EASTBOURNE

FUNKTION ROOMS

VENUES, JANUARY 2007, COMMENTS

An East End promoter and club fan of twenty years, Rob Jackson has opened his own club brand, Funktion Rooms, thereby fulfilling his - and possibly every other promoter’s - life long ambition.

Rob has enjoyed a successful career, building club nights such as Ga Ga - which ran for three years in a Rank Leisure unit in Kingston; the soul and garage night Object of Desire in several East End venues; and the underground warehouse night Secret People. He has also found success running Romford’s Pacific Edge bar since 2001.

Funktion Rooms is the culmination of these experiences, and an on-the-boil project of several years, finally taking shape when Rob and a business partner formed Mansito leisure group, a name supposedly taken from the Spanish for “stay the night or stay a while”. Inset from Eastbourne’s famous pier, the venue on Pevensey Road has long been a part of the surrounding circuit, with previous incarnations as House of Commons and The Shuttle pandering to local mainstream tastes.

With Funktion Rooms, Mansito has abandoned the venue’s commercial image for a music led offer, with the large installation of Funktion One speakers and an impressive DJ rider and live stage being the main talking points. The new identity of the club includes a redesign by Lief Design Interiors, which was expertly bought to life by Realm Projects.

Lief describe the brief as ‘urban bling to the kids’, and the venue’s three otherwise different floors are united by a knowing, underground chic. While the basement Sub Club is all hard colours, bare brick and stark industrial finishes, the upstairs Penthouse has been decorated with plush fixtures from a myriad of creditable sources, including red Damask fabric from Skopos; Shimmerscreens (hanging forests of circular metal pendants) supplied by Edge Interiors; red leatherette by Fabricus Ltd in the seating booths; velvet curtains by Sekers Ltd and wall coverings from Brian Yates.

In the main room, The Gallery, Lief have successfully created a big club feel inside what is essentially a modest space.

“Rob really knows his stuff when it comes to throwing a party,” says Martin Vicker of Lief. “The mezzanine surround is a critical part of the club experience, and being able to see and be seen really is part of Rob’s nightclub philosophy. The mood is somewhere between warehouse and classic club.”

The Gallery also benefits from a compact lighting installation, which features plenty of sizzling special effects from a two way pyrotechnic firing unit from Le Maitre. The intelligent lighting is all Martin Professional, with four MX10 and two SXC 700scanners positioned alongside Wizard Extremes and Mac 250s. Visuals are spun on a Numark VJ system and projected onto two screens via a Mitsubishi LCD1700. The venue’s EPoS systems were supplied and maintained by SPA EPoS Solutions.

The club has been in development since 2004, during which time Mansito have patiently explored all the potential of the venue. Initially, the company wanted to excavate a filled in basement area to provide an extra 300 capacity, but prohibitive expense and some hefty logistics (20 tonnes of steel re-enforcements to be installed over a twenty month period) were a decisive barrier.

For the first instalment of what the company hope will be a major brand in the South, Mansito were uncompromisingly faithful to their vision. As opening date pushed further back, the operators thrashed out an argument with EDF Energy, energy suppliers to East Sussex, who claimed that the demands of the audio and lighting install were an unacceptable drain on the local substation.

“We were in love with the Funktion One kit,” says Rob. “We refused to pull back though. ‘The hell were we supposed to do with only half an amazing sound system? It was a real problem because we were essentially kitting out the venue in the dark, and only managed to persuade EDF to switch us on three days before opening. We had the Mayor of Eastbourne in on the first night, and the builders were only just climbing back down their ladders.”

For a 680 capacity venue, the installation - from Accord Audio - is admittedly intensive. The Basement and Penthouse alike have four Funktion One Res 2 ECs above two F218 subs - driven through MC2 E25 and E45 power amps. As the main dance room, the Gallery gets four Res 4s, each with their own F218, delivering the trademark Funktion One power and shimmering clarity.

Their first installation of Funktion One, Accord Audio were assisted and supplied by Dave Cole of Blue Box Audio, the accredited Funktion One installer behind numerous key installations across Ibiza and the UK. The company’s familiarity with the speakers meant that they were well positioned to provide a consultative role on the design and installation of the kit, calibrating the system before the November opening.

“The system was commissioned by fine tuning cabinet angles,” says Technical Director Cole. “And balancing the frequency bands. These, along with initial speaker placement, are the most crucial part of setting up a Funktion One system. We still use our ears as the main tool as they are much more sensitive (and experienced) than any measuring equipment.”

In planning the venue, the choice of sound system was an early decision.

“We knew we were wanted to use the world’s best sound system,” says Rob. “There’s no point having first class acts using second rate system. There is a very high spec here, and that is an important part of the Funktion Rooms brand.”

The system plays a pivotal role for the brand. Rob reasons that high quality audio of Funktion One’s standard is becoming a standard requirement for touring bands and a-list DJs, and with some expensive toys in all three DJ booths, and a decent back line on the stage (including AKG drum mics and Crown XTI2000 amps), Funktion Rooms is attracting the talent. Big Love label boss Seamus Haji played the opening weekend, whilst hotly tipped bands like Blood Red Shoes and Mondo Generator have played the live stage.

Cole believes that Accord’s installation will ensure the club’s future success corresponds to Rob Jackson’s ambitions: “I think Accord Audio have done a great job with the installation. The venue should do well as there is nothing else in Eastbourne with this kind of system or an owner with such vision.”

Words: Leo Batchelor

Images: Jim Ellam

From: January 2007 Issue

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