A new Era
Published: MEA
With a passion for electronic music and an attitude that meant only the best was acceptable, Era has opened in Cape Town as Phuture Sound’s first Funktion One club install. James Ling finds out more
In some clubs, the sound system can be an afterthought. Lighting, furniture and decoration can dominate the concept, creating a great look but a compromised end result. Venues can easily become a cacophonous environment that feature a bit too much style over content. Era is different. Cape Town’s latest nightspot has been created with electronic music at the very heart of everything it does, and for its creators, getting the right sound system was central to the concept.
‘We were fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity to get involved with the club really early on, in its conceptual stage,’ says Anton Sinovich from Phuture Sound, Funktion One’s South African distributor. ‘This meant the sound system was not implemented in isolation to the club, as an afterthought. We could literally design the club around the sound system, coordinating the balance between the sound, acoustic treatment, numerous visual effects, general interior architecture and the design of the club in line with the vision for Era. There were going to be no compromises made in delivering this. It had to be Funktion One.’
While getting the right sound system was important for Era, the project itself was equally important for Phuture Sound. ‘We have been in operation for a little over one year with Funktion One and to date we have been focused on building the infrastructure to deploy four touring rigs – two in Cape Town and two in Johannesburg and Pretoria,’ explains Mr Sinovich. ‘Era is our first major club instillation in South Africa and I believe it will be a very special place where people will come from far and wide to enjoy music.’
The move to club installation was a natural one, and reflects the initial goals of the distributor. ‘As Phuture, we are only interested in distributing Funktion One sound systems, we have no interest in being a general sound company or selling speakers and amplifiers,’ states Mr Sinovich. ‘We are on a mission to expose people to a new experience in listening to their favourite artist, DJ or music, and in doing so potentially change the quality of the local music scene and music productions in South Africa for the people attending them forever.’
This is a laudable aim, and according to the distributor there is solid reasoning behind it. ‘We found that very few local productions that we have been to have remotely succeeded in engaging and immersing the crowd in the music,’ states Mr Sinovich. ‘The Funktion One systems we have experienced can actually do this. This means the only reason we exist as a company is because we are passionate about the Funktion One brand and the incredible sound systems that they deliver.’
It is this passion that first connected Phuture Sound with the people behind Era. ‘The man with the vision, and the owner of Era is Giovanni Augusta. Giovanni is assisted by a great team which he assembled for the implementation of Era that includes Dino Moran,’ says Mr Sinovich. ‘We got involved as local distributors of Funktion One and our focus was entirely on the sound system of the club which encompasses a small, but important aspect of the entire project.
‘An incredible amount of effort and thought has been taken by Giovanni and his team, not only in the selection of the sound system, but also in partnership with local specialists in the acoustic treatment of the venue to allow such a powerful and precise system to best showcase its sonic qualities in an enclosed space,’ continues Mr Sinovich. ‘From the outset, the brief we received from Giovanni was to put the very best sound system available into Era. He went on to say that sound was a primary focus of the club and “For the sound system in Era there is no budget, we only want the best”.’
With this blank canvas to play with, Phuture Sound enlisted the help of the manufacturer to create the best possible system for the venue. ‘We were extremely fortunate to have Tony Andrews and Mike Igglesden from Funktion One on board from the beginning,’ says Mr Sinovich. ‘Our primary concern was to put an appropriate amount of sound in for the space. Funktion One produces extremely powerful speakers, and there is a finite amount of sound that you can deploy into an enclosed space. It’s is easy to go overboard when given a blank canvas as a mandate, instead we opted to set a new benchmark in quality not amount of boxes being deployed.’
This has seen an impressive setup created in the two-level venue. Downstairs in the club, the main dancefloor is covered by a pair of Resolution 3SH skeletal mid-highs and a further pair of Resolution 2SHs. Two F215 mkII double 15-inch subs and a pair of BR221 double 21-inch bass reflex cabinets provide the lows. System management is via the X04-A complete with Audiocore, while power for the dancefloor system is handled by F60Q-DV, E90 and E100 amplifiers.
Elsewhere downstairs, the DJ booth and lounge is covered by four F1201 enclosures with a BR218 bass reflex cabinet powered by E25 and E45 amps. A similar system covers the booths with an F40Q-DV amplifier powering the four F1201 speakers. Completing the downstairs club setup is a pair of F55 cabinets covering the bar.
Upstairs in the café, the system is understandably somewhat smaller. The dancefloor here is covered by four Resolution 1 enclosures with low-end handled by a pair of BR218 double 18-inch bass reflex cabinets. The X04-A with Audiocore is again used for system management, while power is via E100 amps.
The upstairs DJ booth features a pair of F81 speakers and a self-powered MB112A sub while the deli area is served by four F101 cabinets and a pair of MB212 bass speakers with power from F40Q-DV amps. Completing the café solution upstairs is a pair of F101s to cover the bar.
‘We were fortunate to have the ears of Tony Andrews who helped us fine tune the system over three days prior to the opening evening,’ says Mr Sinovich. ‘Working with Tony was a pleasure but at times also humbling. We thought we had everything covered and then some, but Tony would find several ways adjust and improve the overall sound delivered in the venue. We are extremely grateful for his input and learned lot from him in this instillation. It was both amusing and frustrating for everyone at the club that he found so many ways to improve what already thought of as the continent’s reference instillation.’
With the venue now open, and already receiving very positive reviews, Mr Sinovich is clearly very happy with the project and Phuture’s first club installation. ‘Our goal from the outset was to create not only a reference club for the continent, but one that would be noted on the global dance music scene,’ he concludes. ‘I'm quietly confident that we have set a new benchmark.’