Village Underground is a turn-of-the-century warehouse hosting everything from concerts and club nights to exhibitions, theatre, and live art.
Recent headline acts at Village Underground include: Katy B, Arlo Parks, Erol Alkan, Novelist, Self Esteem, and Giveon. We celebrate a big anniversary – our 15th – in 2022, and are planning a series of parties and events later in the year.
Village Underground started in 2006, with the aim of building affordable studios for creative people who were struggling to get a foothold in London. Four tube carriages and two shipping containers were converted into co-working spaces. A few months later, the perfect location was found: the top of an old railway viaduct in the middle of Shoreditch, East London. Great Eastern street was closed for the day and they were hoisted into position by crane. Next to the viaduct was an old Victorian warehouse which had been a coalstore for the railway but had fallen into disrepair. We put a roof on it, cleared out the rubbish, sandblasted the walls and laid down a floor to transform it into the venue that we have now. The main renovations took place over a year, just in time for opening in April 2007.
Above the main venue, four recycled Jubilee line trains and shipping containers make up the creative “platforms” of Village Underground. Up to 30 artists, playwrights, filmmakers, architects, photographers, producers and startups working side-by-side in a creative community.
The proximity and communal spirit foster collaboration and the exchange of ideas, whilst the affordable rent makes it easier for our tenants to focus on what they really want to do. By facilitating partnerships and maintaining low rent, creative practitioners can unlock their potential and develop ideas into great projects.
Culture is for everyone and we’re proud to have a silver accreditation from Attitude is Everything, who lead the way in improving deaf and disabled people’s access to live music. Similarly we were early advocates of Hollaback’s campaign to tackle harassment in bars and clubs. We also run creative apprenticeship schemes in partnership with Big Creative Education.
In addition to being a cultural centre, Village Underground is an ecological project. From repurposed trains and shipping containers, to reclaimed sleepers, staircases, furniture and flooring… Ecotricity provides us with 100% green energy and we’re also an active member of our local zero emissions network.
We’re passionate about London’s culture and nightlife and with nearly half our music venues closed in recent years we’ve been working hard on helping to fix the underlying problems. We were part of the Mayor of London’s Music Venue Taskforce which wrote a Rescue Plan, and are now active members of the London Music Board and the London Night Time Commission, which were recommendations of the Rescue Plan, along with other initiatives including Agent of Change and a Night Czar.
JOB AD: Village Underground in Shoreditch seeks venue staff
Rate: £10 per hour
Village Underground is looking for enthusiastic people to join our Venue Team. A full list of roles we are looking for spans: bar tenders, bar backs, cloakroom staff and door staff. However, if you have a preference for one of these, please let us know in your cover letter.
We are looking for people who have excellent customer service, drinks knowledge and bar experience, and who enjoy the late-night bar and various music scenes. Weekends are our busy operating hours, late nights are our bread and butter, so it’s crucial that you are able to commit to these later working times.
Benefits include entry to our events at both Village Underground and EartH, plus discounts at our bars.
