By Emily Wunderlich
When English author James Hilton wrote his 1933 novel “Lost Horizon,” he envisioned a land of peace and perpetual youth. The Shangri-La, he called it: an imaginary, beautiful place.
At 6287 21st Way S., the Shangri-La comes to life. Fairy lights are strung around the yard. Old vinyl records hang from tree branches. Tie-dyed tapestries drape the wooden fence. And twice a month, local musicians take the homemade stage in the middle of the yard.
The student-made arts and music venue celebrated its first birthday in January. But after May, it will be no more.
The setup is the brainchild of roommates Kyla Fields, Ty Battle and Alivia Lynch.
“All of our furniture is either found in the trash or bought from a thrift store,” said Fields, 21, a senior mass communications major.
The roommates met at USF St. Petersburg and moved into their current house with two other people in August 2017. Right away, Fields knew that the spacious backyard — as well as its location on the end of her street — would make the perfect venue for local musicians and vendors.
“For small bands that are trying to tour, there’s not really that many venues in St. Pete and Tampa because New World Brewery shut down, Local 662 shut down, Fubar shut down,” Fields said. “The places for small bands to play are dwindling, really.”
Fields said the venue was an idea at the back of her mind until a band from San Marco, Texas, The Cold Tony’s, said they wanted to tour in Tampa. Through a mutual friend, she was able to book them for the Shangri-La’s first show Jan. 5, 2018.
“We were just like, ‘Now’s the time. If they want to do a house show, let’s do a house show,’” Fields said.
In just over a year, the venue has already established itself in the community. Its Instagram, @shangri_la_gardens, has almost 700 followers. Fields said most musicians and vendors reach out to her first when they want to come to a show.
However, Fields noted that the venue isn’t actually called the “Shangri-La Gardens,” as its social media suggests. She chose the name because all other variations of “Shangri-La” were taken.
Between the roommates’ work and class schedules, the Shangri-La only hosts two shows per month, which usually attract anywhere between 25 and 50 people, depending on the night’s lineup. Its first birthday show on Jan. 12 saw a crowd of at least 150, Fields said.
Although admission is free, Fields keeps a donation bucket at the entrance of her yard. In between sets, she makes her rounds through the crowd, asking for $5 or $10. All proceeds are divided among the bands, and, if it’s a slow night, Fields pays them out-of-pocket.
“A lot of bands are surprised when I give them the amount of money, and they’re like, ‘This is more than we get at a bar,’” she said.
Even though Fields admits she doesn’t always like the music in her backyard, she said the Shangri-La has allowed her to watch every band grow and evolve over time.
“It’s not about me liking the music all the time, or my friends liking the music,” Fields said. “It’s about giving different bands of different genres an equal opportunity to play.”
Under the city’s noise ordinances, which were updated last spring, Fields sometimes worries about the music getting too loud. For residential buildings, noise cannot exceed 55 decibels after 11 p.m.
“We definitely go over the decibel limit,” she said. “I don’t know how to measure decibels… But there’s definitely been times where I’m like, ‘This is way too loud, for sure.’”
However, Fields said that police have only responded to one noise complaint at the Shangri-La, and that was because a song ended at 11:04 p.m.
“If our neighbors had a problem with it, we would definitely be shut down by now because we’ve been doing it for a year,” Fields said. “I just think they’ve kind of accepted it.”
In fact, some neighbors even come to the shows. Others donate their sofas. And one even peered over the fence during a set, Fields said.
But after May, those neighbors won’t hear any more music. That’s because the roommates’ lease will expire, and they don’t plan on renewing it.
But for Fields, Shangri-La is just the beginning.
“I would definitely like to continue doing what I do,” she said. “Maybe just not in my backyard.”
Fields is considering starting her own booking company after the Shangri-La closes. Although she doesn’t know what she’ll do with all of the furniture, she hopes she can re-gift it to someone who wants to start a venue of their own.
Ty Battle, 21, helps Fields with most of the venue’s planning. Even though it was challenging, she enjoyed the work so much that she plans to continue working with Fields in the future.
“I guess it’s really made me feel like St. Pete is more of a home,” Battle said. “It’s helped me meet a lot of local artists and musicians… It’s given me the opportunity to learn from them and support them at the same time.”
The Shangri-La’s next show is Feb. 16, with a “Galentine’s Day” theme of female musicians and vendors. Its final show will be sometime in May, Fields said, with a two-day schedule packed with big-name artists.
For more details about upcoming events, follow @shangri_la_gardens on Instagram.
