Sound People

The Adelaide Oval is among venues equipped by The P.A. People (above) while Sydney’s Carols in the Domain where an earlier client (below). Sound People

Steve Drury explains how the last 12 months has been a massive period for Sydney-based, Tier 1 AV integrator, The P.A. People

Beyond marking its 50th anniversary of operations as of July 2021, the Company has been through a period of ongoing expansion of its teams and product capability.

What started back in the early 1960s as Christian Sound was first incorporated on 2nd July 1971, growing to become one of just a handful of leading event communications specialists world-wide and one of the most well respected and diverse professional audio and AV solution providers in the industry.

Born to meet the needs of local community events, the company was created at a time when professional audio was in its infancy and had to manufacture many of the products it needed, ranging from multichannel mixing consoles and amplifiers, through to the now iconic range of PEM selfpowered portable loudspeakers.

Concert Production

In 1985, The P.A. People secured the contract to provide the sound systems for Carols in the Domain and the Sydney Festival Concert Series including the Australian Opera and the Symphony under the Stars, a contract it held for the next 10 years.

In 1990, The P.A. People ventured into the world of Concert Touring systems with the purchase of a significant Turbosound TMS3 system powered with custom designed Australian Monitor amplifiers. The system was selected for their Australian Tours by the world’s elite artists including Gloria Estefan, Diana Ross and James Taylor.

However, the company later chose to exit the touring space and concert production arena in 1995.

Product Development The late 1980s saw the product manufacturing arm of the business develop into a separate but wholly owned entity named Creative Audio.

Based in Brisbane, the business initially continued the production of mixer amplifiers and portable loudspeakers and then moved into the development of digital message storage and the ConcertCom range of intercom products.

Creative Audio also became adept at creating custom audio solutions for significant clients, two examples being the development of audio teaching systems for the Schools of Distance Education (Schools of the Air) in Queensland, and the replacement of the Stage Management Systems for the Sydney Opera House.

The Company went on to create the Control Matrix audio paging system which achieved significant international success in the early 2000s. Control Matrix was the predecessor of the paging product now known as Vocia with the Creative Audio business eventually sold to Biamp Systems in 2008.

Systems Integration The 1990s also saw The P.A. People move into larger scale systems integration activities with the securing of contracts to deliver loose equipment and control room infrastructure for the new Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and the expansion of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Sydney 2000 Olympics In 1997, The P.A. People successfully tendered for the supply and installation of the sound system for the then new Sydney Olympic Stadium in Homebush, under what The P.A. People Managing Director, Chris Dodds looks back on as “the watchful eye of the US consultants” - developing and designing the venue’s AV to suit Australian conditions.

Commissioning the system prior to the opening of the venue in 1999, Dodds recalls “we are extremely proud of the fact that since that time we have operated the system for every event at the Stadium, upgraded the system on three major occasions, and serviced and maintained the systems throughout their life”.

2022 has already seen The P.A. People provide the audio and radio systems for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

- the ‘best games ever’ - also included sound systems installations for the Aquatic Centre, the Sydney Showgrounds and the Velodrome; the site-wide PA systems across Sydney Olympic Park; the contract to deliver the entire temporary AV package for the ‘non-competition’ Venues; along with the Communication Systems for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and the majority of the Sports Venues.

Dodds advises “what we had expected would be a one off event has now become a very significant part of our business.

“Out of the remnants of our Concert Productions business quickly rose what is now known as our Event Communications department. With five Olympic Games and countless other national and international events behind us, The P.A. People’s Event Comms team are known as one of the significant providers of large-scale Production Communications systems on the world stage.”

Innovation The Company continues to be an innovator in the provision of venue infrastructure across Australia having worked many of the country’s major sports venues and countless theatres and performing arts spaces, designing and installing audio systems, production communications, stage lighting, IPTV systems, LED screens and video production equipment. Into the Future With events emerging from the pandemic, The P.A. People has gone through a focused period of expansion in both its Venue Engineering and Event Communications departments.

Earlier this year, the company established its new Venue Engineering team and acquired TheatreQuip, a company with a 30-year history in the Australian staging market.

Under the leadership of industry stalwart Peter Grisard, the new team has hit the ground running with several significant projects in the pipeline including a full counterweight system at Sutherland Entertainment Centre; drapes, tracks and lighting bars for the new Bondi Pavilion; and a full theatrical fit-out including an adjustable acoustic shell and a motorised fly tower for a new multi purpose complex in South Australia.

Dodds notes “with recent developments in the local staging industry, the timing is perfect and we believe the market is ready for something fresh.

“With an experienced team providing innovative and standards-compliant solutions and our own products designed and built in Australia, it is a significant new offering.”

TheatreQuip The P.A. People felt that the consolidation in the Australian staging market might be an opportunity to use their experience and engineering approach to create a new team with a focus on innovative and standards compliant solutions, proven products from around the world, and the very best in Australian design and manufacturing.

The acquisition of TheatreQuip has seen the launch of a unique range of motorised hoists. These hoists are designed to span a range of applications, from a simple bar in a school auditorium through to the most demanding professional theatre installation.

Known as ‘Reference’, each product has been meticulously designed and independently certified to comply with Australian Standards and with the new EN17206 Standard ‘Entertainment Technology - Machinery for stages and other production areas’.

The P.A. People has also been appointed as exclusive distributor of Movecat Motion Control - Germany’s number one supplier of specialist entertainment hoists products - in Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately.

This follows The P.A. People having worked with Movecat products on a number of hoisting projects over the past

The UNSW Roundhouse is among venues equipped by The P.A. People.

The P.A. People provided the celebration communications package for the UAE 50th National Day Celebration in Dubai on 2nd December last year. Credit: Nicolas Chavance Groupe.

three years, including the design and supply of the 10-tonne motorised Gondola supporting four LED screens at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.

The company has also become the authorised system integrator and installer of SERAPID Rigid Chain Technology in Australia and New Zealand.

As Dodds notes “one of the core elements of many stage machinery projects is the horizontal and vertical movement of heavy loads for applications such as orchestra platforms for musicians, adjustable seating systems and complex stage structures.

“Designed using a simple mechanical principle making it possible to transfer loads required for stage machinery, SERAPID elevation and transfer systems meet venue’s functional requirements and architectural constraints.”

And the link with SERAPID results from the business’ Venue Engineering team having been searching for the best actuator technology for its projects since its establishment.

Bringing Back Events Recent years have also seen the company re-enter the audio production market with the acquisition of a significant inventory of Bose ShowMatch cabinets and Linea Research amplification. The systems have been deployed for corporate events at the International Convention Centre Sydney and for the opening of the Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup, as well as providing regular support of the Sydney Kings basketball and Sydney FC football teams. 2022 has already seen The P.A. People deliver a number of significant projects - the Communications Package for the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks, the Audio and Radio systems for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne, and the VIVID Sydney 2022 communications network.

This followed the company having ended 2021 providing the celebration communications package for the UAE 50th National Day Celebration in Dubai on 2nd December last year, as part of a large team delivering a spectacular show staged on Hatta Dam – all while Sydney was in lockdown.

Managing Growth Behind this expansion, Dodds explains “we are basically operating four divisions these days – first, installed systems, the installation of audio visual and professional audio aligning systems in theatres and large venues.

“Secondly, Event Communications, which is fundamentally our rental operation which covers communication systems which form the backbone for public events - and this includes large scale audio at all types of large events.

“Our Service and Maintenance division catering for the needs of hundreds of venues, organisations and public infrastructure from transport hubs and ferries, to sporting, education, local and State government facilities to simple audio and comms repairs back at our service desk.

“And then our newest venue engineering venture is what we would call the other half of the theatre fit out.

“Previously we’ve done all the electronic systems - whether they be lighting, sound and stage management systems - but we now have a team that’s dedicated to the more mechanical aspects such as lighting bars, hoist curtains, drapes, orchestra lifts, all the counterweight systems and all the, bits that go to make theatres operate from a mechanical point of view.

“So we are now providing a full circle fit out capability covering both the technical systems and the mechanical systems.”

The P.A. People is now positioned to provide a comprehensive and ever-growing range of support services to the events industry, the venue engineering sector, installations for audio, AV and performance lighting, and service and maintenance operations for a broad range of venues. Steve Drury manages Marketing Communications for The P.A. People.