ATV Records Announces It Will Close at the End of July

In a June 23 Instagram post, downtown nightclub ATV Records announced, "Dear friends & family: After a long and careful assessment by our team, it has been decided that ATV Records will be permanently closing on July 31, 2022," adding that it would "continue to have parties up until July 31."

The news was unexpected. ATV Records had risen from the ashes of the longstanding Wynwood venue, Electric Pickle, becoming the new home of techno and house in the area — particularly for midlevel acts that had devoted followings but couldn't fill Club Space's terrace.

The venue opened in 2019 when former Electric Pickle owner Will Renuart took over the space, then known as 1306. The goal was to have a functioning record store that doubled as a nightclub. While the record-store concept never really came to fruition, the club still filled the void left by Pickle's closure. (It even inherited the famous Pickle disco ball.) Unfortunately, the pandemic forced ATV to close for several months in 2020, effectively putting a halt to any momentum it had built in that short time.

Speaking to New Times, partner Aramis Lorie says the team agreed it was time for a change and that the announcement is more about a rebranding and refresh for the venue than a closing.

"The scene is changing — I'm changing — and we had an opportunity to partner up with a cool new project," Lorie says. "We finally got our permits with the city, and we're building a full-on kitchen."

Lorie declined to divulge specifics but says the project will see the space currently occupied by ATV and Melinda's focus more on the restaurant aspect, and the team will bring in a chef who Lorie promises will be "amazing."

The space will have a nightlife component but it won't focus exclusively on techno and house music. Instead, Lorie says, there will be more live music — specifically, world music — and not as heavy or bass-thumping as ATV's current offerings.

Lorie is no stranger to downtown's nightlife scene. As part of the party collective Poplife, he helped solidify the area's reputation as a party destination, first with I/O Lounge in 2003 and later with PS 14, both of which were located on NE 14th Street, as well as White Room and 1306, both of which occupied the space of currently used by ATV. He and his team also held parties at area nightclubs, including Pawn Shop Lounge and Studio A. But Lorie is perhaps best known as one of the partners of downtown music venue Grand Central.

Despite his decades of nurturing the downtown nightlife scene, nothing could have prepared Lorie for the arrival of Miami Worldcenter, the massive mixed-use development spanning several blocks. Already nearing completion, it's set to transform the formally blighted area at the edge of downtown into a destination filled with condos, restaurants, open spaces, and more.

Lorie acknowledges that Miami Worldcenter has changed the area thoroughly, bringing a new vibe to the streets surrounding the venue.

"It's bringing a lot of new players to the scene," he says. "I'm really optimistic about what's happening."

The loss of ATV is a significant one for patrons looking to get their fix of underground dance music. But the venue promises to go out with a bang. Party collective Safe Sound System has already announced its closing weekend party, Rave Against the Machine, for Friday, July 29, with a lineup that includes Terence Tabeau, Diego Andres, Artime, Mutant Pete, Wngdu, and Mitch Smith.

ATV Records. 1306 N. Miami Ave., Miami; atvrecords.com.