All the noise at Soundcheck will be contained by its walls: “If you’re walking on 14th and K, you won’t even hear anything,” says managing partner Antonis Karagounis. The club, which opens Wednesday, is a 4,400-square-foot basement space from the same owners as Echostage. They built it like a recording studio–with cork hardwood floors and thick, soundproof foam embedded in its walls.
The decision had nothing to do with noise regulations. Karagounis wanted to install “the best sound system money can buy,” and that meant eliminating even the faintest whisper of outside noise.
Equipped with two disco balls and enough room for about 300 people, Soundcheck harks back to the intimate nightclubs Karagounis frequented while growing up in the ’80s and ’90s in Athens, Greece. The long-time DC promoter thinks those sort of spaces are better suited for DJs than today’s electronic music festivals, like Ultra in Miami and Moonrise in Baltimore. “Dance music is meant to be enjoyed at a nightclub,” he says. “Enjoying a DJ set outdoors under the sunlight…It’s just not meant to be.”
He says Soundcheck offers “the true nightclub experience” with LED video projectors, laser shows, and mood lighting. Tomorrow night at 1420 K Street, Northwest, the club debuts with music from Kennedy Jones. Here’s a peek inside.
