The University of Rhode Island’s Musicians Guild concluded its sixth annual “Rock and Swap” performance on Friday at the Ram’s Den, featuring 11 recently made bands all competing for Spiritbox tickets and their name on the “Rock and Swap” trophy.
The bands were formed from individual sign-ups; if someone wanted to perform in a band, they would sign up as an individual, providing their names and what genres they liked, according to third-year student Gwen Kavanaugh and lead singer for the band Blinker Fluid. Then, e-board members would place musicians in a band based on their information.
The groups were given two weeks to mesh together as a band, find a song to cover and write their original song. On performance day, the event lasted from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Each band had 10 minutes to perform their songs with a five-minute transition between acts. All the bands were judged on talent and cohesion within the band.
Four judges were scoring the contest, two of which were alumni judges and two non-alumni judges.
The quick turnaround posed a challenge for Blinker Fluid, which had a tough time meeting up due to conflicting schedules and prior obligations.
“We had our first practice Wednesday,” Kavanaugh said. “Everything happened super quick.”
First-year student Chase Benjamin, and drummer for Blinker Fluid, said that he couldn’t make the second rehearsal due to his obligations with URI’s production of “Little Women,” but he mentioned that the band stayed in contact to stay on the same page for the performance.
Every member of Blinker Fluid is in another band; this was a brand new experience for them, according to Kavanaugh. Benjamin said that this was his first time playing in a band and creating original music.
“We’re all in other bands,” Kavanaugh said. “So we wanted to do something for our original song that would be different from the music we normally play.”
The most time-consuming part of becoming a band and deciding what to perform was choosing what cover to sing, according to Kavanaugh. They eventually decided to do “Breaking in Brooklyn” by the indie rock band Dog Park.
The original song was easier to come up with, according to Benjamin. The original was created within 15 minutes of a “jam session.”
Since the band worked together well, they said that they wouldn’t mind performing with each other again if the circumstances were right, according to Kavanaugh.
“It kind of depends,” Kavanaugh said. “I love jamming out with, like, a bunch of different people. I know I’d be down.”
At the end of the night, Blinker Fluid would tie for third place with the band Someonefellthroughtheceiling.
Locked Springs came in second place and the band Iodine took home the win in the 2025 “Rock and Swap” event.
For more information on upcoming events from the Musicians Guild, follow their Instagram page @urimusiciansguild.
