“What other venue in Camden has red velvet curtains and chandeliers but still maintains that scuzzy Camden vibe?” espouses Events Manager at The Monarch Tom Wright.

That The Monarch has been able to achieve this identity so quickly is a tribute to Wright and the other major players in the venue’s story so far. After all, this time last year The Monarch was a decidedly different proposition, catering to a decidedly different sort of crowd. Needless to say, Wright has altered things for the better.

“Approximately six months ago or so,” explains Wright, “the venue was refurbished. It used to be a Wetherspoon’s and we’ve made a rather dramatic transformation. We’ve invested in an outstanding P.A, really state-of-the-art stuff.”

Few will lament the passing of the venue from that particular chain into independent hands. Well, we say independent, The Monarch is in fact run by the same team as behind Barfly, The Enterprise, The Abbey and others. But The Monarch is the ‘jewel in the crown’, to indulge in a bad pun.

It used to be called The Misty Moon, and was a fairly straightforward drinking hole, an image Wright and his team were determined to lose upon securing the venue.

“The idea really was to make what was already an amazing space into a venue that caters to rock n’ roll youth. I feel that Camden is lacking a space like this.

“When I started one of my first goals was to transform the appearance of the venue, to try and immediately drag ourselves away from the Wetherspoon’s image, because that was the image we had, with all the preconceptions that came with it.”

It cannot be denied that they have achieved their goal. Anyone poring over the celebrity pages in July would have seen pictures of Amy Winehouse jumping on the decks at The Monarch for an impromptu DJ set (apparently this is her new ‘low-key’ boozer of choice after The Hawley went up in flames), while with collaborations with James Lavelle from UNKLE, resident DJs in the shape of Marky J-Killer and MizBehave and recent shows from some of the city’s most trend-setting talents, such as ddd, The Monarch is unique in its programming. There’s even a metal night every Monday.

All the more impressive when you consider the speed of the turnaround from faceless pub to charismatic live venue. And there’s more to it than just music.

“We see ourselves as one of the only real boutique venues in Camden,” says Wright. “We don’t do ‘gigs’, we do ‘events’. Everything we’ve built is aimed at being a spectacle.”

Therefore, one can walk into The Monarch of an evening and potentially find burlesque, cabaret, a circus, a casino, theatre and even a church. There’s also podcasts from the guys at Rock Feedback. Of course, The Monarch was a key venue in this year’s Camden Crawl, yet they are not, Wright says, a ‘sceney’ venue.

“We’re not out to dictate what people listen to. I think that’s something the East End does a lot, you know, people with asymmetrical haircuts and one jean leg rolled up for no apparent reason. We just listen to what people want and give it to them.”

And, given these shaky economic times we are apparently in the midst of, is starting a new venue from scratch a scary proposition?

“I think that in a time of recession,” says Wright, “the one people that people read is to have somebody put a smile on their face, and we have the clout to pull in some really cool people and acts just through making friends.”

Where? 40-42 Chalk Farm Road NW1 8BG 020 7482 2054
Web? www.monarchbar.com
How? Chalk Farm (Northern Line)Buses: 24, 27, 31, 168, N5, N28, N31
Founded? 2008
Atmosphere? ‘effortless cool’
Pint? £3.30