“We were the only rental company in the Czech Republic dealing with Funktion-One when we started,” says Force Production’s Kevin Dobson on the beginnings of his business.

“I met Full Fat Audio’s Dave Millard at Creamfields in the Czech Republic in 2005 and he was my first introduction to the Funktion-One team. It was the best thing I’d ever done. I was 40 then and wondering if it was my midlife crisis - is this it? Am I going to buy a Dodge Charger? Instead, I ended up buying a sound system."

Force Production works across Eastern Europe, regularly supplying Funktion-One sound for a range of events and festivals, including Boris Brejcha's shows in Prague, 4 GB Festival in Georgia and Beats for Love Festival in the Czech Republic. Vero VX has become the jewel in the crown of its Funktion-One rental stock.

“The first time we used the VX system was two years ago at a psychedelic trance festival in Switzerland,” Kevin explains. “Myself and the sound engineer are not huge fans of that genre of dance music but it is really well produced. We were standing in front of the rig all weekend just having our minds blown. This is what we do for a living and we don’t normally stand in front of the system itself unless it’s something we really like. But at this event, it was amazing, we were captivated by the detail of the sounds coming from the speakers.”

Kevin originally hails from Nottingham. His first musical adventures came with the illicit UK raves of the '90s. It was through hanging out with the notorious DiY soundsystem that he found his love for parties and ended up travelling with them across Europe. 

“During the mid-90s, I went to my first raves and me and a friend ended up building a rig ourselves,” he recalls. “That’s how I got into sound rental; it grew out of this hobby.”

Kevin was a founding member of the Quadrant Soundsystem, a collective that started life in 1996 and is still active today, with his peers continuing to DJ, work in and explore music technology.

“DiY’s Harry Harrison is ultimately responsible for us being in Prague,” laughs Kevin.
“In 1997, he told us they were doing a gig in the city and asked us to bring our rig so they could do a second stage. It was the first time we’d done a road trip with the gear, and when we got there it just felt like this amazing wonderland of a place. Everyone was so nice; we were really enchanted by it.”

Kevin initially formed Vice Audio, which was the first company to offer Funktion-One in the Czech Republic. Five years later, he joined up with business partners Tomas 'Pixie' Mazdra and Martin 'Sygy' Sykora to form Force Production, expanding their inventory to cover lighting and staging. Alex 'Hippy' Limburg also played a pivotal role, bringing his wealth of experience and expertise in delivering professional level audio productions.

In 2022, the company invested in Funktion-One's Vero VX. “The precision of the Vero VX is unprecedented,” states Kevin. “You can hear all the details but the sound doesn’t melt your ears and eyeballs. It’s balanced, precise and has a real beauty to it."

He attributes its success to the expertise and experience of the Funktion-One R&D team “When the whole industry jumped on the bandwagon of line array, Funktion-One didn’t,” Kevin says. “Instead, they bided their time, saw what was going on, then started researching how to do it in their own way. They developed it, then brought it out, and it sounds incredible compared to other manufacturers. It’s just got this insane sound quality.”

German DJ Boris Brejcha’s recent performance in Prague is a highlight for the Force Production team. This was an indoor arena gig in a 10,000 capacity venue using 10 Vero VX per side. “We weren’t sure if it would be enough," he says. "But our front of house sound engineers were blown away by the power of these relatively small boxes.”

Another standout project is the Funktion-One installation at Duplex in Prague. This initially featured a four-point Evo 6 system before a second room was unveiled. “In 2022, they opened a new area in the club with F124 subs and a pair of Vero VX in gold,” Kevin explains. “That’s a nice install.”

The strong relationship between Funktion-One and Force Production looks set to continue throughout 2024, with more festivals and parties on the horizon. Eastern Europe is certainly an exciting part of the world for dance music events.

“I’ve been to so many different places that I never thought I’d see through this line of work,” he explains. “It’s amazing how it has panned out. We’ve done five festivals in Germany this year, plus Georgia, Slovakia and Austria. We’re proud to be one of the biggest production and rental companies installing Funktion-One here, so people come to us and I feel like we fly the flag well.”