BUILDING DBS SOLUTIONS ON A BEDROCK OF MARTIN AUDIO

As Chris Bogg woke up to photos of his sound equipment across social media, it occurred to him that more than 20 years had elapsed since he set up his fledgling pro-audio business from scratch, in his dad’s garage. This would duly lead, in 2005, to the formation of dBS Solutions—but not before undergoing a mazy journey.

Reflecting on the Matt Goss show at the Royal Albert Hall that had piqued his reaction, he said, “While it’s not the first time we’d been in there with a tour it was certainly a special moment. Another was our first arena tour last year [with kids Nickelodeon TV stars PAW Patrol Live!]”

His tenet of supporting British suppliers—initially loudspeakers and industrial looking amplifiers from McGregor, on his doorstep in Warrington—was preserved when nearly 15 years ago he became a member of the Martin Audio family. This is a relationship which has been carefully nurtured, and from which he has never looked back.

dBS Solutions’ inventory has evolved through the product generations to the manufacturer’s current state-of-the-art Wavefront Precision (WPM, WPS and WPC) series, cardioid subs and TORUS constant curvature array. In explanation, he says, “I learnt to buy the best kit you can afford early on—and although what I can afford has changed considerably over the years, that philosophy has never done me wrong.” He has a similar philosophy towards borrowing, and notes that the only loan he ever had was from his father.

The Matt Goss tour is a perfect example of winning tours by reputation and relationship building, since dBS Solutions’ MD had previously worked with FOH engineer Simon Allen and production company IBB Media on theTubular Bellstour. “Simon was so pleased with our crew and the Martin Audio rig, which he was using for the first time, that we were invited back. Beingpredominantly a studio guy he likes the PA to be ruler flat and it’s well on the way to doing that with the predictions from DISPLAY.” As with bothTubular BellsandPAW Patrol Live!the task of PA optimisation was in the capable hands of system tech, Danny Clare.

Now backwind to the 1990s. While still at high school, a 14-year-old Chris started deejaying. With seed capital from his dad, including the purchase of a van, he acquired some McGregor speakers for local college work. But a major sea change came about when he was able to pick up some work experience at the 1998 Reading Festival, thanks to his cousin working for promoters the Mean Fiddler Group, as well as with lighting rental specialists, Art of Darkness. “There I was as a 15-year-old on a tour bus with rock and roll lampies.” And that’s when the realisation hit him that he could do this for a living rather than be an eternal DJ.

Chris did a two-year BTEC in Performing Arts, covering backstage disciplines, but his big academic break came when he secured a place at the prestigious LIPA (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) between 2001-2003 from which he emerged with a BA (Hons) degree in Theatre & Performance Design & Technology.

It was the making of him. “I had done more lighting than sound when I went to LIPA, but it was here that sound caught my eye and I realised that as a designer could try out all the risky stuff here. I designed and mixed a lot of theatre shows while at the same time still working with local PA companies.” In particular he came under the influence of new tutor Chris Layton, who also ran monitors for bands such as the Afro-Celt Sound System. In fact, Theatre Sound Design remains to this day one of Chris Bogg’s core specialities.

Graduating from LIPA he had to make a career decision and quickly realised the ‘buy to hire’ model (initially securing kit via eBay) was potentially more lucrative and sustainable.

He initially turned to another supplier on his doorstep—Knutsford based OHM—and with the purchase of six stacks of PA he was forced out of his dad’s garage and into his own premises two miles up the road. But there was a secondary reason: “After the gigs we would arrive back at my parents in the middle of the night and have to unload a van whilst trying to be remain deathly quiet. We got a lot of neighbours curtain twitching and it quickly got to the stage where I knew not only did we need more space, but it had to be somewhere more industrial.”

Meanwhile he was continuing to earn good money working with local wedding band Black Velvet before taking a permanent salaried job at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, spending two years looking after their sound department. This introduced him to a number of touring American bands but more important globally famous orchestras such as the Halle and BBC Philharmonic, whose demands raised his standards and would set him off on another path.

“After two years I realised venues weren’t for me, and Miriam Stone, who was my tech manager, and an excellent boss, said she was surprised I’d stayed so long!”