On Saturday, July 16, institutional Brisbane club The Monastery closed its doors for the last time, making way for ‘Oh Hello!’ - the next generation of Brisbane venues.

Oh Hello! is the brainchild of Brisbane entrepreneurs Adrian Mezzina and Steven Papas of The Arcade Creative. The Arcade Creative are responsible for bringing some of the biggest dance acts in the world to Brisbane and have a reputation as national tastemakers, and to many it was no surprise that they selected renowned bar and nightclub interior designer, Alexa Nice to make their dream a reality.

“It’s a comfortable place for people to go and have a great night out with their friends and the name with its ‘feel good’ vibe reflects that,” Mr Mezzina said. “We’re about a really warm customer experience and we provide high levels of service in a respectful environment. When I say we, I mean Steve and me as the owners will be very hands on and all of our staff will absolutely have that focus.”

Mr Papas said they had a lot of passion for what the Valley did for Brisbane’s culture and more specifically, its evolving dance and live music scene.

”I think it has always and will always play a major role in our fashion industry as well, which has always gone hand-and-hand with music. We are out to do what we can to push that diversity and culture,” he said.

Oh Hello! is a ‘ghetto chic’ mash up with design inspiration from New York’s warehouse scene and the Valley itself. The countless design features include two large high definition projector screens situated behind the bar, along with 300 LED paper lanterns above the dancefloor which can be programmed to suit any mood, music, style or colour. Booth seating consists of raw plywood which wraps into suspended ceilings, with comfortable recycled furniture pieces and milk crates with boldly upholstered tops. Complete with artwork inside and out by talented artist, Jimmy Bligs Oh Hello! is a versatile, relaxed, and artistic bar and nightclub unique to the city of Brisbane.
“The inspiration for the design concept of the ‘Oh Hello!’ stems mostly from my time living abroad in New York last year,” commented Alexa. “During my travels I experienced a whole new world of art, music and culture, and I wanted to create a versatile, comfortable, artistic venue which is unique to the city of Brisbane.

“This venue doesn’t look like a traditional, murky night club, nor a fancy lounge bar, but more like someone’s warehouse where all
inhibitions are left under the front door mat. You won’t find upholstered leather booths, marble tables or chandeliers but there is a bar, a dance floor, seating, and plenty of fun. It is possible to get lost in the custom, larger than life artwork by Jimmy Bligs, and you are welcome to cut a rug on the new raw cement flooring.
Audio in the venue consists of 4 x EAW Avalon series subs, 1 x EAW Tweeter, 6 X EAW Avalon series speakers, 1 x dbx amp, 1 x d12 amp, 2 x Powersoft lq2804, 4 x Crest Audio ca9, 1 x Vortex 4, 1x dp226 speaker control system. The DJ has 3 x Pioneer CDJ 1000 mk3, 1 x Pioneer DJM 800 mixer, and 2 x D&B booth monitors.

Lighting Control is e:cue software and 2 x e:cue Butler.