People Packed to the rafters

Posted on 26 February 2011. Packed to the rafters Shanghai Lils’ Russel Green lives life to the fullest 
Russel Green has had a lot of press in his time as the owner and face of iconic bar Shanghai Lils – which last year moved from Auckland’s heritage Birdcage building to Parnell. 
Shanghai Lils has been labelled “instantly memorable and effortlessly cool” because of its hand-carved dragons, antique Asian furniture and vintage art prints that are wall-to-wall in the bar. The bar been used for photo shoots because of its rich colours and vast amount of ornaments. It’s even been said that Shanghai Lils is “crammed to the gills” with antiques. After spending an afternoon at Russel’s Remuera home, the words of these writers came back to amuse me – if they think Russel’s place of business is crammed to the gills, they certainly haven’t seen his home! 
The first thing you need to know about Russel is that his life is very, very full.
 His schedule is packed with things he has to do at work, at home, with accountants and with friends. This schedule is so packed, in fact, that he had to take a phone call from professional gossip Bridget Saunders during our interview! 
Russel’s time at work is also taken up – he cleans the place and does the books before Shanghai Lils even opens, then for the rest of the evening he can be seen swanning in and out of the kitchen, chatting to people at the bar, shaking a pair of maracas along to the live band, or dancing flamenco-style with bar patrons. 
His mind is also packed full of information, mostly information about people. In our short interview I learned about Freda Stark, musician Mike Chunn’s family, movie stars, models, jet-setting bridge players and former royalty; I even found out a thing or two about express staff! 
Complementary to this life of fullness is Russel’s home, which he shares with jazz pianist Billy Farnell in the posh suburb of Remuera. From the road it’s difficult to picture what’s inside, but once you wind your way down an overgrown path to the house, you enter the lounge – inside is one of the biggest and most amazing collection of antiques you may ever come across. And it’s full to the brim.
 “Billy’s been collecting since long before he moved in here,” says Russel, gesturing towards one of Billy’s first buys, a ceramic crocodile mounted on the wall. “He’s been here since 1962 and I’ve been here since 1982. The place has changed dramatically over this time – it’s certainly filled up.” 
I wandered Russel and Billy’s lounge for some time, as wide-eyed as a kid in a candy store, taking photos of anything that caught my eye (and a LOT caught my eye). Taxidermied fox heads, smiling Buddhas, masquerade masks, shoes, busts, teapots, photo frames, furniture and lighting – it would take days to truly appreciate the collection, but I do have a few favourites; namely, the dolls!
 “There are hundreds of dolls in here,” says Russel. “Everything from a unique pair of Me and My Girl dolls from 1939 to a gruff-looking kid from the Hitler Youth Movement. We picked the little Hitler fellow up in Wellington and brought him home with us – he’s just great.”
 Personally I was a little afraid of the Aryan doll with the devilish blue eyes, but luckily there were about 50 other dolls I could look at within eyeshot, all from different eras.
 “Neither of us have a particular style of antique that we collect,” says Russel. “You think that because Shanghai Lils is so themed that there’s a particular type of thing we like but in reality, what’s in the bar is just part of what I have in storage. When you see something antique you really like, you have to buy it because otherwise you’ll never see it again. You should see my storeroom – it’s twice the size of Shanghai Lils and absolutely packed. There’s everything in there – African, Chinese, art deco, Indian, Moroccan – there’s such a selection in storage, it’s quite hard to comprehend.” 
It was at this point that my budding young vintage collector had to come out and ask, rather presumptuously, what does Russel plan to do with all these stored items? “No idea,” he laughs. “I might use the stuff, I might sell it – I really don’t know what to do. Perhaps I’ll have to start a new project and use the stuff there!” 
Despite their packed-to-the-rafters home, Russel and Billy still visit auctions regularly. During my interview with Russel, Billy is perusing an auction catalogue, complete with crockery and art, as well as stuffed snakes and bears.
“We still love going to the auctions – sometimes you can go there and there will be a deceased estate for sale,” says Russel. “Going there in winter is a good time – for some reason you can get things like full silver dinner sets for $20 or thereabouts. Nobody in these families want this stuff – their children want freedom and minimalism. So we grab them!” 
Russel admits that because of the amount of time he spends at the bar, time spent at home is limited. “We work so much that we’re out of the house a lot, especially during the evenings. You used to be able to see out the windows downstairs here, but it’s all overgrown now. Not that it matters – we’re quite nocturnal anyway so it doesn’t matter that we can’t see out.” 
I ask Russel if his theory on home and living is “more is more”. “I guess that’s about right,” he replies. “I like rooms that are like journeys – you head into a room and see what you can see at first glance and then you delve deeper and find more. That’s kind of what we have here and at Shanghai Lils. 
“Having this amount of stuff is a very big responsibility however – sometimes I wish we didn’t have so much stuff because it’s hard if you want to travel and do things. Stuff can be a burden – it’s beautiful and wonderful but it can be a burden. And cleaning it all is hard too, because I spend so much time at the bar cleaning on my day off that by the time I get home I do nothing. It sounds horrible but Billy does most of the housework here.” 
Russel also says there is the odd person out there who doesn’t like the quirky nature of his home or business. “Some people don’t get it here – it’s the same as the bar. Some people come into our home or into Shanghai Lils and think we’re crazy, but not everyone’s supposed to get it. 
“Personally I don’t get minimalism,” he laughs, before giving me some parting advice. “You can’t judge minimalism, because ultimately people have to make a choice about the way they live their lives. 
“But I also say you can’t judge minimalism, because there’s nothing to judge!” | Hannah JV
 http://www.gayexpress.co.nz/2011/02/packed-to-the-rafters/