Olly Bengough, Founder Of KOKO, Has High Hopes For The Live Music Sector

Between all the stories of nightclubs and venues closing down, beset on all sides by prosperity developers, punishing licensing laws and, more recently, the cost of living crisis brought on by inflation, there has been one or two glimmers of hope.

The story of Camden’s KOKO is one of the latter, although its recent history hasn’t been without its bumps. An historic venue, the former theatre can trace its history back to the turn of the 20th century when it was the Camden Theatre (later The Music Machine in the late 1970s). Over the next century, the venue was home to theatre productions, gigs, raves and even had a stint as a BBC studio, an unchanging constant through the dramatic evolutions of popular culture and music with everyone from Peter Sellers to Prince taking to its stage.

By 2004, however, the venue was looking a bit rough around the edges and in serious need of a fix-up. The owners at the time were ready to pass the torch on and Olly Bengough and his MINT Entertainment firm snapped her up and renamed the venue KOKO. From there, things were running smoothly and KOKO reclaimed her place as a beacon for Camden’s thriving music scene. It was a key spot in the indie explosion and hosted just about every band that defined the era. It also drew dance music of all kinds—grime, house, the lot. But then, in January 2020, Olly got hit with possibly the worst 1-2 punch of bad luck. A fire ripped through the building one night. Thankfully, there weren’t any casualties and the firefighters were ultimately able to save the venue, but it needed a huge amount of restoration.

KOKO had already been closed since March the previous year while it underwent a £40m refurbishment. And then, of course, Covid hit and they were forced to stay closed yet again. Miraculously, Olly and the team made it to the other side and he’s been able to give KOKO the upgrade he’s been dreaming of for all those years. The beautiful theatre has been kept in all its glory, but it’s now been supplemented by two additional spaces: Cafe KOKO, a bar/restaurant space open to the public for smaller, more intimate live shows, and House of KOKO, a members-only club with multiple performance spaces.

Now celebrating the first anniversary of the new and improved KOKO with a bumper three-day weekend of parties, we caught up with Olly to discuss the venue’s history, the future of live music, and how he pulled off such a staggering feat. 

“Everyone can lobby their MP and speak to their council members to make sure that independent venues are recognised as just as important an art form as opera, ballet, classical music and the arts.”