New England Institute of Technology student Seth Brown’s short documentary, “URI Underground,” was played at 193 Coffeehouse on Thursday, April 11, spotlighting the music community at the University of Rhode Island.
When tasked with a project for the final of his video and music recording class, Brown decided to cover the URI music community through a documentary. The goal with “URI Underground” was to bring attention to a vibrant community of individuals, Brown said.
“I wanted to document what the clubs are and what they do, but also I wanted to document the community surrounding them and all that because the community is very connected through the three clubs,” Brown said. “People who aren’t in the clubs could watch it and see what it was all about but also the people who are in it could watch it and have something fun to watch.”
A Rhode Island local, Brown worked at the Dunkin’ location on URI campus two years ago. Constantly surrounded by students, his involvement in the campus music community started when he was invited by a member of the Musician’s Guild to come hang out one day, Brown said.
“I grew up here, so I know a bunch of people that go to URI…and then I ended up in a bunch of bands because everyone was looking for drummers,” Brown said, being a drummer himself.
Since then, Brown has been involved in URI’s music community.
Brown is involved in three bands: “Told Not to Worry,” “moss boy & the critters” and “No Hands,” all of which have previously performed at 193 Coffeehouse. Due to prior obligations with one of these bands, Brown was unable to attend the screening of his documentary at an open mic special.
“A lot of people messaged me after and said that they really liked it,” Brown said. “Everyone who was in it got to see it early, and they all liked it.”
The project took between nine and 10 weeks, including writing, filming and editing.
The documentary opens with rock music and short clips varying from an unidentified student skating down the hills of campus, Brown driving in his car along winding roads and students relaxing at 193 Coffeehouse. After the introduction, the documentary is split up into three sections: one on the Musician’s Guild, one on the Electronic Music Association and finally one on 193 Coffeehouse.
The Musician’s Guild is a club that promotes music, throws concerts and invites music lovers to come together, as stated in the documentary .
Musician’s Guild President Victor Paulino, as well as club members Tara Potenza and Jacob Brown, were featured in the documentary.
The Guild is a community of people who are passionate about music and is a great way to make new friends with similar interests, according to the documentary.
The Electronic Music Association is a club that is known for putting on raves and hosting bi-weekly beat-making competitions, Brown said.
The club president, Jake Connors, was featured along with club members Esra Bequirs and Nor Kattan.
In the final segment of the documentary, 193 Coffeehouse, a student-run non-profit organization, was featured. Event organizer Allie Iaciofano, president coordinator Genevieve Porter and barista Lily Hobin were all interviewed.
Known for cheap coffee, open mic nights and band nights, 193 Coffeehouse is somewhere that allows people to be themselves and express themselves authentically, the documentary said.
“I really think that the coffeehouse community is just somewhere where anybody from any walk of life, background or experience can come and be themselves,” Iaciofano said.
The full documentary by Brown can be found on YouTube as “URI Underground” on Brown’s self-titled channel.