As far as rock bands are concerned, Trevor
Tuminski believes two heads are better than one ...
or three or four.

Singer-guitarist Tuminski, 24, and
multi-instrumentalist David Swiecicki, 25, are the
sole members of Winnipeg-based rock act Jet Set
Satellite, whose riffy first single Best Way To Die
has been heard frequently on MuchMusic and
Canadian rock radio.

They've needed to add a few musicians for their
current tour -- which finds them opening for Bif
Naked tonight at the Palace -- but the pair have no
plans to permanently swell their ranks. Simply,
they'd rather have the headache of hiring tour
musicians than the headache of arguing with a
full-time drummer over issues of artistic direction.

"We really like our tiny democracy. We're getting
really used to it," says Tuminski in a telephone
interview. "There's a gearhead technical guy in
every band and there's a mouthpiece in every
band. (Swiecicki) is the gearhead and I'm the
mouthpiece. So we sort of trim the fat, in a way.

"It certainly facilitates the songwriting process....
We incorporate all sorts of elements into the music
and whatever we do inevitably becomes Jet Set
Satellite music."

Which is as good a description as any for their
debut album Blueprint, a heavily

produced modern-rock album that makes use of
such seemingly incongruous elements as grungy
guitars, ambient atmospheres and world-music
percussion.

"We're just sound junkies," Tuminski explains.
"We're not necessarily influenced by one band or
another. We're mainly interested in a sound
someone got in this song, or what a producer did
here in the vocals, and we appreciate those
elements in a wide variety of music and not just
rock music. So, sometimes, with the world
percussion, we might have drawn that from a
soundtrack or a Peter Gabriel song and match it up
with a big, dumb rock riff."

Blueprint came into being through a series of
happy accidents. Tuminski had wanted to make a
solo album and was told through friends about
Swiecicki, who operated a home studio.

"We lived five minutes apart and never met each
other," Tuminski points out.

They were introduced to each other and, soon
after, work on Tuminski's solo record began. Then
Swiecicki brought some of his own songs to the
sessions.

"After we got the songs all together and they had
such a common thread running through the mix, we
realized it's not two solo projects any more. It's a
band."

Enter Sarah Mc-Lachlan's producer Pierre
Marchand.

Swiecicki, needing advice on miking an upright
piano, sent a letter and a tape of the material to his
producer idol.

Marchand didn't just have miking advice. He
promised to send the tape to Vancouver-based
Nettwerk Records, home of McLachlan and
Skinny Puppy.

"He kept his promise and, a couple days later,
Nettwerk flew us to Vancouver to do a
showcase.... We were just blown away."

Nettwerk inked the pair to a record deal and sent
them to Montreal to record with producer Michel
Pepin early last year, even before the act had a
name.

Tuminski still can't believe his luck.

"Dave and I are do-it-yourselfers and we were
interested in putting out the album on our own. We
weren't seeking any label interest. It just
accidentally happened."

He laughs. "Welcome to the world of Jet Set
Satellite."

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