Greetings! Thanks for checking in!

The past year has been quite a difficult ride with our bassist Gabriel Costa moving to Brasilia (far away) after the last gig in July 2023. Combined with health issues I’ve been dealing with, and not wanting a lot of sympathy type posts, I’ve kept that stuff to myself, but I’ll say it has been a challenging time. Aging isn’t easy! And not jamming has been making me crazy.

I am posting now to inform the world I am back in action with a new bassist and new band format. A power trio I am calling POWERHOUSE which is pretty much a Brazilian version of what The Berends Brothers Band did… classic rock cover music of my choosing to get out and play. As MASTERMIND appeals to a limited audience of hardcore prog-rockers, POWERHOUSE is a more user friendly unit to go out and hit the local rock bar scene in São Paulo and surrounding areas. Our first gig is October 12th with others to follow shortly (hopefully)!

This was my original intent to begin with, coming to Brazil; a loose, jamming, cover band with a flexible repertoire, then these prog festivals came along and the focus shifted to Mastermind music full time. Then came COVID. Ack. I’m sure a few Mastermind tunes will find their way into the Powerhouse repertoire eventually. We’ll just have to wait and see!

POWERHOUSE updates and gig information will be posted over on billberends.com, so go have a look. Starting over yet again…wish us luck!!  ~Bill Berends

ps: No News of any sort regarding future MASTERMIND activity. That could always change!

ps: yes, yes, there are other bands in the world calling themselves Powerhouse. Fuck ’em! You can call it Bill Berends’ Powerhouse, or Powerhouse SP, if you’d prefer. The One and Only Powerhouse of São Paulo, out to take you for a musical ride! We hope you’ll come join us.