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Sarah Louise is a garment designer and PhD student.
Link to facebookVillage Underground
is a space for creativity
& culture in the heart
of East London
Our venue is a renovated turn-of-the-century warehouse ready for everything from concerts and club nights to exhibitions, theatre, live art and other performances, as well as being available for private hire.
DownAbove 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.
Previous tenants include – amongst many others: theatre company Punchdrunk, author and poet Joe Dunthorne and his Aisle 16 accomplices Tim Clare, John Osborne, Luke Wright and Ross Sutherland and the too-fabulous-to-be-true Sink The Pink family.
We have a few spaces available at the moment, for more information and to apply, click here.
Photographer, cook and all-round beautiful person, Djim is Village Underground’s longest-running tenant. As a photographer, he likes to use his vintage camera to snap handsome pictures of the artists playing at VU. As a cook, he creates Badmama Classic, the strongest and most delicious chilli sauce known to man.
Bad Mama Classic facebookLeopold is a:: director// animator// designer// world traveller// ex-submarine navigator// sun seeker, based in east london.
He works in the music industry, short films and commercials. His work ranges from quirky mesmerising 2D animations, contemporary fresh live action and a combination of the two into a living collages.
He enjoys the most visualising thoughts, situations and secrets and new emails in his inbox. So say hey for any thoughts of projects, collaboration and saying hey.
Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios designs extreme experiences for you to become an astronaut in your living room while dark energy is being created in your kitchen sink and a volcano erupts on your couch. Interdisciplinary ‘Willy Wonka’ design studios which devise subversive events and experiences. We work with leading scientists, creatives, writers and engineers worldwide. People we have worked with include: NASA, The European Space Agency, Mattel Inc. HQ, Google HQ, The Guardian,The SETI Institute, BBC, WeTransfer, MailChimp, XL Recordings, Ed Banger Records, MOMA, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Museum of China, The Design Council, AirBnB, Autodesk, Apple and more! Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios works on large scale, multi-media, highly ambitious projects. There are no limits to our reach on earth and beyond. Facebook & Instagram
WebsiteThe University of the Underground was founded in February 2017 with the purpose of creating a global engagement with society as a whole, bringing generations together, to democratise access to public institutions and trigger changes and critical reflections through the use of creative, experiential and design practices. With an explicit focus on social dreaming, critical design, social actions, politics, theatrical practices, film, music and experiential practices; it aims to provide toolkits for members of the public to actively participate in revealing power structures in institutions. The University of the Underground supports unconventional research and practices that apprehend and challenge the formulation of culture, the manufacture and commodities of knowledge. The University of the Underground believes in a transnational form of education, which goes across borders and beyond nation-states. We are based in Amsterdam but we are nurturing other tuition-free global initiatives.
WebsiteFairsplit Music Publishing is a 21st century boutique music publisher founded by Peter Saville & Vikram Gudi in 2014. With extensive experience in music supervision, advertising & sync, Peter & Vikram created Fairsplit to focus on owning outstanding contemporary classical, electronic & industrial music that works seamlessly with audio-visual.
As a synchronisation focused company, Fairsplit has, in less than a year, secured placements with Adidas, Unilever, Cathay Pacific, Lexus, Unicef, Google, IBM amongst a host of other advertisements & Hollywood trailers.
Heiko is a portrait and lifestyle photographer working for various clients such as BMW, lodown, Monocle, MINI and Agent Provocateur. Born in Hamburg, he moved to London in 1997 and worked for many years as an assistant to Terry O’Neill and other photographers. Exhibitions include V&A’s One Moment Please, Serpentine Gallery’s State of Play (a collaborative project with artist Alexandra Mir) and Tate Modern’s Global Cities (a collaborative project with US artist Fritz Haeg).
Heiko PriggeGeorge(s) is a french illustrator and art director now based between London & Paris after three years living and working in Shanghai. His work is a full organised mess inspired by thousand of things going from Raymond Savignac to Monty Pythons, from Douanier Rousseau to Matt Groening.
Find him on Facebook and Instagram.
For commissions and enquiries, please contact
itsmegeorges@gmail.com
Fergus has been an architectural assistant in London and Brighton practices since 2006. He also creates his own private projects and occasionally contributes to open architectural competitions.
Fergus CarrOmar is a writer for stage and screen. He was part of the young writers’ programmes at both the Royal Court Theatre and Soho Theatre and a former Leverhulme Associate Playwright at the Bush Theatre. His plays include Burst, Sour Lips, The Keepers of Infinite Space and The Chaplain: or, a short tale of how we learned to love good Muslims whilst torturing bad ones. Omar is also a founding member of Paper Tiger, a collective of theatre and filmmakers, working collaboratively and autonomously. His first short film No Exit received its world premiere at last year’s Dubai International Film Festival and screened both nationally and internationally.
Profile on Curtis BrownYannick is an Existential Coach, Positive Psychologist, Coach Trainer & Supervisor, Mediator (conflict resolution) and the former Programme Leader of the MSc Coaching Psychology at the University of East London. Yannick works with coaches, leaders and anybody who considers themselves in a “position of great responsibility” to gain clarity, make choices, build resilience, chase happiness or generally navigate their life or business to make the most out of their time on this planet.
Coaching and MeditationWilliam is a director who works in documentary, short film, music video and commercials. His Music Nation documentary on the British Asian rave scene was called “one of the best TV shows about music in years” by The Guardian. He has worked with musicians including a particularly close relationship with folk singer Keaton Henson.
William WilliamsonPlush Festival is an independent, family run music series held in the idyllic village of Plush, Dorset. Over the summer the festival serves to bring audiences close to leading artists in a uniquely intimate and beautiful setting. The musical focus is classical and contemporary, with forays into jazz, world and folk.
Plush FestivalArtist and researcher, Di Mainstone creates body-centric sculptures, designed to initiate movement and storytelling. Many of these wearable artefacts are inspired by technology. Some of them release sound when handled. Often, they can be modified to create new silhouettes, environments and functionalities. All of them tell a story.
Di MainstoneLocated in one of the shipping containers, our Meeting Room is available for external bookings and is ideal for both formal and informal meetings, workshops and presentations and sits up to 15 people.
For more information, please visit Vrumi.
Holywell Lane wall is the largest dedicated street art wall in London,
and it is repainted every three months by locally, nationally and internationally renowned artists.
Click to view galleries
Four large frames were built in the recesses of the wall on Great Eastern St
with the help of one of the UK’s first Kickstarter schemes.
The wall gallery has hosted two artists to date: Matthew Killick and
Ryan Wolfe. Further ehibitions are currently in development.
if you would like to exhibit in the gallery please contact
art-submissions@villageunderground.co.uk
As with our London site, VU Lisboa began life as a collection of affordable workspaces for artists, creative industry professionals and start-ups.
VU Lisboa was built from recycled shipping containers with a range of eco-design features, such as locally sourced cork insulation and exterior paints that reduce solar heat gain.The carefully designed architectural layout is based around “people flow” that encourages interaction through its central courtyard and the need to pass your neighbour’s door and terrace to reach your own.
The site is based within Lisbon’s transport museum and a repurposed bus is now a cafe. When the weather permits, the courtyard is used for parties and other gatherings. VU Lisboa also has taken over a nearby warehouse and will stage events in there from 2017.
If you’re interested in renting a desk at VU Lisboa, please get in touch with mariana@vulisboa.com or visit vulisboa.com
DownVillage Underground is a proud member of Trans Europe Halles (TEH), a European-based network of cultural centres initiated by citizens and artists. TEH advocates and promotes culture, shares knowledge and encourages new centres and initiatives.
With 56 members based right across Europe, the network functions as a dynamic forum for ideas, experiences and exchange, supporting its members and their communities. TEH contributes to building a sustainable future for the independent cultural sector.
For more information on the good work that Trans Europe Halles does, visit teh.net
Village Underground is also a member of Liveurope, an initiative supporting concert venues in their efforts to promote up-and-coming European artists. The platform works as a quality hallmark awarded to live music venues committed to European diversity.
The objective of Liveurope is to boost the programming of young European acts across the continent and help them reach new audiences.
Established in 2014, the Liveurope platform is the first initiative of its kind in Europe. Members include: Ancienne Belgique, A38, Blå, Circolo degli
Artisti, FZW, Melkweg, Palác Akropolis, Sala Apolo, Stodola and Vega.
For more information, visit liveurope.eu
Many cultural organisations and artists around Europe struggle to find new ways to survive and develop in times of change and declining financing structures for culture.
This is the reason why Creative Lenses, a unique cooperation project funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission was created. For more information about the how the project is developing check out our creativelenses.eu
From candlelit beginnings in 2014 to colossal takeovers, Superstition’s role in the underground techno scene goes from strength to strength, commanding some of the most respected line-ups from every corner of the genre. Celebrating both the avant garde and the godfathers of techno, Superstition curates nights designed to showcase techno’s rich origin stories alongside its brightest newcomers. And as the genre evolves? So does Superstition. Like Superstition on Facebook
Follow Superstition on Instagram
Book tickets for upcoming Superstition nights
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.
DownFor Live music events, each under 18 year old must be accompanied by an adult (unless otherwise agreed with promoter for special underage events) and right of admission will be reserved. No children under 16 are allowed in the venue. Any Club night is strictly over 18 and right of admission will be reserved.
Please always refer to our listings for specific restrictions.
Every customer may be requested to provide valid ID. For this reason, we advise that all customers bring valid ID. Occasionally there is conflicting information on other artist, promoter or ticketing websites, the information on our website's listings is our venue’s policy.
Acceptable forms of ID are a valid passport, photo driving licence or National Identity Card.
Driving licences without a photo or student cards are not accepted.
In English Law, an appropriate adult is a parent, guardian or social worker; or if no person matching this is available, any responsible person over 18.
Although we sometimes sell tickets on the door (specified in the listings), we don’t have a full time Box Office, we are unable sell tickets over the phone and all of our tickets are sold online. Online ticket sales usually close at 5pm on the day of the event. If the listings page doesn't say the show is sold out then tickets will be on sale on the door. Collecting your tickets at the box office can only be done on the night and only once the doors have opened.
It is possible to buy a ticket on the day of the event after the doors open and if the show hasn't sold out.
We are a small independent venue and our most popular events can sell out fast.
We appreciate that this may be disappointing and we recommend trying ethical reseller websites such as Twickets If the page says "Contact venue for tickets" it is a standard message that appears when the ticket agency runs out of tickets to sell and it usually means the show has sold out.
Shows at Village Underground are usually booked by external promoters (e.g. Eat Your Own Ears, Metropolis, SJM, Live Nation, Bird on the Wire etc). Most of the time, VU will sell an allocation of tickets for a show booked by an external promoter. VU's ticket allocation is sold through Seetickets and Resident Advisor. The rest of the tickets are sold by the promoter, through various ticket agencies e.g. Ticketweb, Gigantic, WeGotTickets, Ticketmaster.
Should you have any question about your order, or you haven’t received a confirmation email or your physical tickets please contact the ticket agency you bought the tickets from before contacting Village Underground.
Seetickets
Resident Advisor
Gigantic
Ticketmaster
Ticketweb
Songkick
WeGotTickets
If you have lost/not received/left your tickets at home, please contact the ticket agency you bought them from as soon as you can. If you contact the ticket agency on time, they will be able to add your name to a duplicates list. This is an indispensable step for you to gain entry to an event if you are not in possession of your tickets.
If you would like to pass on your tickets to someone else to collect from the Box Office you will need to provide a letter of authorisation to the Box Office from yourself, and the ticket collector will need to provide a valid form of ID (passport/drivers licence).
We regret that we cannot exchange, refund, transfer or return tickets unless the event in question is cancelled or details of the event are significantly changed (for example venue, date etc).
As soon as an event is officially cancelled the ticket agency will contact you via the contact details you gave them when you booked your tickets, and explain what happens next. Usually, if a show is being rescheduled, you will be given a choice between attending the rescheduled event or getting your money back. If you have the tickets in hand, you may be asked to return them to us before we can issue a refund.
Unfortunately, we cannot give out that information.
We do not issue press passes or photo passes. All press enquires should be directed to the promoter or band’s publicist, label or management.
Set times are not typically available until day of show. Door and finish times will always be advertised on the event's page.
Please note that our team always does its best to keep all shows running on time, but every so often a show runs late.
Village Underground's address is 54 Holywell Lane, just between Great Eastern Street and Shoreditch High Street and opposite Citizen M hotel.
Major bus routes: 8, N8, 26, N26, 48, 78, 149 (24h), 242 (24h), 388, 35, N35, 47, 135 and 67
We're near Shoreditch High Street Station (0.2 mile/300 metres), Old Street Station (0.4 mile/650 metres) and Liverpool Street Station (0.5 mile/800 metres).
There is one daytime car park near Village Underground which is located just next to 55 Holywell Lane. It’s open from 6am - 7pm, Monday to Friday, and you can contact them on 07548 807722 for more details.
There is street parking on Curtain Road, and Scrutton Street which are located on the south side of Great Eastern Street around 5 minutes walk to the venue. You are free to park here outside of the following hours Mon-Fri: 8.30am – 6.30pm, and Sat: 8.30am – 1.30pm. Parking between these times require permits and payment of congestion charge.
More information about full time car parks can be found here.
Try Korean at On the Bab, Som Sa for Thai, Gunpowder (if you can get a table) or Dishoom (if they aren’t packed out) for Indian. There's an array of Vietnamese cafes along Kingsland Road but Viet Grill is our favourite with its sister restaurant Keu! in Shoreditch for Banh Mi. Feeling Steak-y? There's the Hawksmoor on Commercial St and over the road, for ''Snout to Tail'' eating, there's Fergus Hendersons' St John’s Bread & Wine. At Taberna do Mercado chef Nuno Medes serves up as good as your best meal in Portugal. For cheap and quick, walk into Damascu Bite on Brick Lane for good schwarma. For burgers we swear by Patty & Bun but some prefer Bukowski or Dirty Burger. Homeslice reigns for quality pizza - go for the goat and savoy cabbage! You've got many choices for Barbecue but with the recent arrival of Smokestak is where we'll be.
Please click here for more information.
VU is a club for people to enjoy music without fear of harassment or discrimination. We welcome diversity in our audience and work to create a safe space for everyone present; in return we ask that you respect these values and each other. If someone is making you feel uncomfortable in any way, please let one of the members of staff know and we will try and resolve the issue as soon as possible. We also encourage our crowd to look out for one another and to report unacceptable behaviour if it occurs.
We classify the below behaviours as unacceptable and any reports of these will result in you being ejected from Village Underground:
Unwanted physical contact (including groping and grabbing)
Catcalling
Leering
Stalking
Sexual assault and rape
Upskirting
Verbal or physical intimidation (including sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia)
If you experience any of the above, or see it happening, please report it to the nearest member of staff. We will have staff who will be able to assist you. You can also report by calling 020 7422 7505 or emailing info@villageunderground.co.uk.
We are accredited by the Good Night Out campaign which means that:
If something or someone makes you feel uncomfortable no matter how minor it seems, you can
speak to any member of staff and they will work with you so it doesn’t have to ruin your
experience.
Our team has been specially trained to listen and support you.
Village Underground has a comprehensive Equality and Diversity Policy in order to make sure that we comply with our obligations under the Equality Act 2010, and which sets out our commitment to encouraging diversity and to responding to complaints and grievances appropriately. The full Equality and Diversity Policy can be found here.
We reserve the right to refuse admission on grounds of dress, for anyone dressed in business attire or fancy dress (unless it is a themed event). Open toed footwear is not allowed due to health and safety reasons.
Yes, there will be a bag and personal items check on the door and any illegal substances, liquids (including suncream and water) or dangerous items (including aerosols) will be confiscated.
Non-dangerous and legal substances can be written on and returned at the end of the night. Please note unless it’s medication we will dispose of any unclaimed material the following day.
We have a zero tolerance policy on drugs. If drugs are found in your possession when entering the club they will be confiscated and passed onto the police. If you are found inside the venue taking drugs, they will be confiscated and you will be asked to leave the premises. If you are found selling or giving out drugs then the police will be called immediately.
We advise that you don't leave your drinks unattended and that if you see anyone who looks like they are in need of medical help, that you contact a member of the VU team immediately who are trained to provide assistance without judgement.
We encourage everyone to be educated on drugs and recommend We Are The Loop and Talk To Frank as good sources of information.
Yes, coats and bags can be checked into the cloakroom, the price is £2 per item.
Email lostproperty@villageunderground.co.uk and provide a detailed description of the lost item (including any unique characteristic). You should hear from us within the following two days. Please note that found items are retained for fourteen days only, after which time they are given to charity. Please note that lost items cannot be collected at the weekend.
Photo policy varies for different artists and is usually not determined until day of show. You can bring a nonprofessional camera to most shows, and you can enquire about the photo policy at the door.
Please do not bring any liquids, including vape liquids, into the venue as these will be confiscated.
Non-dangerous and legal substances can be written on and returned at the end of the night. Please note unless it’s medication we will dispose of any unclaimed material the following day.
We accept American Express, MasterCard and Visa. We do not have ATMs on-site. If tickets do not sell out in advance, they will be sold at the door on the night of the show (cash only).
No, sorry. All exits are final (excluding the smoking area) so make sure you bring enough cash for the whole night.
Village Underground, 54 Holywell Lane, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3PQ
Find us or take a look inside on Google Maps
Message us on Facebook Messenger
Our office is open between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Please note that our offices and phone lines are closed for the Christmas break until 2nd January 2020. Please contact your ticket agent for any ticket related enquiries or contact us via our social media channels.
Contact: info@villageunderground.co.uk
Bay Sisouphanh: bay@villageunderground.co.uk Matt Walton: Matt@villageunderground.co.uk
Ruth Dinah: ruth@villageunderground.co.uk