In 1992, The Castle opened in Ybor City, Florida as a small saloon with a determined goal: create a great place that all of our friends would like to visit. Today it continues to open up its many layers and floors to anyone and everyone willing to check their privilege and judgments at the door.  

This story features Allison D. and her love of the best dance club in Tampa, Fl. 

For more information on The Castle: http://castleybor.com/
https://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/events/25-years-later-the-Castle-stands-alone-as-Ybor-s-goth-mecca_162145810

Monday Nights at The Castle on Friday Nights: 80's Music

A Tampa local tells the story of being barricaded in The Bone Yard, a smokey pool bar in Ybor City the day XXXTentaction Cancelled their show at the Orpheum. 

For more information on the XXXTentaction Cancellation: https://www.cltampa.com/music/music-news/media-gallery/20974461/xxxtentacion-show-at-orpheum-cancelled-7th-partially-shut-down

Riot Outside the Boneyard: When The Fire Dept. Cancels an XXXTentaction Show

The Soundscape of Ybor City is vibrant all day long, but the morning is an especially sonic time. Before the crowds of people lining up for a show or the motorcycles and hotrods drag down 7th avenue showing off their fresh wax, music from radios and various birds fill the streets.  

This recording features at least four different types of birds and Buena Vista Social Club playing on the radio of a local shop.

At Least 4 Different Types of Birds & Buena Vista Social Club: Sounds of 7th Ave at 8am on a Sunday

La France is a vintage-retro clothing and jewelry store established in 1974 by Ms. Jill Wax in Ybor City.
This story recounts the smells and aesthetic of La France in the 1980s per the childhood memory of Amber D. 

For more on La France: https://www.pinterest.com/LaFranceYbor/

Vintage Smells in Florida: La France in the 1980s

Ybor City, Florida is known for its rowdy nightlife.  But what happens on the walk home after the club closes?

"I love Ybor to Death, But That Was a Really Terrifying Experience"

In Ybor City, Florida there is a plot of land that is still technically owned by Cuba. This story, as told by historian Manny Leto, gives greater detail to its inception. 

For more information about Jose Marti Park: https://soundcloud.com/user-596224499/intro-to-jose-marti-park

Broken Statues & Cuban Soil: Jose Marti Park

From Sarasota, Florida to Oakland, California spiritual drummer Ngaire (Nyree) Young reminisces about her time in Ybor City, Florida in the early 2000s.

Zombies with Rhythm

For many people in the 1970's and 1980s being openly gay in a small town felt taboo even when amongst friends. To be seen at a gay club was a sure way to come out. This story harkens to one such occasion at El Goya, the most popular gay club in Ybor City at the time. El Goya later became Tracks, then Czar and is now under construction to be included in a boutique hotel.

Flamenco Dancers, Drag Shows, and Coming Out at El Goya

This story is told by Steve Marotta, a musician, realtor and the grandson of Sicilian immigrants who hail from Alexandria Della Rocca, a province of Agrigento, Sicily. His familty relocated to Ybor City, Florida in the early 1900s and worked in the cigar factories. 

This audio encapsulates the oral estories of Ybor City embodied to this day by grandparents, children and grandchildren. 

For an English transcript email: yborcitypsychogeography@gmail.com

Generations of Memories From Sicily to Ybor City(Spoken in Italian)

This track is a compilation of five cross-generational stories centred by Ybor City's gothic-industrial nightclub, The Castle.

We Went to The Castle

In this abstract audio-story, Tampa Based artist, Becky Flanders talks about gender norms and queer nights in Ybor.

Queer Tendencies

Ybor City Psychogeographical Soundscapes is one part of an interdisciplinary project by Micheal Hooker consisting of oral estories centered around a unique district in Tampa, Florida called Ybor City. To submit your story: email mp3 files to yborcitypsychogeography@gmail.com

Ybor City Psychogeographical Soundscapes

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