House music lovers have been chilling in the deep end at an upmarket Gqeberha hotel’s poolside DJ sessions.
The summer initiative, which takes place at the Radisson Blu on Sunday afternoons throughout summer, offers soulful deep house sets by established regional and national DJs.
The concept was hatched by marketing manager Sigourney Bruintjies, who approached Munnick with her idea to “boost the local scene”.
Those who were around in the Nineties and Noughties still reminisce about the surfeit of nightclubs available to the city’s young people at the time.
It was not unusual for the party set to sample several in a single night to lap up the sounds of different DJs.
House music and all its iterations — deep, hard, tech and progressive among them — abounded from the beachfront to Central and beyond.
But, as clubs specialising in electronic dance music closed their doors for one reason or another, these genres were replaced by DJ sets more commercial in nature.
The choice that once defined Nelson Mandela Bay’s clubland was suddenly no more.
However, a revival of sorts is now surprisingly taking place at one of the city’s landmark hotels instead of the back-alley speakeasies or gentrified buildings that were once synonymous with the genre.
In Munnick the Radisson has found the perfect partner.
Half of the MunniBrotherz duo alongside Robin Muniz, the DJ has performed at some of SA’s biggest music festivals. He released his first solo production courtesy of the Stay True Sounds label in 2016.
The following year he played Boiler Room, one of the biggest online DJ platforms in the world. This was followed by the release of a 10-track CD in partnership with House Afrika Records in 2018.
Having been inspired by the DJ mixtapes of local legends Clibo, Crazy E, Vimo, Faya and Morné Munro in the early to late-2000s, Munnick had his finger on the pulse of the latest underground sounds emerging in bigger markets like Europe and the US.
For Poolside Beats to be successful, music selection and mixing standards need to be upheld as the hotel’s status among city folk demanded it.
“Expect a chilled day at the poolside with deep house being the sound of choice to create a sophisticated vibe,” Munnick said.
After a test run last summer, Poolside Beats became a regular feature in December.
Radisson GM Elmarie Fritz understood Bruintjies’ vision that extended beyond in-house guests and gave it a thumbs-up.
One of her great ambitions is to create a “hotel culture” to rival those in Cape Town and Johannesburg where even people not staying over make use of facilities like the restaurant, spa and bar.
“Poolside Beats is a daytime offering and we believe people should end their weekends with us if they’re looking for something unique and refreshing,” Bruintjies said.
The sessions conclude with a bang in late-February when the hotel hands the decks to Dwson, one of the country’s most sought after deep house DJs.
He has headlined all of SA’s high-profile events, including the Cape Town Electronic Music Festival, Oppikoppi, RedBull Music Festival, Ultra and Rocking the Daisies.
Dwson’s signature sound is plump with dub and soul and his work with other artists is legendary.
His adaptation of Bongeziwe Mabandla’s “ndanele”, for example, was nominated for remix of the year at the SA Music Awards in 2021.
HeraldLIVE
House music lovers chill in the deep at poolside DJ sessions
Image: MATTHEW DU PLESSIS
House music lovers have been chilling in the deep end at an upmarket Gqeberha hotel’s poolside DJ sessions.
The summer initiative, which takes place at the Radisson Blu on Sunday afternoons throughout summer, offers soulful deep house sets by established regional and national DJs.
The concept was hatched by marketing manager Sigourney Bruintjies, who approached Munnick with her idea to “boost the local scene”.
Those who were around in the Nineties and Noughties still reminisce about the surfeit of nightclubs available to the city’s young people at the time.
It was not unusual for the party set to sample several in a single night to lap up the sounds of different DJs.
House music and all its iterations — deep, hard, tech and progressive among them — abounded from the beachfront to Central and beyond.
But, as clubs specialising in electronic dance music closed their doors for one reason or another, these genres were replaced by DJ sets more commercial in nature.
The choice that once defined Nelson Mandela Bay’s clubland was suddenly no more.
However, a revival of sorts is now surprisingly taking place at one of the city’s landmark hotels instead of the back-alley speakeasies or gentrified buildings that were once synonymous with the genre.
In Munnick the Radisson has found the perfect partner.
Half of the MunniBrotherz duo alongside Robin Muniz, the DJ has performed at some of SA’s biggest music festivals. He released his first solo production courtesy of the Stay True Sounds label in 2016.
The following year he played Boiler Room, one of the biggest online DJ platforms in the world. This was followed by the release of a 10-track CD in partnership with House Afrika Records in 2018.
Having been inspired by the DJ mixtapes of local legends Clibo, Crazy E, Vimo, Faya and Morné Munro in the early to late-2000s, Munnick had his finger on the pulse of the latest underground sounds emerging in bigger markets like Europe and the US.
For Poolside Beats to be successful, music selection and mixing standards need to be upheld as the hotel’s status among city folk demanded it.
“Expect a chilled day at the poolside with deep house being the sound of choice to create a sophisticated vibe,” Munnick said.
After a test run last summer, Poolside Beats became a regular feature in December.
Radisson GM Elmarie Fritz understood Bruintjies’ vision that extended beyond in-house guests and gave it a thumbs-up.
One of her great ambitions is to create a “hotel culture” to rival those in Cape Town and Johannesburg where even people not staying over make use of facilities like the restaurant, spa and bar.
“Poolside Beats is a daytime offering and we believe people should end their weekends with us if they’re looking for something unique and refreshing,” Bruintjies said.
The sessions conclude with a bang in late-February when the hotel hands the decks to Dwson, one of the country’s most sought after deep house DJs.
He has headlined all of SA’s high-profile events, including the Cape Town Electronic Music Festival, Oppikoppi, RedBull Music Festival, Ultra and Rocking the Daisies.
Dwson’s signature sound is plump with dub and soul and his work with other artists is legendary.
His adaptation of Bongeziwe Mabandla’s “ndanele”, for example, was nominated for remix of the year at the SA Music Awards in 2021.
HeraldLIVE
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