Creative compositions

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This article was published 04/07/2015 (3928 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You’ve gotta have a whole lot of love for a guy who is a musician, a producer and a renovator.

“I’ve been playing music since the age of six,” said Marc LaBossiere, a well known Canadian musician who used to spend 50-plus weeks a year on the road with his band, LaBossiere.

The high-strung boy from Norwood was born into a musical family where every member was expected to play an instrument of some kind. He chose guitar and was writing and singing three -chord songs by the time he entered first grade.

Education was also valued by his family. When LaBossiere graduated high school, he enrolled in engineering at the University of Manitoba.

“I didn’t complete my degree because I realized I didn’t want to be pinned to a chair for the rest of my life,” said the charismatic LaBossiere, blessed with talent including the ability to design a structure on paper and then build it with his own hands.

He used these tactile skills when he purchased an historic older home in 2004 near St. Pierre-Jolys, about 30 minutes south of Winnipeg on Highway 59.

He sold his house in St. James because he needed more room to build an environment conducive to his creative spirit.

“I put a lot of tender loving care into the house,” said LaBossiere, “I used 22 bright colours to paint the interior walls and built a recycled brick half-wall between the kitchenette and living room.”

The brick was retrieved from the home’s former walkway and then cleaned at a local car wash by LaBossiere and local kids he hired to speed up the job.

His renovation opus was the construction of Studio 59, a recording studio on top of the house’s existing three-car garage.

He began by tearing off the roof, creating space for a 1,000 square-foot production facility complete with state-of-the-art sound equipment and festooned with colourful guitars and Marshall amps.

He conducted the entire reno from initial design to completed build mostly on his own.

The work included the installation of heat ducts, wiring, plumbing, rough framing as well as final interior and exterior finishing.

One of his favourite client renos is a basement in Sage Creek.

“It was like being presented with an open palette,” said LaBossiere. “The owners gave me the green light to turn their unfinished concrete basement into a living area of my own design.”

The project includes leaded glass Art Deco doors that complement the uncluttered less-is-more style of the completed basement.

Another “studs to finish” reno of which LaBossiere is particularly pleased is a basement in a St. Vital that he transformed into separate rooms including a family area with a large screen TV.

He is also a talented designer and renovator of unique bathrooms, unusual decks and distinctive pergolas.

One of his favourite pergolas is a five post fan-like design that spreads its wood spokes over the top of a large deck like sheltering wings.

His decks are usually multi-tiered and multi-sided, reflecting his desire to create unusual projects that are utilitarian and visually stimulating.

Indeed, a deck he built that surrounds an above-ground swimming pool on his property in St. Pierre-Jolys incorporates many such intriguing details.

LaBossiere is about to commence work on a large Trex deck that will be built onto the back of a $4 million home on Victoria Crescent.

“I guess I’m one of those people who believe in the entrepreneurial spirit,” opined the musician, music producer and renovator, who turned to renovating to support his music and songwriting habits.

Now that he has built his sound studio, he is producing tracks and videos for himself and other artists. His latest video release is available on YouTube and is called One Foot Out The Door. It was shot in a basement that LaBossiere renovated for a client.

Whether you are looking for a producer or a renovator, you can call or text BOSS Enterprise at 204-391-2677 or email marclabossiere@mts.net or itheus@mts.net.

You’re gonna love his studio and reno rates, both of which are competitive and promise first-rate results that will reverberate in your mind and in your neighbourhood for years to come.

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