• Studio Sociaal grand opening night
• Saturday, March 2, from 6pm-10pm
• 13/48 Lysaght St, Coolum Beach

Sunshine Coast new-age rockstar Levi Vanderaa and his fitness coach/model partner Kylie Baye have opened a creative space in Coolum. They sat down with Sienna Bishoff (pictured) ahead of its opening night on Saturday.

Sienna: What is Studio Sociaal?

Rylie: Studio Sociaal is a place for creatives! Basically, it’s a multi-purpose space – perfect for events. We also have a production podcasting room, a music room and recording studio. It doubles up as a photography and videography studio as well. It can be used for mostly anything, really.

If you dream it, we can bring it to life.

Sienna: What inspired you to open this space?

Levi: It has actually been a long-term vision. Seven or eight years ago, I was dreaming of purchasing some sort of property. My brother and bandmate, Aaron, and I were touring our music, saving up to purchase our first property. Studio Sociaal is basically an extension of that dream but Aaron and I have been a little bit more individual recently, so now Rylie and I have followed through with our vision. 

We envisaged a special space for creativity: not just physical space, as in walls and windows, but an aesthetic-design in a natural environment, encouraging artistic emotions in a spiritual space.

Calm waters was a bit of a vision of mine, wherever we landed, and you know we’ve landed on this lovely lake. It provides such a beautiful, calm energy.

We chose Coolum Beach as our wider community. Coolum has this quiet, but very family-friendly kind of energy, and there’s also a lot of creative-minded people here and that’s why we ended up landing here.

Then, we’re like, alright, boom! This place feels really resonant to my creative being. So, not only is it for my personal projects, but it is for the creative community as well.

Sienna: What types of industries could this suit?

Rylie: Studio Sociaal is specifically for arts and performance. We’ll have music and art events, parties, burlesque, dance, those sort of things. We have a bar so we can have events with alcohol.

We’re rooted in music, partying and fun. We love fashion and the creative arts.

I have a magazine and it’s called Sirena Mag, a sort of, soft nude mag. There will be lots of photoshoots, with beautiful naked women. Expression is actually huge for Studio Sociaal. We’re all about allowing individuals to express themselves in a way they see fit to their own personalities.

Levi: Also, I run a music school here. There’s a lot of education going on, a lot of drumming, a lot of singing, a lot of guitar. I come downstairs and I teach students lighting, how to set up audio production, and getting them participating in events.

Sienna: Tell me about your opening night…

Rylie: Essentially, the grand opening night is a free event to showcase our new place and show people what the space is capable of hosting. We’ve integrated a diverse range of acts throughout the night, so people can imagine their own event visions here.

We have a lot going on that night. We have a live performance by De La Vinx, a burlesque performer. She’s going to give us a really epic burlesque show. We’ve got live fashion by Cee Vanderaa. Cee, Levi’s mum, is a fashion designer and there will be models who will showcase her pieces throughout the night.

We’ll have live music by Karaka Orchestra at the end of the night. Karaka are always a really good time. We also have a 16-piece percussion band.

The alcohol will be provided by our local brewery just down the road, Coolum Beer Co. And we’ll have a delicious empanada food stall, offered by Alegria Vegana.

Good tunes, chats and good times, really.

Sienna: Is the event 18+?

Rylie: Our event is open to all ages, however IDs will be checked if you are trying to purchase alcohol from the bar. Children are absolutely welcome, but there is a disclaimer because of the performances that will feature on the night.

The arts and fashion that’s being showcased does include nudity.

Obviously, in the burlesque performance, she will be stripping down to almost bare nude. So, we just advise if people are wanting to bring their children that they’re comfortable with nudity. If not, we recommend leaving the kids at home, because it will be more of an ‘MA’ sort of content. 

The Studio Sociaal grand opening night is on Saturday, March 2, from 6pm-10pm.

Studio Sociaal is at 13/48 Lysaght St, Coolum Beach. Find Studio Sociaal on Instagram and Facebook.

Sign up for their events newsletter on their new website: www.studiosociaal.au.