ZOE
The award-winning Mexican alternative/psychedelic band, Zoé, has a long history of gold and platinum certified recordings to the delight of alternative rock en español music enthusiasts around the world. From the early days of self-promotion on the Internet and popular local performances to the current 2011 release Mú sica de Fondo/MTV Unplugged (EMI) earning a double-platinum certification in Mexico, the band members León Larregui (guitar and voice), Sergio Acosta (guitar), Rodrigo Guardiola (drums), Ángel Mosqueda (bass) and Jesus Báez (keyboards) have risen to the top of the industry, reflecting influences from The Beatles, britpop and grunge. The group uses a Cerwin-Vega! Active Series speaker system, consisting of four full-range CVA-28 tops, and two CVA 121 subwoofers, in its rehearsal studio room to be able to accurately hear how the band sounds when practicing for upcoming live concerts as well as to hone performances for recording sessions.
"We are constantly on the road these days, so creative time spent in our rehearsal/recording studio is extremely valuable to fine tune our performances," says Sergio Acosta, lead guitarist for Zoé. "As we have the speakers set up across the room facing the band, the Cerwin-Vega! system gives us the opportunity to hear ourselves in the same manner as a FOH system. We use them for when we are rehearsing, composing or just jamming. We even use them to listen to other music as a form of sonic research. We can do this because the system is very accurate. We believe that having this type of setup helps both our creative process and performances. Cerwin-Vega! delivers the sound we need."
Zoé was founded in 1994 and has subsequently risen to become Mexico's most popular rock band. The group worked toward its debut album, "Zoé" in 2002 and the resulting popularity garnered the attention of Sony Music who distributed the project. This relationship led to several cuts being included in movie soundtracks such as Amar Te Duele, Ladies Night and The Dreamer. Zoé's second musical venture, Rocanlover, produced by Phil Vinall, whose clients include Placebo, Elastica and Pulp, clearly defined the musical mission of the band along with the band's signature mixing of lyrics in Spanish and English. This was the first Zoé project released in the United States.
2004 saw the band leave Sony to branch out on its own, all the while building a giant following through the self-promoted singles "Love" and "Veneno." It was at this point that the band signed with the Mexican independent label Noiselab, releasing an EP project, The Room, earning a Gold Award with the sale of over 50,000 units. All the while the bookings kept the band busy with each new tour bringing larger venues in and out of Mexico, including gigs in the U.S. In 2008 the band signed with EMI and released its landmark project Reptilectric, once again produced by Phill Vinall. The album debuted number one on the Mexican charts and quickly sold over 80,000 units to earn a platinum certification. Zoé supported the popular release with a U.S. tour including sold out concerts in New York, Chicago and Anaheim.
"When we rock, we rock loud and we rely on sound companies with equipment that will bring this power to the audience," states Acosta. "We also need to experience this in our rehearsal studio and that is why we rely on our Cerwin-Vega! speakers to give us a sound that is clean and crisp, with exceptional bass response giving us the same visceral experience enjoyed by our audiences. Working with the system is musically exhilarating and really allows us to define our sound. We like to thunder and the speakers deliver."
Zoé completed a 30-show tour in the United States from July to December, 2011 to rave reviews from audience and critics alike.
