New life at the Drunken Unicorn

As the new year gets underway, the Drunken Unicorn has brought on a new in-house booker to step up the club’s presence. Kyle Swick, singer and guitar player for Charleston, S.C., transplants Places to Hide, now holds the reins at Ponce de Leon Avenue’s long-standing local rock spot. As the show calendar begins to fill up with new blood, Swick talked to Creative Loafing about building a green room, upping the club’s presence, and why being a nice guy is his greatest ally when it comes to the business of booking local music.

Do you remember the first show you ever booked?

I honestly cannot recall the first show I ever booked. I booked a lot of weird hardcore shows back in Charleston when I was 16 — house shows and Legion Hall shows. In Atlanta, I took over booking WonderRoot about four years ago.

I’ve also been booking some shows at 529, the Mammal Gallery, and I did a show or two at the Earl. WonderRoot has been my main thing, though. I started volunteering there in the studio forever ago. Then they put me in charge of booking the shows. It’s such a loose and community-based place — it’s just me and a couple of other people doing it all. I still book some shows over there. It has its ups and downs. You’ll have three months of shows that are like, “Meh.” Then you’ll have three months that are completely awesome. I love that room.

How did you land the gig booking the Drunken Unicorn?

There’s a network of promoters around town. We all know each other and do our thing. I think the management at the Drunken Unicorn asked Randy Castello, who does shows as Tight Bros. Network, if he knew anyone, and he passed me along to them.

Did you replace the former in-house promoter, Gavin Frederick, or is he still working there?

Gavin is no longer working there, but if he wants to book a show he’s able to do so. I hope he keeps bringing shows to the Unicorn.

You’ve booked a lot of all-ages shows at WonderRoot. Will we see more of that at the Drunken Unicorn now?

Yes, but it has to be the right show. With the nightclub atmosphere that comes along with being next to MJQ there are a lot of hurdles to jump over. Doing all-ages shows is something that I’m super into, which is why I have been involved with WonderRoot for so long. It’s something I’m going to push for. Hopefully within the next month you’ll start seeing more all-ages shows. When I started talking with the club about it, I asked if all-ages is an option. They said it’s an option, but I’ll have to work for it. With that particular room there are a lot of security issues. Underage kids drinking is something that just cannot happen, so we’ll have to hire extra security to make sure that underage people aren’t going to the bar, and that costs money.

What does all-ages mean for the Drunken Unicorn? Can a 12-year-old kid come to a show?

Yeah. Typically we do 21-and-up shows. We do the occasional 18-and-up show depending on who the band is and what kind of crowd they bring out. All-ages means all ages, which means absolutely no alcohol.

Is there a plan or a mission now that you’re booking the club?

We all feel that within the last few years the Drunken Unicorn has gone astray. It doesn’t have much of a local music vibe, and it doesn’t have much of a presence on the local music scene. We want to bring that back. It’s a good room — the perfect size in between 529 and the Mammal Gallery — 250 capacity. The local music scene has been a big part of my life for the last few years and it’s something I want to bring back to the room.

How do you do plan to do that?

Knowing people and playing in bands, like I do, has helped me a lot. Being nice, and telling people that this is my mission — I’m hoping that will be enough to at least get the ball rolling.

Where do you start?

The first show I booked at the Unicorn was Jan. 2. We had the Outrageous Fun record release party. It’s a pretty young band — they’re probably all off to college, but they come back to town and record songs at their house. Fun, surfy, garage-y, punk stuff. They’re all in the 18-21 age range. I booked them at WonderRoot. They hit me up right when I started booking the Unicorn and asked about a release show, and I said, “Let’s do it!”

You were picked for the job because the room has to sustain itself. Do you feel pressure about filling it up with people continually?

Nah. Sometimes I get that way, but it’s a cool room. I’m a nice, honest person, and I seem to be of a like mind as a lot of the musicians in this city. It might take some time, but I think it’s going to work. I talked with the club’s management for a while before we all agreed that I would start working there. They’re aware of how much that room has lost its presence, but we have plenty of time to make it happen. I haven’t felt any pressure so far.

So what’s your first move?

We just got the sound system in really good shape. We’re redoing the lighting in a month or two. I’m currently working on the budget, and will build a backstage green room area. But first thing’s first: I need to get some good Atlanta bands lined up to play that room. I’m honestly just a fan of music and I like a lot of bands from here and it would be awesome to make all of that happen in that room.