Just in time for SXSW events held at the Parish in late March, the venue upgraded their entire sound system to NEXO, thanks to the efforts of Doug Guller, CEO of ATX Brands, an Austin-based hospitality company specializing in restaurants, bars, and live music venues. Nomad Sound, Inc. of Austin, TX, installed the new system.
Founded by entrepreneur Doug Guller, ATX Brands is the parent company for several iconic venues including The Parish, Historic Scoot Inn, and Parish Underground music venues, all of which were open and active during SXSW.
“Nomad and the Parish go way back,” states Jeremy Chance, Technical Director/Lead Engineer, ATX Brands. “We did an install with Nomad a few years back at The Historic Scoot Inn, not quite the caliber of system that we put in at The Parish, but still it rivalled any of the competition. When we decided to make the investment in The Parish, there was no question that we were going to install a NEXO system and that Nomad would be the installer. The significant deciding factors on the NEXO system were definitely price, quality of product, reliability/ life duration, and ease of replacement/cross rental of like gear (if I lose a box, is there a place in town I can quickly get a replacement). NEXO is top of the line gear with reasonable pricing, and is of the highest quality that lasts.”
The Nomad team and Chance had many conversations about what they wanted to do with the Parish, deciding they could put an all-around system, stage and front of house upgrades if they chose a GEO S System. Chance was able to put it together using NS1 software, which, he said, was a huge asset to the decision making and installation process.
“The Parish has always been an acoustically great room in need of a system that could compliment that, says Chance. The transparency and clarity that the GEO S rig provides is exactly what was needed. We went with a bridged four per side S1210/1230 line array over four of the incredible RS18 subs. The clear top end over the beefy, but clean, low end is a perfect match.”
On stage, ATX Brands chose an 8-pack of the NEXO 45N-12 wedges, “the best monitor wedge I have had the pleasure of mixing on,” says Chance, and a drum fill comprised of a single bridged LS18 under a PS15, “a skull crusher.”
Tying it all together, ATX Brands chose a Yamaha CL5 digital console for front of house mixing. “The unmatched clarity and silence of the preamp’s make for clean and precise replication of what is on stage,” Chance notes. “And the patching flexibility is unrivalled. The new Yamaha QL5 is used for monitors– a nice, small footprint with no compromise in power, flexibility, and ease of use. Again, it’s an excellent choice for a monitor console.” The entire system is powered by five NEXO 4×4 amplifiers and networked together through Dante.
For more information on The Parish and ATX Brands, visit www.atxbrands.com.
Founded by entrepreneur Doug Guller, ATX Brands is the parent company for several iconic venues including Parish, Historic Scoot Inn, Parish Underground, Chicago House, Vinyl, Upstairs on Trinity, Pelons Tex Mex, 508 House, Bankersmith Hall and Schroeder Hall, as well as the upcoming Texas locations of Gino’s East Pizzeria. ATX Brands was selected for the Inc. 500/5000 list for the third year in a row by the magazine and now employs over 700 people. Guller is also the founder of Bikinis, Texas and Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill, one of the nation’s fast growing sports bar and grill chains, with locations in Austin, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Lubbock, Texas; Mesquite, Texas; Richardson, Texas; and Live Oak, Texas. All of the seven businesses that ATX Brands own in Austin were open and active during SXSW. Of these, Parish Underground, The Parish, and The Historic Scoot Inn are the music venues.
