Studio Bell presents After Hours: Holiday Edition
By Abbas Hussain, December 14 2024—
Studio Bell is hosting their After Hours Party after five years when they last hosted this event in 2019, before the pandemic. After Hours is a nighttime series that’s geared towards music fans that are 18+. The holiday edition will be taking place Dec. 14 at 7 p.m., with students receiving 20 per cent off tickets with a promo code.
In an interview with the Gauntlet, the director of programs at the National Music Center, Stephanie Hutchinson, shared her excitement over the return of this late-night party after so many years of a hiatus.
“We turn the lights down, we turn the music up, basically the building transforms into a nightclub and it’s a different opportunity to experience Studio Bell in their really fun and vibrant after-dark atmosphere,” Hutchinson said. “Facilities like this can have a different vibe and feel in the daytime with natural light and interior lighting, it’s just a really neat experience to be a part of the energy of the late-night full building music party, through after hours”
When asked about what it was like organizing this event, Hutchinson said it was definitely a group effort, with every department in the National Music Center organization having a role in this event.
“This event is successful because we all come together and bring our expertise from our own areas. It’s really fun to be able to work together on such a collaborative project,” she said.
The theme of the event this year is Christmas future.
Hutchinson said, “We really wanted to do something festive for the holidays. December is our month of giving and in this month we are looking for the community’s support to come and participate in really unique programming opportunities.”
This event was created to take advantage of all the NMC has to offer, with tons of different activities for people to do and explore, from music to concerts and dancing. It’s unlike a normal visit to the facility. There will be DJs on multiple floors, a drag show with Tynomi Banks from Canada’s drag race and Alberta’s own Lilith Fair participating in that, games, circus performers, festive photo-ops, seasonal cocktails, a beer garden and a cold garden,
“[There are] lots of activities throughout our five floors that will keep folks engaged and moving through the building, the building is designed to be a vertical music festival […] the idea is to roam about and see different things,” Hutchinson said. “Right now in our special exhibition, we have the Beatles exhibit in their version of a tour to Canada in the 60s, that will feature a chill lounge vibe. We’ll have live musicians and dancers in that space. King Eddy is going to turn into a party space as well […]. We’ll have a six-piece live band called Tendavillage, their soul, funk, a live performance. Every space that is publicly accessible is going to have something go on in it.”
One of the groups that will be participating in the event, is Tendavillage, a group with a focus on R&B and funk, along with elements of jazz. In an interview with the Gauntlet, Kate Melivina, the creator as well as the singer, pianist and composer of Tendavilalge, talked about the group’s role in this event.
Melvina said the inspiration for creating Tendavillage came from the fact that she always knew she wanted to write and create music. The name is a reference to her favourite video game. The band was created in 2020, and has been going strong ever since.
When asked about what it’s like to be part of this venue, Melvina said, “I think the venue is really cool [to play at] because of all the history it has in Calgary, … a lot of different musicians have played [here]. I like Studio Bell because I was part of an event called Rock the Nation twice a week for about 8 months, so I spent a lot of time being there.”
More about this event and tickets can be found on the Studio Bell’s website. If you would like to learn more about Tendavillage, check out the band’s website, as well as Kate Melvina’s personal website.