Metronome turns eight as Nottingham's stage, studio and classroom in one

This month Metronome marks eight years since it first opened its doors on Huntingdon Street, and in that time it has become one of the most interesting rooms in Nottingham's live music scene.

The venue opened on Monday 1 October 2018, created by Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies. Ahead of the launch, Confetti founder and chief executive Craig Chettle told LeftLion it was "an amazing building with amazing facilities", before adding the line that has defined the place ever since: "it's what happens inside that really matters."

What happens inside is a lot. Downstairs, Metronome was built with six state-of-the-art recording studios and fourteen fully equipped rehearsal rooms. Upstairs sits a fully licensed venue whose programme was designed to cover music, moving image, video games and spoken word. The opening season set the tone, with BCUC, described as Gilles Peterson's favourite live act of 2017, and the Japanese psychedelic band Acid Mothers Temple.

The building works hard around the clock. During the day it is a teaching and training centre, and in the evening students from Confetti and Nottingham Trent University often help to run events, gaining real experience at real gigs. Visit Nottinghamshire described the room as comparable to the smaller rooms at the O2 Academy or the Bodega, with a state-of-the-art sound and light system, and said Metronome hosts a diverse range of local and international talent, covering comedy, gaming, indie music and more.

Today the venue is run by Nottingham Trent University and is the home of BBC Introducing in the East Midlands, which makes it a natural meeting point for the region's emerging artists. It is also a regular stage for the Hockley Hustle charity festival, bringing an afternoon and evening of local acts to the room.

Accessibility has been thought about too, with step-free entry, step-free access to the performance area, an accessible toilet and a quiet area in the atrium. Gig-goers can even order drinks through the OnTapp app and skip the bar queue.

For a city that prides itself on nurturing new music, Metronome is a fine example of a venue that is as much about the next generation as the next headliner.

Listings and tickets are on the Metronome website.