Ian Bick Interview: EDM Entrepreneur
Whether you know him from his outrageous and over-the-top rave events at Tuxedo Junction or from his current involvement in a Ponzi scheme, nineteen-year-old Ian Bick is certainly a name that doesn’t go unmentioned when discussing nightlife, entrepreneurship, and federal charges. Though he personally didn’t want to say anything about his trial and the charges pressed against him, Ian still had plenty to discuss on matters such as his takeover of the Tuxedo Junction venue and upcoming college party events like “I’m Shmacked,” in this interview.
How did you go about purchasing Tuxedo’s and when did you purchase it?
Well, a few years ago I did teen nights at Tuxedo’s and then I took a break from there and moved on to concerts. Then Tuxedo's was going out of business. So I never really purchased it. I just kinda took it over. I turned the front room into Sky Bar -- and then that failed. Four or five months later, I took over the back room and combined the whole place back into Tuxedo’s. And that was in April 2014.
So it didn’t cost you anything?
Nah just the renovation fees. Even with the Sky Bar too.
As it’s known to most people, you don’t have a liquor license and can’t sell alcohol at your venue. Does that affect the
turnout at all?
Not at all. Our age group is like the fourteen to under twenty-one crowd. And the people that are twenty-one are coming because of the artists—because we’re bringing a bunch of big artists to the place.
How many events have you had since acquiring Tuxedo’s?
We’ve had about twenty to thirty—all large and major concerts. As well as some rentals. Some people rent out the venue.
Most people don’t accomplish too much at nineteen years of age. How does it feel to be a young entrepreneur?
Stressful to say the least. I mean, there’s a lot of like challenges and stuff that you’re faced with everyday. And it’s definitely not like--it’s just as hard as people that like go to school. I mean, everyone does their own different thing in life so you can’t really compare me to a different kid. Everyone’s on their own path.
Your recent trial involving financial misunderstandings has been the talk of Danbury local news. Has the trial had any effect on your business or personal life?
Personal life, yeah. I mean, that kinda separates like all your old friends and stuff like that. In business, no. I don’t really deal with adults. I deal with kids. Kids don’t read what’s going on.
What’s the most amount of people you’ve had at your concerts and who performed when you had the biggest crowd?
All three Hyperglows (EDM tour) basically sold out. We had anywhere from 800-1,000 people—not all in at one time—people came in and out throughout the night. And The Chainsmokers (EDM group) on Thanksgiving was huge too. That was a big show—I mean, all of our shows are really selling out that’s what it comes down to.
Do you know how many WestConn students usually show up to your events?
Very few. I mean, like—it’s not like—you couldn’t live just off of the WestConn crowd because they don’t come out. These are artists that would go to, like, colleges all over the country. If they were brought here then people just—I don’t think they’re really appreciating or understanding the market of value of the artists that are coming to their hometown and college town.
How have you be able to get in contact with all of these artists?
I mean—it just happened over time. I actually did Big Sean at WestConn (2012). Because of that we just established ourselves and then we got in touch with agencies and stuff like that. And worked with the people that brought Krewella here (2014).
Do you think you can make more of a profit if you bring in more WestConn students?
I mean, right now it’s hard to attract that crowd because right now, there’s no alcohol but we’re able to sell out the shows without that. It’s worth keeping it consistent to expand into other things. I mean like—and this is a big thing for WestConn, we’re bringing I’m Shmacked (touring college party event) in April. And that’s on a Thursday April 9th. That’s going to be just WestConn and then we’re doing bus trips from other schools. Everyone at colleges knows about I’m Shmacked so it’s going to be big.
How much does admission cost for most of your events?
It can range anywhere from twenty to fifty dollars a ticket. It all depends on the event too.
What can we expect to see from Tuxedo’s for the rest of 2015?
Over the summer we’re bringing in huge names. I can’t really name anything yet but the artists are going to be like festival-grade—it’s basically going to be like everything we’re bringing in now but we want to have artists where they come for like three days at a time. There’s definitely different types of options to do mini festivals.
Any closing statements?
Telling kids to chase their dreams is really what Tuxedo’s stands for and doing anything no matter what people tell you you can’t do.
