The Luminaire in Kilburn is famous across the capital for its admirable (and relatively rare, it seems) insistence on absolute silence while bands are performing. On posters, on flyers and on the website do they drive home the fact that those who chatter will be booted out.

Andy Inglis (pronounced Ing-gills, not Ing-gliss) is unapologetic for his stance on the matter. “If you want to talk, get out,” he says. “I’m as militant as that about it. I’m happy to go around the room telling people to shush, and if lots of people are talking I’ll get on stage and tell everyone to shut up!”

Inglis has run the Luminaire since its rebirth in March 2005. One of London’s youngest venues, it was an RnB and dance nightclub before Inglis, who had previously organised a monthly night there, saw the venue’s potential, stepping in to transform the place into the acclaimed hub of live music it is today. The Luminaire was named Music Week’s Venue Of The Year earlier this year, and was nominated in 2006 by Time Out for the same award.

In the two-and-a-half years since Inglis took over, the venue has seen a huge array of diverse acts on its stage: Babyshambles, Editors, James Morrison, The Datsuns, The Pipettes, Future of the Left…we could go on, we really could. For such a small venue that is not in the west-end, they’ve done very well indeed. Inglis has his favourites.
“Recently, a band called Datarock played here,” he says. “We had the first five rows fucking pogoing, which you don’t see anymore. That was wonderful. Andrew Bird, the violinist from Chicago, was a gig when the room was particularly quiet – really beautiful, everyone was so respectful. Also, I liked a band called Cougar from Madison, Wisconsin, who play a kind of instrumental post-rock.”

Three pretty disparate acts, and indeed the eclecticism of the acts Inglis books is a major attraction of the venue. As he says, “we have folk to black metal, as long as it’s good”. His personal idea of a good night is when the room is silenced, with a quiet act performing, the natural intimacy of this space coming to the fore - just so long as everyone keeps shtum.

He names Interpol as the band he’d most like to see play the Luminaire – “this venue suits everything” he says.
Unlike all too many of London’s small venues, the Luminaire’s future looks secure.

“I’m not worried about the future of the venue,” he says, “because unlike the Spitz or the Astoria, we own this place and can’t be kicked out or bulldozed. I don’t fear for it, and even if something did happen I’ve had two good years here.”

Inglis’s background is in management and record labels. In recent years he has managed both Utah Saints and Dope Smugglers. The Luminaire’s singular charm and character can be put down to the fact it is run by a man who knows the music industry inside out, rather than someone with a history in hospitality or pubs. Inglis loves music.
However, when asked about other venues in London he was less than enthusiastic: understandable given the excellent reputation of his own.

“To be honest, I haven’t left this fucking room in two-and-a-half years,” he says. “But when I do go to other venues, I go to enjoy bands, I don’t go to any venues in this city because they’re great rooms, though Bush Hall is a nice room I guess. I don’t mean to disparage them but I don’t get excited by any clubs in London.”

He hopes to make a few improvements to the venue in the near future, including a new stage, new lighting and a new sound desk, after which “we’ll have done everything we can in the room. It’ll be in as good a nick as it can get.”