A new community music space is set to open in Birmingham.
Opening in Digbeth on 15th August, komunal is dedicated to “high-quality electronic music”, and promises to provide a platform for “thoughtful programming and independent global voices”, according to a press release.
The komunal team space will also house the karavan, a livestream booth inside a converted caravan, where regular sessions for the new komrad online radio station will be held.
komunal will host a launch party on 15th August with Berlin-based Croatian DJ Dea Dvornik, part of the duo ERIS.
Further down the line, the komunal team have described their programming as “a rotating line-up of carefully curated selectors and DJs, each bringing a distinct perspective on contemporary club culture”.
Check out the komunal Instagram page for event updates. You can also join the club’s WhatsApp group for updates here.
In other Birmingham club news, a new 2000-capacity club was opened earlier this year by the same team behind Forum Birmingham, which shut down permanently in April.
December 2024 also saw the arrival of a new “back to basics” underground club in the city called Colette.
These new venue arrivals bring a welcome note of optimism to a landscape in which cultural institutions in Birmingham have recently faced major funding cuts and grassroots venues around the country have faced closure due to soaring costs.
Last October, the UK’s Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) warned that UK clubs could be “extinct” by the end of the decade should the rate of closures continue with such intensity. In the past four years, approximately three late-licensed music venues have closed each week.