Fazeley Park is a rehearsal space and recording studio in the heart of Digbeth. It is just a small…read more5 room place with rooms for bands to rent long term and one room dedicated as recording studio which could also double up as a social club with it's silver curtains and dingy lighting! It is run by musicians who have been a part of the Birmingham music scene for almost 20 years so they know what they are doing. While it doesn't have the facilities that a bigger studio might have you get a much more homely, personal vibe and if you record there you get a very distinct sound with the recordings, something that is becoming a trademark of the place among the garage rock and indie world. They also occasionally have private parties there as part of ColdRice which are also things of legends now too!

I first heard about The Space in May of 2014 and knew that it would be a very cool venue for an…read moreevent. Looking around at the places in the city, I wanted to have a Launch event for #BrumHour at a creative and fresh venue. The owner, Chandeep has been a great champion of BrumHour, so it felt right that the venue would be the best host. I went down to The Space for the first time at the start of August 2014 and the three rooms vary a lot in size. However, they are all painted a brilliant white with high ceilings and huge windows to let a lot of natural light in. The main room is the carter room and can host around 50 people. When I came to host my event at the start of February 2015, I had 30 people and 5 tables with creative businesses from around Birmingham to share their project work on them. Chandeep was very clear about pricing, and timescales and this gave me a huge confidence boost that everything would run pretty smoothly. I hired the venue for 4 hours and used it for a 2 hour event including setup and going live. It can be used as a dance and drama rehearsal space, a creative gallery, a small theatre room or even a board room! Check out the website for more photos.

Amazing service. You know a great business when all the tiny details, from initial enquiry all the…read moreway through to completion are perfect. I am a really fussy bu**** and like things just so. I like businesses that go the extra mile. I like people who anticipate what will make my life easier. The Space scored massively on all these counts. So, we needed a small meeting room away from our busy office to strategize and plan. All our usual meeting options where full, other venues either couldn't be bothered responding or were to pricey or not quite right. Normally a local coffee shop or similar could fit the bill, but not for this kind of meeting. I knew of The Space through Twitter, as another Jewellery Quarter business, so I dropped them a line. I quick response confirmed everything I needed to know and prices where very competitive. Booking was super easy. We all arrived to be greeted by the helpful and friendly owner (I think) and shown around. Our room was perfect. Tea and coffee and biscuits provided, self serve. The tea mugs were neatly arranged, the tea spoons were ready in clean water, water jug and glasses all arranged on the table, the heater was on, the chairs and tables just right. What this attention to details means is that we could simply relax and focus on the business of the day. It was a great meeting and the venue and service received went at least some way towards allowing that to happen. Worth noting that although The Space is kinda in the middle of an industrial estate it's also very close to the bus routes on Great Hampton St, the JQ station and maybe 5-6 minutes walk from Snow Hill. You can also grab a nice lunch at the equally excellent The Lord Clifden if you need to, tho the venue does do meeting catering upon request. Highly recommended all 'round!

Carrying on in the cinema vein (see earlier review from today) I thought I'd turn my attention to…read morethe electric cinema. This wonderful art deco cinema is (I believe) the oldest working cinema in the country. Small but oh so perfectly formed, it sits nestled away round the back of New Street station and shows everything from the latest releases to cult classics and offerings from all over the globe. As you enter you receive your tickets from the tiny box office, and it doesn't seem like they've changed their tickets since it opened. Nostalgia filled tiny red or blue (depending on your seating choice) tickets are just the tip of the fantastic iceberg that is the electric. Once you've received your tickets it's on to the bar which serves a selection of cocktails, often developed to represent the films they are screening, as well as beers, wines, spirits and snacks. As an aside this is one of only two places where you can buy Electric Ale which is a bespoke beer developed for the electric in partnership with Two Towers brewery. Inside the screens the fun doesn't stop. There's plenty of leg room in the standard seating but if you splash out on one of the sofa seats you won't be disappointed. You'll be presented with a menu so you can text the bar during the film and have drinks and snacks brought straight to your seat. Also worth noting that if you're a fan of films of the scarier persuasion the electric is home to the Shock & Gore film festival where indie horror movies collide with extra special film screenings such as the Dracula wine tasting experience. There's so much more I could add but don't take my word for it go and check it out yourself!

The Electric, is probably a must see on any visit to this humble city. As any proud Brummie will…read moretell you, it's the oldest working picture house in the UK. These days both of the two screens are digital. If you're after a massive (or Giant ;)) screen to watch the latest blockbuster with a huge tub of popcorn then this is the wrong place! The Electric has a more personal service level. Serving drinks, showing art house films alongside latest Hollywood releases and holding special film nights and weekends. Everyone talks about the sofas. For that added bit of luxury you can book sofas at the back of the theatre where they will bring drinks to you throughout the film. The sofas do get booked up very quickly, especially if they're screening a hotly anticipated film. They often create special themed cocktails based around the characters in the film they're showing. An example being, when Alpha-Papa was screening they served cocktails called 'The Ladyboy', and 'Mug of Beans'. It's great to be able to go to the cinema, and feel that you're supporting an independent, local company as well as the posterity of a historical building and working museum. It's also in the heart of the city, right by the (soon to be) main entrance to New Street Station, so it's great for a pre-film meal and post-film drinks. A top tip is to visit daysoutguide.co.uk where you can download a voucher for 2for1 tickets, available Mon-Fri if you travel by train to the cinema. Although to use this offer you can't book in advance, nor take advantage of the sofas.

Awesome Choice If You Love Alternative Music Types and Love a BIT O HEAVY METAL.. its out of the…read moreway from the centre of birmingham but its a gem if you fancy getting your mosh on. Reasonably priced for a night out, good drinks offers, great staff & sound quality is great. Smoking area is where all the cool kids hangout so you could potentially treat that as a second ROOM to the venue as you will be squished in tighter than a girl at a mcbusted concert. AWESOME

From the owner: Book recently refurbished rehearsal studio rooms with equipment included.read more

Oxygen Rooms offers the full package - rehearsal studios, an array of recording and production…read moreservices and hd video production services too. It's 30 quid an hour for recording and production, 200 quid for 8 hours and 8 pound for off-peak rehearsals. They have deals for the committed amongst you who want to devote a large chunk of hours to honing your 'riddims'. They have a lot of gear to lend for the unequipped amongst you too. It's a great quality studios for the dedicated musicians out there. You can get down and focus on producing some fine music at Oxygen knowing that nothing's been compromised on. A lot of established acts use Oxygen so that is confirmation that it is a bona fide studio.

From the owner: The Oxygen Rooms offers monthly subscriptions for live rehearsal rooms, recording studio and…read morelock-ups as well as video, photography and dance production areas.

A few years ago I was DJing most days of the week across a combination of bars and clubs throughout…read morethe city. From this, I took an interest in recording music. I met a male vocalist who was into the same scene as I was, dance music but wanted to create something different. We hooked with a band and started to write some lyrics. As we were both beginners, we didn't have any experience in recording. We came across Madhouse Rehearsal rooms and they were really helpful from the moment we called them. We hired the studio for a few hours and recorded our new track which were then mastered for us (at an additionall cost). Great experience and very popular with musicians in the city

Madhouse is one of the cleaner, more upmarket (if you've been to some of the less salubrious…read morefacilities around Brum, you'll know what I mean) rehearsal rooms in the city centre. The walls are lined with pictures of the owners posing with various rock glitterati and the rooms come equipped with Marshall amps. It's all very rock - as are a lot of the bands that rehearse there. I've used this studio several times over the years and always found it well-equipped and clean. I've also found it one of the more expensive places to rehearse, but you get what you pay for. They also sell strings and drumsticks to people not using the rooms, which is always handy when you're on your way to a gig and realise you need a high E or you've forgotten something.

If you've ever so much as tried forming a band in the Birmingham area, you'll have heard of…read moreRobannas. For years and years, aspiring youngsters and cynical musos have all practiced plying their trade down there. Near to the much-neglected Gun Quarter (the Jewellery Quarter's outlaw sibling), Robannas has over the years taken up more and more of Cliveland Street. This is no bad thing, as the city centre needs a big, well-known rehearsal rooms. Over the years, the place has become cleaner and the standard of equipment in the by-the-hour rooms has improved. The staff are always helpful and the owner Rob has a reputation for throwing some very wild parties there. Over the years, I've rehearsed and recorded there with various bands and it's an experience which has become more and more pleasant over the years. I still have to visit to buy single guitar strings (something they sell which is a big bonus).

Robannas is an institution on the Birmingham music scene. You ask any musicians from Birmingham…read morethat have seriously gigged and I guarantee they will know Robannas. They've had their fair share of famous customers (Napalm Death and Pussycat Dolls to name two) but what about their services? Well my band used them for quite a while until we managed to find free rehearsal space elsewhere and we never had any problems with them . The staff were always helpful and polite, the equipment worked, the rooms weren't particularly spectacular but weren't particularly bad either, though it was often fairly easy to hear other bands practising through the walls. Prices are pretty similar to what you'd expect with discounts for bulk bookings eg fifty pound for an all day session. It's a good, solid, friendly place that I've no qualms recommending to a friend.