A new DIY performance venue and community space in Clearwater has opened its doors for young artists and creatives. It’s called Learning.
Founded by partners Vonne Parks of the Tampa Bay-based hip hop group They Hate Change, and DJ/Producer Zoë Robinson (stage name Fessi K) in collaboration with fellow musicians AJ Denhoff and Nadya Roman, the music venue is unapologetically do-it-yourself.
“How would we define that? Okay, non-corporate,” explained Parks. “So we’re not Live Nation. We’re not AEG or Access or Golden Voice or any of these other entities that are opening up a venue in a city that they have no attachment to.”
Photo: Sector FM website.
The venue, located at 13757 49th Street N., also hosts shows by DIY musicians like DJNOTURGIRL, Justin Depth, and pali— these are artists who aren’t carried by major labels, who may have day jobs in addition to their music hustle, or who are booking their own tours rather than being managed by a talent agency.
In addition to removing some of the barriers to entry for artists, Robinson and Parks are also reducing barriers to entry by keeping shows affordable – all ticket prices are under $10, and all-ages shows are just $5. Visit this link for show information.
This was an intentional decision made to attract younger audiences, who Parks and Robinson believe are being left out of the music scene.
“We want[ed] a place that’s not a bar that is all-ages because that’s a whole demographic that just gets cut out. They can’t go, and these kids know about the shows,” explained Robinson.
“They’re coming in droves and they’re all in high school,” added Parks. “But they know these bands, and they’ve been itching to see them … We could lose an entire generation of really cool music people to just not being able to come to shows.”
In addition to hosting weekly concerts and community events, Learning is also the new home of Sector.FM, the online community radio station broadcasting the “finest elements of Gulf Coast Sound” live and direct from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The station was established in 2023 by Parks and bandmate Andre Gainey with a roster of 12 resident DJs. “It was about reintegrating Florida into the conversation of global dance music,” explained Parks.
The music featured on Sector.FM runs the gamut of genres— listeners will hear anything from hip hop to to neosoul to garage rock, as well as lesser-known genres like baile funk, an electronic musical genre that emerged from Brazil’s favelas, and juke, a fast-paced electronic music form that originated in Chicago. Similar to the artists featured at Learning, the music is unconventional, certainly not mainstream, and potentially challenging.
Starting in September, Learning will be open to the public during Sector.FM live broadcasts, so community members can drop in and hang out while the DJs play their shows on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“That is definitely the idea — for young people to be able to come,” added Parks. “We have bookshelves, record shelves, things like that. It’s supposed to be a space where you can come and sit—you can see what’s happening in the radio studio. You can also be here and taking in the media that we have there as well, meeting other people in the community, and just kind of getting a hang in, you know?”
Listen to Sector online at Sector.FM. Follow @learning.mp3 for more information about upcoming shows, events and hangs.
Debut show for Gulf Coast band pali, featuring Club Miata (Sector Resident DJ group) and Lil Jerry Springer, held at Learning Photo by Rebeka Burden.