer who works with Marchand and
agreed to work on their debut recording in
Montreal at Pepin's favourite studio.

And where did they live while they stayed in La
Belle Province?

Oh, just the home of Kate McGarrigle and her
children Martha and Rufus Wainwright.

Kate is one-half of the pioneering folk-pop act the
McGarrigle Sisters, while her children are the
products of her marriage to singer/songwriter
Loudon Wainwright III. Rufus Wainwright put out
a critically acclaimed debut album and recorded a
song for last year's highly successful Gap ad
campaign, and Martha is an up-and-coming
singer/songwriter.

"It was pretty cool," grins Swiecicki. "We even got
Martha to sing backup vocals on one of the songs
(Suddenly)."

Most of the three months they stayed in Montreal,
Swiecicki and Tuminski were holed up in studio
with Pepin.

"We worked from 10 to 8 most every day,"
Tuminski says. "We listened to music a lot, we
drank a bit. But mostly we worked."

The pair emerged from their Montreal sojourn with
13 songs. After a summertime writing spurt, four
more tunes were recorded with
producer/keyboardist John Webster in Vancouver
late last fall, including a killer track called Baby,
Cool Your Jets.

Now all the group has to do is get out and play.

"We're so anxious to do that," Swiecicki and
Tuminski say, almost in unison.

"But we still need a bass player," Tuminski points
out.

As for future prospects, both musicians seem
unfazed by what is to come.

"I don't think it's really sunk in yet," says Swiecicki.
"At times I've got to pinch myself."

"Sometimes I think we're getting away with
something here," Tuminski adds. "But if it all ends
tomorrow I won't be disappointed. We got to make
an album and shoot a video.
"Now it's our job to go out and make things
happen. We're not going to sit back and wait for it
to happen, we're going to go out and do it."

He grins.

"We've been wanting this our whole lives ... so
complete world domination, that's the master plan."

With that, Tuminski looks at his partner and they
both smile.

Some dreams do come true.

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