Kinetic Mas launches Cyber Nation

Kinetic Mas bandleader Peter Samuel wants to ensure its masqueraders enjoy playing mas. That “playing mas” is the way it once was: the way Harold Saldenah, George Bailey and the living legend Peter Minshall did it.

The band’s 2023 presentation was launched at a small event on August 9 at its Alberto Street, Woodbrook mas camp.

In 2020, Kinetic Mas won Band of the Year with its Minshall-designed Mas Pieta, and hopes to win again. Samuel who often played the king of Minshall's bands, did not call on him this year, but instead drew on the talents of young designers Sudesh Ramsaran, Chelsea Nimoi Fraser and Donna Dove.

Ramsaran, the main designer, came up with Cyber Nation, which pays homage to mas as it used to be in the 90s, as well as to how people lived during the pandemic, with heavy reference to the digital world.

The nostalgic theme does not end with the costumes, but also carries through to its music. The original Second Imij, with Joey Ng Wai and Tricia Lee Kelshall, as well as Raymond Ramnarine and Dil-E-Nadan and Carl Beaver Henderson, featuring Carl and Carol Jacobs, David Rudder and Tony Prescott, will accompany the masqueraders.

Rudder, Jacobs, Dil-E-Nadan’s Stephen Marcelle and Henderson also attended the event.

Ramsaran said he worked for 21 years reproducing the costumes of other bands, and jumped at the offer to design when Samuel contacted him two years ago.

He’s had the advantage of seeing mas change over the years. He wanted to help masqueraders relive playing in the 90s and give younger people a taste of what it was like back then.

His designs also blend his “deep love” for sci-fi and fantasy.

“I really wanted to incorporate that into the mas. I really wanted to go back into something that was more storytelling, something that looked abstract and artistic and where you don’t see the same five materials representing every different theme.”

The nostalgia, some might argue, also carries through with the costume prices, which range from $3,200-$4,800, all-inclusive, with Monday wear included.

Comparatively, costumes for other bands begin at $5,000.

However, if people wish only to play on a Monday they can get that costume for $850. Kinetic Mas's Monday band ties in elements from its Tuesday presentation.

The band will have section leaders (it has 15 sections) and a king and queen.

Samuel said, “We have been under lockdown for two years and people have been chomping at the bit to come out and do something. For us, coming up with the name for Monday was a no-brainer, which is Exhale.”

Affordability was a major concern.

"We have sat down and seriously thought about what has been happening in the country over the last two years. You still have a lot of people who are unemployed. Things have been hard."

Another cost-cutting measure was having people provide their own undergarments. Samuel said it would be telling its masqueraders to wear anything black under their costume.

Kinetic Mas was able to keep its costs low by sourcing all its materials locally. The band provided employment by doing so.

This, Samuel said, adds to TT’s economy and brings work to artisans, wire-benders and printers.

“To me, that keeps our economy alive, instead of sending our foreign exchange outside. It is about creating jobs. Plus I love being able to come to a mas camp and see what it is going on and touch and feel.

“Everything now is about online and online. That is great but we also want to give people a sense of coming into a mas camp and picking up a backpack and see what it is.”

The band also plans to have its camp open for registration as well as Friday evening limes.

“We want to get that feel of what a mas camp used to be,” Samuel said.