1. Adam Fuhr
2. Mahlet Cuff / Kayla Fernandes (tie)

Winnipeg music fans have known Adam Fuhr, 28, for the past decade through his work in indie- rock group Yes We Mystic. But the love for Fuhr in the favourite local achiever under 30 category likely comes from his newest project, the recording studio and record label House of Wonders, which has worked with groups like Amos the Kid and Julien’s Daughter.

Launched in September 2020, Fuhr says he was inspired to create an affordable studio option for local artists following his experience recording the first Yes We Mystic album in 2015.

“I was so broke, I was eating Tim Hortons bagels throughout the whole process,” he says. “We were recording, it was an amazing experience, but it cost a lot of money.”

Despite the steep costs, Fuhr deeply valued the experience of recording in a physical studio space.

“There’s always stories and these amazing legacies to some of these big studio rooms,” Fuhr says. “Like, ‘Oh, this microphone is from 1948 and was used in a speech by whoever.’”

Fuhr was also motivated by his appreciation for the collaborative atmosphere and professional rigor of working in a studio, which can’t be replicated through processes like at-home recording.

“My little dream was to put together something that was just in some shack room somewhere. No one’s under any idea that I have a palace that I’m working out of.”

It may seem ironic that the space’s name, House of Wonders, evokes a sense of grandeur. But Fuhr says the name is a joke that originated with local indie-pop quintet Royal Canoe.

“Royal Canoe recorded out of their rehearsal room, and they called it ‘the Shit Hole,’” Fuhr says, laughing. “When Yes We Mystic recorded in our own rehearsal room for a while, we called it ‘the House of Wonders,’ because we thought it was a funny juxtaposition to call a similar kind of room the opposite thing.”

Published in Volume 76, Number 12 of The Uniter (December 2, 2021)