NOTE: Cube & Star changed management in April 2007. The venue was refurbished and re-opened as the Electricity Showrooms. The new owners retained the Sound Division sound system.
Sound Division capture Nuevo Latino vibe in Hoxton
Cube & Star photographs courtesy of Theme magazine
Sound Division, who continue to dominate the Shoreditch/Hoxton landscape with their technological solutions, this month arrived at the village’s Holy Grail — Hoxton Square.
Here Mark Turner, who also owns Malecon in Dubai, has opened his Nuevo Latino-themed Cube & Star restaurant.
Believing that music will be paramount to capturing the mood of his fusion operation, his websearch led him to Sound Division. But he also spoke to three other companies before inviting the North London contractors to design a three-zone system capable of showcasing the music from contemporary Latin jazz musicians, brought over from Cuba, and lounge DJ’s from across Europe.
“The right music is fundamental in setting the scene when you’re having dinner and drinking a Mojito,” believes Mark, who will present a crossover of genres — from salsa to Brazilian samba and Cuban son, in an Oceans 12-style soundtrack pastiche, delivered from multiplay CD and computer.
And to underline Mark Turner’s commitment to music, leading jazz fusion DJ Gilles Peterson was the opening night guest on the turntables which Sound Division had provided.
Mark also had fixed ideas about how the sound system should be configured. “I wanted it set up in stereo pairs — I’m convinced it makes a difference. Sound Division knew exactly what I wanted from day one. They were keen, and in terms of execution of the contract they had fitted and EQ’d the system inside a couple of days. On top of that, they are nice guys to work with.”
Sound Division have provided a DJ input point (and highly-specified DJ booth) and used the dbx ZonePro 1261 — a 10 x 6 Digital Zone Processor — to store different gain setting feeds, which are routed to JBL Control 28 loudspeakers in the front and rear restaurant areas (reinforced with a JBL SB210 sub) and a smaller room at the rear which functions as a cigar lounge.
Mark confessed he wasn’t even familiar with the Shoreditch area when he first returned from Dubai. “But I was offered the site and immediately fell in love with it. The atmosphere here is fantastic,” he says.
The new restaurant was designed by Italian architect Leopold Vezzoni, and a second phase — a basement level lounge and private club — is scheduled for the Autumn.
Said delighted Sound Division managing director, David Graham, “As a result of this installation we now have around six premium sites in Shoreditch.”
May 2005