D'KREWE AND UTOPIA UNITE!

BREAKING NEWS!!

Dear Masqueraders

Utopia Mas has always desired to give you, the masquerader the absolute best carnival experience. From inception it was our aim to be a band who sincerely puts the customer first. For this reason, it is very important to us that we get it right on the road. To ensure that we provide you with good vibes, and get the fundamentals of drinks, sound, food, security etc right, we have negotiated a deal with D'Krewe and can confirm that Utopia Mas will now be joining with D'Krewe for carnival Monday and Tuesday. We shall be sharing sound trucks, drinks trucks, food trucks etc. Both Utopia's and D'Krewe's band leaders will be working closely together to ensure we provide the best possible service for all our masqueraders.

For those not already signed up with Utopia, they have the following costumes still available;

Light frontline $3100
Light backline $2900
Light Male $2800

Emerald Forest frontline $3400
Emerald forest backline $3000
Emerald forest Male $2800

Prices are All Inclusive.

Utopia Mas Team

UTOPIA MAS' PRICELIST

CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

UTOPIA MAS' NEW LAUNCH!

So I've been reliably informed that Utopia Mas will be looking to hold their band launch this coming Friday. The new revised plan is to launch from the mas camp and have a VIP/Media launch from 7:30pm to 9pm. At 9 the mas camp will become open to the public.

The mas camp is located on Ariapitia Avenue, between Rosalino and Luis streets.

Official invites will be sent out later on today which sucks for me seeing as I've already left Trinidad since early Sunday morning. I wonder how this will work out seeing as mas camps are smaller in size when compared to party venues. 

UTOPIA MAS POSTPONED

Dear Masqueraders,

We regret to inform you all that due to the unfortunate weather we have had to postpone our band launch scheduled for Friday 10th August, 2012.
On Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th the crews arrived at the venue to set up the stage and lighting, however due to the continuous rain at Chaguaramas they were unable to set up and the venue itself became flooded. We understand that this bad weather will continue and have been told that this Friday will be worse. We therefore decided that for your comfort the best course of action is to postpone the event.
All ticket holders will be refunded and we ask that you contact the committee member from whom you bought your ticket(s). We will announce in due time our plans for the re-schedule. Once again we apologize and thank you for your understanding, furthermore knowing how many people are anticipating attending the launch and seeing the costumes we shall be posting more teasers soon.

Sincerely,
UTOPIA MAS

UTOPIA MAS' VENUE 'REVEALED'

Callaloo Company 

Western Main Rd

Chaguaramas

GET YOUR TICKETS EARLY!!!

*its a ticket only event*

UTOPIA MAS TEASER VIDEO

GET READY FOR IT!
UTOPIA MAS

UTOPIA MAS

OUT OF THE DARKNESS
Utopia Mas' Website

LEAKED PRESS RELEASE

Guess who got their hands on the official

PRESS RELEASE scheduled for WEDNESDAY the 20th of JUNE?

Inception:
Utopia Mas was formed in November 2011 by band leader & designer Stuart ‘Whitey’ Sampson. After several years of  consultation and the eventual offer of a General Manager position with one of Trinidad’s major bands, Stuart decided it was time to bring out his own band.
Stuart’s a man who is passionate about mas, whilst living in London during the mid 1990's he became involved in Notting Hill Carnival working with Glissando and then T&T Mudders Jourvert band.  Stuart then became involved in Trinidad Carnival in 1995 and has played mas every year for almost 20 years. Having chipped and whined and jumped and waved through the streets of Port of Spain from Jourvert to Las Lap he is highly experienced in the highs and lows of being a masquerader. Drawing from these experiences, good and bad, it is from this angle that he has approached forming the new band Utopia Mas putting the needs and desires of today’s masquerader as a priority.

When a band leader heard Stuart was bringing out a new band he asked, “So what makes your band different from all the others?”
From inception it was always Stuart’s desire to bring together a core team who, like himself had grown somewhat disillusioned with mas in the 21st century, experienced people who were on the same page, who shared the same vision and are able to put a high quality product on the road whilst at the same time bring back some traditional elements of Carnival. Many bands are scared to say ‘bring back’ or ‘back to’ for fear of being labeled ‘old fashioned’ but there is nothing old fashioned about Utopia Mas. A modern 21st century band with all the comforts and special treats of today’s mas, sensual and sexy costumes but confident enough to ‘bring back’ some traditional elements of carnival.

Bringing back costume design: Traditionally, mas costume design has been the work of the band leader. It would be they who conceptualized the theme, designed the costumes and throughout the entire prototype and production stage would oversee production ensuring that the end product was a true and honest representation of their vision. In the last decade the mass production of costumes and the commercialization of Trinidad Carnival has seen bands move away from that art. Many of today’s band leaders are businessmen, not designers, and at no stage do they put pen or brush to paper. Costumes are mostly designed by professional designers who follow a set formula repeating profiles and shapes then sell their designs to a number of bands, who in turn, push and squeeze and manipulate them into the ‘theme’.
As Band Leader, Stuart is also the designer, having conceptualized the theme, put pen to paper and designed all the costumes sourced and selected the materials, created the patterns and fine tuned all 11 sections from inspiration to final product.
Bringing Back costume quality:Most important to the vision of Utopia Mas is the quality of costumes. From the first moment the band was formed it was a given that Utopia Mas would produce a quality product, well constructed, from quality materials and most important is that the costume you buy, that you open and take out the box and wear on carnival Monday and Tuesday looks like the one you saw in the mas camp, on the website and at the band launch. It is partly for that reason Utopia Mas will produce their costumes here in Trinidad, employing Trinidadian staff to make costumes with materials purchased from carnival suppliers in Trinidad. This is after all ‘We culture’ ‘We carnival’ and as such mas bands have a duty to support the industry, the culture, the skills and crafts of Trinidadians. A key production team was integral to the band fulfilling this and here Utopia Mas co-owners Michael Guy James and Paulette Alfred-Guy James, who with their immense experience in carnival costume production, as Utopia Mas’ Head Productionists along with their team at Guy James Studio will ensure the high quality beautiful product today’s masquerader expects.  Made right here in Trinidad.

Bringing Back customer service: Anyone who has spent their Friday or Saturday before carnival at a crowded mas camp in a seemingly endless line for distribution would have probably experienced the sense of poor customer service. Something you would have heard said many times, especially from international masqueraders visiting Trinidad are the words ‘they don’t care’. An all too common feeling is that you’ve paid your money and now no one is responsible for rectifying what’s wrong. Utopia Mas has therefore designed a new distribution system to prevent any such issues occurring and ultimately avoiding your frustration and disappointment, instead, providing you with the same levels of customer service we would expect or demand for ourselves and that you feel a sense of appreciation for your custom. Aaron and Jessica Marquez have a wealth of experience in hospitality, catering and the service industry and will be ensuring that everything  you experience from the moment you step in the mas camp to register to the point you drink your last drink at the end of las lap is a pleasurable one.

Bringing Back affordable mas: Carnival has become expensive. If you ask people who’ve never played mas before the reason why they don’t play, the most common answer is that ‘it’s too expensive’. Only ten years or so ago a frontline costume cost $700. When All Inclusive ‘sections’ arrived costume prices jumped to $1200. Now costumes have soared in price, some are even touching $8000. Utopia Mas is committed to producing an excellent product and great customer service whilst keeping mas affordable.

Bringing Back fun on the road: Sometime, somewhere, somehow carnival changed. In many bands now there are too many trucks, too many things that should not be there, bands of 3000 masqueraders or more are squeezed through the streets and what used to be playing mas and having fun is now more about avoiding the wheels of a truck, or feeling like a sheep being herded along. Utopia Mas has all the comforts and special treats you need without the overkill of all the ‘stuff’ you don’t. Less space for ‘stuff’ means more space for you to free up yourself.  Our Events Manager has 20 years of experience hosting fetes and carnival road management, along with Band Leader Stuart he will be ensuring that everything on the road is run professionally, safely and your security and comfort is Paramount. And talking of free-up, an element of pretentiousness has crept into mas. To play in some bands you have to be part of a clique, or have a link to get in, perhaps be a certain complexion or even deemed to be attractive enough for the costumes. This is not what mas is supposed to be about. Playing mas is about having fun, freeing up yourself, expressing yourself, play mas and like yuhself. This is carnival. Trinidad is the rainbow nation, all colours, races, creeds and sizes. Together we aspire, together we achieve. Utopia Mas is an all inclusive band  and when we say All Inclusive we are not just talking about the drinks trucks, If a man or woman is confident enough to wear a costume then who is to say they are not good looking enough? So black, white, red, Indian, Spanish, Chinee, Dougla, tall, short, thick, thin, man, woman, straight, gay or lesbian, Utopia Mas is an all inclusive band and ultimately we are about having fun.

Bringing Back loyalty: You only have to go back to playing mas in the late 1990’s  and bands were full of people who year after year would bounce up with each other on the road. You would see the same faces each year and it was almost like everyone knew everyone else in the band. It was that sense of ‘family’ that meant the bands really looked after the masqueraders. Today masqueraders still have a sense of loyalty toward the bands, through good and bad, they are there on the road with the same band year after year, but now, often when things break down, the band does not show the same level of loyalty to the masqueraders. Part of Utopia Mas’ vision is to ensure that you, the paying customer receives excellent customer service and the feeling that loyalty is a two way street. We hope to show you over the years to come that we appreciate your loyalty, we understand what it means and that you will become a part of the Utopia Mas Family.

Bringing Back appreciation: The Utopia Mas family will have some things we will make noise about. We’ll make a big song about our costumes, we’ll dance at yuh wedding about our customer service,  and we’ll wave a flag to celebrate the fun we create. However, there is something we will keep quiet about and that is our appreciation. Our appreciation that we have money to buy a costume, we have legs to dance with, hands to hold a drink cup with, ears to hear the music with and eyes with which to take in all the colours. And we as a family will remember that there are many who do not. For this reason Utopia Mas is dedicated to supporting orphan children in Trinidad & Tobago and supporting Trinbagonian children who need surgery. We will not make a noise about this, we will simply do what we can, and you the masquerader will be kept informed of the good works your money has contributed toward.

EXCLUSIVE Q&A's: UTOPIA MAS

1. Well now that name has officially been dropped, I guess now I could ask, what made you and the rest of the team decide to come up with Utopia and what makes THIS band different from all the other newbie band out there?  What can we expect from Utopia Mas?
I'd been working on the project for about four months, since November last year, without a name for the band when during a brainstorming session a friend actually came up with Euphoria, then i thought how about Utopia and it just seemed so right.

There's a lot which will make us different, some of those things I obviously cant divulge in public, I'm certain some bands in the years to come will copy things we do but for this year at least I'd like to be the first and only band to do them.

What I can share with you though is that we are taking a different direction to what has become the normal thing in 21st century mas, not just in terms of costumes but all manner of things, distribution, food, road management everything has been looked at in detail and overhauled in such a way to make the entire experience of playing mas a pleasurable one.

2. Will this band be all inclusive?
Absolutely. We already have agreed contracts for trucks, we have drinks trucks with premium brands and we'll be serving high quality food. I have brought in a very experienced catering manager and we are currently running through a variety of potential menus, testing things to see how they work for lunch etc, given the special circumstances of feeding a mas band. We've come up with some very good solutions and having worked as a chef I'm especially keen to have good quality tasty nutritious and of course filling food. But i want to add, all inclusive to me is not just about food and drink. mas has become somewhat pretentious, you need a clique or link to get in a band, or have to be deemed good looking enough to wear a costume. To me that is not what mas is about, it's supposed to be about freeing up yuhself and having fun, whoever you are. I've expressed absolutely that our photo shoot and launch models will reflect the true women who pay money to play mas, all races, all sizes, all colours. Trinidad is the rainbow nation, together we aspire together we achieve and in that sense we are an all inclusive band, black, white, red, Indian, Spanish, Chinee, Dougla, short, tall, thick, thin, man, woman, straight, gay or lesbian we are an All Inclusive band.

3. What are the price ranges of the costumes?
That still has to be confirmed, we are currently in prototype stage, several costumes are completed already but not until we have finished all prototyping will we be able to confirm our unit cost. However we have a good idea what that will be and we are looking to make mas affordable.

4. How many sections can we look for?
Eleven. Darkness, Light, Sunset, Cherry Blossom, Lemons & Limes, Butterfly, Ocean, Emerald Forest, Chocolate, African Violets and Rainbow

5. Will the registration process be? The process of other bands has proven to be noneffective.
Once people are looking to come play mas with a good spirit then they are welcome, there will be no clique or link, it's about playing mas and having fun. Committee members will be taking pre-registrations before the launch but after the launch we are open to everyone.

6. I know that it have mas bands that have started giving their masqueraders a little something to wear on Monday and has become the norm, or even expected of the all inclusive bands now. Will this band have Monday wear and if so would it be included or additional?
We'll have something nice for Monday, it will be related to the theme and it will be included.

7. How soon will your website be up?
The website is now up today, www.utopiamas.com the facebook page should be up this weekend too and hopefully by Tuesday we'll have a teaser video posted on the website and facebook page.

8. Will there be an online registration? Will the registration be public or private?
Yes we'll have online registration for international masqueraders, local will need to register at the mas camp. And it's public. I'm really not into the whole clique thing and I don't think there is any place for it in mas.

9. What can we expect as far as music on the road? Do you already have DJ's in mind or booked (seeing as many of the popular DJ's are already taken). Some bands give a variety of soca, kaiso and upbeat dance hall or reggae music on the road, will this all be an option or will be the masqueraders be subjected to only whats 'in'?
We have some well known DJ's we are currently in talks with and that should be finalised by the end of the week. Also two of our committee are DJs. I'm a SOCA man and for me carnival is about SOCA. For the entire year Trinidad culture is overwhelmed by music genres from outside, which is fine in it's place, but carnival is about SOCA. It's just two days out of 365 and personally i dont wish to hear Vybz Kartel or Pitbull or Jah Cure during carnival.  That said, as well as SOCA DJ's we'll have something surprising and interesting on the road.

10.What age group are you targeting? *if any
We're open to all ages, we wont exclude. Are costumes are sensual and sexy, but we're not just bikini and beads, we have a variety of designs so i think we'll appeal to a wide demographic in that sense. I guess if anything we're aiming at the 20 to 40 age group but that's not to say over 40 and under 21 can't play mas with us. Mas on the road is all about the vibe, if you feel what we are doing, feel the theme, the costumes, feel it and bring the vibe then you're welcome.

11.Do you plan on crossing the savanna stage?
Most definitely. I want to win band of the year, I'm serious about that and people looking to come and play mas with us need to know from the beginning that we intend to compete.

12.Do you plan on crossing all check points?
The only stage we will not be crossing, unless it's moved is Piccadilly greens purely for the safety and comfort of the masqueraders, if it's relocated then we would consider crossing depending on where it's moved to.

13.With all the 'designer sharing', who's designing for your band?
I am band leader and designer. This is a traditional aspect of mas which has been missing for almost a decade. The band leader was always the designer, it's something i think needs to be brought back into mas, which is why i have every respect for K2K and what they did last year. In terms of Utopia Mas i have conceptualised the theme, designed all the costumes, frontline and backline, sourced all the materials, and been completely involved in the prototype process from patterns to stonework. I have a wonderful production team with a vast amount of experience but ultimately this is my vision and if I'm not happy with something I'm changing it, so far, what we have produced looks beautiful.

14.Who's forbidden to design from your band? *hey, I've gotta ask. Cause it have some designers that blight bands as they come design for them..........
No one is forbidden,  I've had several designers approach me to sell designs or bring out sections in the band but paying designers for designs simply does not work with our philosophy. We are a modern 21st century mas band with all the comforts and treats the modern masquerader expects, our costumes are very sexy and sensual but we are not afraid to bring back some traditional elements of carnival and one of them is the band leader being the designer.

15.Where will your mascamp be located?
Woodbrook.

16.Are there any private sections?
No. That doesn't work with our philosophy. As i said earlier.

UTOPIA RELEASED!!!!

Band Launch Date 10th of August, 2012

Venue to be announced.