With its creative vibe, fashionable warehouses, hip backstreets and thriving music scene, Digbeth is Birmingham’s coolest postcode.
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve probably heard about Digbeth – the ultra cool inner-city suburb of Birmingham that’s been called the ‘Shoreditch of Birmingham’ by music magazine NME. Far from its historically industrial past, Birmingham has been making somewhat of a resurgence in recent years, and newly redeveloped Digbeth is leading the charge. With its laid-back café culture, hip warehouses, and easy-going artistic vibe, the area has become the city’s creative hub thanks to live music spots such as The Rainbow Venues and the O2 Institute, clubs including Spotlight and Boxxed, and festivals like MADE Birmingham.
There’s also been a very exciting buzz around Birmingham’s new music scene of late, which is undoubtedly firmly centred in Digbeth. In 2012, local bands, such as Peace, Swim Deep, Evil Alien, Troumaca and JAWS gained huge amounts of attention, and a scene enveloped around them. In 2016, a new wave of local bands have grabbed the baton, including Cut Glass Kings, The Assist, GLEAM, Swerve, Semantics, Paper Buoys, Breeze, Riscas, Handwaxx, Spilt Milk Society and Sugarthief, and are continuing to run with it, to the point where the music press, record labels and managers alike are celebrating Birmingham as one of the most exciting places in the UK to discover new music.
No article about Digbeth is complete without a mention of the Custard Factory – a recently renovated factory full of independent shops, bars, cafés and galleries, housing everything from vintage clothing and modern jewellery to indie record shops, craft beer and even a 101-seat cinema called The Mockingbird Bar and Theatre. It’s also a workspace for those employed in the creative and digital arenas, and is a great place to network with others who have a similarly artistic mindset.
So it’s no surprise that BIMM has chosen Digbeth for the location of its newest modern music college, BIMM Birmingham. Students will be operating right at the nucleus of the city’s creative quarter, and within easy walking distance of the beating heart of the UK’s most electrifying new music scene.
