Pick 6ix

74 VENUE - THE AMERICAS

PICK 6IX

TORONTO, CANADA

THE AMERICAS

Hip hop star, actor and Jordan brand ambassador, Drake, recently channelled his entrepreneurial skills into the hospitality industry, opening Pick 6ix - his first combined restaurant and club.

Located at 33 Yonge Street in hip hop star Drake’s hometown of Toronto, the venue boasts a layout suitable for over 178 guests. The restaurant also offers the option of being seated in one of the private dining rooms, the expansive outdoor terrace, or a VIP area that includes a champagne bar. As a man with strong family roots in music, Drake’s chosen sound system for this impressive venue needed to match the highest standards of interior design. Void Acoustics was the brand of choice, with the installation expertly executed by the Void Benelux team. The project began last summer, with Drake and his business partner, Sabah Nissan, selecting the acclaimed Horeca Sfeermakers - an agency specialising in bar and club design, based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The entire production, design, furniture and electronics are all Dutch - everything was specially shipped

www.mondodr.com

75 VENUE - THE AMERICAS

• Above Inside Drake’s latest venture - Pick 6ix.

in from The Netherlands to Canada, giving it a unique design edge. “Everything around ‘Drake’s new club’ was kept a bit mysterious. They sent me an awesome looking interior design rendering and a floorplan and told me to design the best sounding system possible for that room,” explained Wesley Pierik, Managing Director at Void Acoustics. A combination of two Air Motions, four Airtens, two Venu 215’s and eight Cyclone 55’s, all in a high gloss black finish make up the sound system in the bar-club and restaurant. For the VIP area of the club, a further two Air Motions and two Airtens in a customised chrome gold, together with Venu 215 and Venu X subwoofers ensure the sound is second-to-none. All of the subwoofers are discretely hidden away in the interior beneath the sofas. Void Benelux flew in from Amsterdam to ensure the installation went exactly as planned,

with Robert Hofkamp - Director of US Operations for Void assisting the team. “The design was based on a similar club-restaurant in Amsterdam. We needed a system that sounded great with everything, in any situation. The Void Air Motion V2 fitted this criteria perfectly. So, we decided to bring two into the main room and two in the VIP-room as well,” Wesley continued. “Then we used our Airten V2’s and Cyclone 55’s to fill in the smaller zones in the restaurant. Every zone can be controlled individually in terms of source and volumes. “The great thing about this specific combination of products is that it produces first class background music to the restaurant, helping to create the perfect ambiance for guests to enjoy. Then in the evening, the same system effortlessly gears up to a full-sized club system, thanks to the Air Motions in the room and Venu 215’s that are built

away under the seats. This way we keep it looking like an elegant, compact-sized system, with all the benefits of club sound for this room,” Wesley stated. He put careful thought into selecting the right Void products for this venue, and after previously working with Sabah Nissan. He has a similar Void system in his Amsterdam venue, The Alley, a restaurant that transforms into a bar and club over the evening - just like Pick 6ix, so Wesley was keen to impress again. Sabah was so amazed by the sound quality and versatility of his existing Void system that he wanted a very similar setup in this partnership venture with Drake. Aside from the incredible sound quality that Void Acoustics are so well known for, the visual appeal of the design also sets them apart from other brands. Air Motions and Airtens in the VIP area, and high gloss black fibreglass Air

www.mondodr.com

76 VENUE - THE AMERICAS

Motions, Airtens and Cyclone 55’s in the main restaurant and bar area, these Void products enhance the rest of the stunning interior design. “One of the biggest challenges to overcome was the restaurant ceiling being covered by a wooden skeleton structure. Fitting the Air Motion loudspeakers in-between was a very precise job so we decided to fly to Toronto to make sure that every detail was thoroughly planned for, right down to the type of brackets used. I am happy we took this path because the end result

turned out to be stunning and the clients are very happy,” said Wesley. In working for such a high-profile client, who is himself a successful musician, only using only the best engineers in the industry, the loudspeaker installation had to be of the highest standard. Drake’s right-hand man, Nessel ‘Chubbs’ Beezer, and his chief sound engineer, Noel Cadastre, remarked that they were ‘blown away by the quality and impact of their new Void system’ - a testament to the Void brand.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

SOUND 4 x Void Acoustics Air Motion loudspeaker; 6 x Void Acoustics Airten loudspeaker; 8 x Void Acoustics Cyclone 55 loudspeaker; 3 x Void Acoustics Venu 215 subwoofer; Void Acoustics Venu X subwoofers

www.pick6ixto.com