Interview with SIA GaCo’s board member Gatis Kidals
1. SIA GaCo has been active on the market for more than 20 years. What are your areas of activity?
GK: I have been working in the entertainment industry for about 30 years. I started out as a sound engineer. As the years went by, I realised that I wouldn’t get far by working in such a narrow field in the small Latvian market. When I was creating my company, it was clear to me that full service was the way to go. Thus, I had to learn about both lighting equipment and stage constructions. As fate would have it, we reached our goals and are currently a full-service company that offers sound and light equipment, stage constructions and technical solutions.
We specialise in corporate events and have become one of the strongest players in this field in Latvia. But we also work on festivals, concerts and other cultural events of various scales and at different locations of the client’s choice: sports arenas, concert halls, beaches or forests. We also work with the Palladium Riga concert hall, which constantly gives us the opportunity to work with foreign and local artists.
2. Your selection of rental equipment already includes different sound systems. Why did you need another one?
GK: Technologies are moving forward and we can’t get left behind. We have to follow the trends and meet the demands of our clients with something new and modern instead of whatever we find in the warehouse. Furthermore, our company is growing and simply doesn’t have enough equipment. Morally and physically outdated equipment must be replaced.
3. There are several recognised manufacturers of acoustic systems on the global market. Why did you choose Clair Brothers?
GK: I have known about Clair Brothers since my youth. It is a legendary representative of the audio industry that has been a global driving force for more than 50 years.
I have visited countless concerts by world-class artists who work with Clair Global – a company that specialises in providing technical support for concert tours and relies solely on sound amplification equipment by Clair Brothers. The quality of sound has always been excellent!
Their team works with international stars who are very demanding and Clair Brothers is able to provide exactly what they want. This is why I consider Clair Brothers to be a sort of standard to strive for when it comes to sound at events.
4. There was a time when line array sound systems were very popular on the market. They were all the rage. Why did you choose Clair Brothers CAT (Curved Array Technology) instead of line array?
The Line array is not going anywhere, but we don’t make purchases based on whether something is trending or on what everyone else is buying. It is important to us that the chosen acoustic system is capable of getting the job done. My task was to find a powerful yet compact acoustic system with flawless sound quality. The kind that we could split into separate units or use as a connected system depending on the needs.
The Clair Brothers kiT Curve 12+ acoustic systems ticked all of my boxes. We picked both full-range acoustic systems with in-built amplifiers and low-frequency acoustic systems with in-built power amplifiers, as well as different types of hanging elements. As a result, we now have a multifunctional acoustic system that fully justifies itself. For instance, we are currently providing services to the new multifunctional event centre Hanzas Perons with the great hall’s capacity of up to 2000 people. Depending on the situation, it can be divided into two or three smaller halls for concerts, corporate events, exhibitions, conferences, etc. Each event has a different technical rider, but the Clair Brothers kiT Curve 12+ always rises to the challenge.
5. Is this the first Clair Brothers loudspeakers for GaCo?
GK: Yes, this is our first Clair Brothers loudspeakers, but it will not be our last. Another dream come true.
I must add that for years the acoustic equipment by Clair Brothers wasn’t even available on the consumer market as it was manufactured purely for the needs of Clair Global. For several years now this has not been the case anymore. Clair Brothers products may be purchased by anyone, including in Latvia, where the official distributor of Clair Brothers is SGS Sistēmas.
We are glad that before making the final decision, SGS Sistēmas delivered a demo version of the Clair Brothers kiT-Series that we were able to put to the test at several concerts and events. After that, we had no doubt that this was exactly what we needed.
Delivered equipment:
- 10 x ClairBrothers kiT Curve 12+ – loudspeakers;
- 2 x ClairBrothers kiT 12+ (94) – loudspeakers;
- 4 x Clair Brothers kiT-Sub+ – loudspeakers;
- 4 x Clair Brothers kiT-Sub Mini+ – loudspeakers.