Music spilled into the street outside of How Bazar as a crowd of over 50 gathered for Swamp Records and #UNLITTER’s R.I.P. Rockfest show. Guests donned costumes ranging from characters like Edward Scissorhands to celebrities like Charli XCX as they listened to the night’s lineup of bands.
Swamp Records collaborated with #UNLITTER to host four bands its R.I.P Rockfest show Wednesday night. This is the second year the nonprofits have worked together on the show, aiming to raise money for their organizations.
The event included performances from local bands — Fangface, Noise Next Door, Stellina and Heatdeath — made up of current UF students and recent graduates. The night also featured a thrifted costume contest, raffle and a table sponsored by Depop, where guests could pick up phone wallets, free tote bags and other items.
Guests could buy tickets for $10 ahead of time or for $12 at the show.
Sammy Vaserstein, a 21-year-old UF business administration senior, has worked with Swamp Records for four semesters and became its director of booking earlier this year. Vaserstein said he and his team selected bands for R.I.P. Rockfest that fit the “spooky, shoegazey and alternative” sound of the night.
“We went through a lot of brainstorming, just going around trying to figure out who knows who,” he said. “We have some members of Swamp Records … that just have great bands that are pretty loved around Gainesville, and they really fit the vibe of the show.”
After R.I.P. Rockfest’s success last year, Vasterstein said he knew he wanted to hold a second iteration of the event, one that had a “grungy” sound, rather than the “indie, hard rock” sound last year.
Noise Next Door, a band that took the stage after Fangface, described its sound as “a mix of everything” because each member comes from a different musical background, including blues, country, jazz and alternative.
The band, founded by guitarist Connor Balog and singer Joseph Davi, has been together for around a year and said performing live has gotten easier as they continue to do shows together.
“At the end of the day, we’re playing music for fun because we love it, and we want to share it with people,” said Balog, the band’s guitarist and a 21-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology senior.
The group performed a combination of originals and covers to generate a response from the crowd and match the sound for the night. Their covers of “Creep” by Radiohead and “Say It Ain’t So” by Weezer received enthusiastic responses from the crowd, who sang and danced along.
“It's [R.I.P. Rockfest] a little bit more heavy grunge rock than what we're used to playing,” said Max Goldberg, a 20-year-old UF marketing sophomore and drummer for Noise Next Door. “We put so much time and effort into finding songs that kind of mix our sounds with the distorted, heavy tone that we know would be played and the crowd would react to.”
Stellina, a band that performed after Noise Next Door, does not try to define its genre but says it has been described as screamo, emo and post-rock by post-rock listeners.
“It's a lot of music born out of just hanging out Saturday nights, sitting around,” said Ryan Kibler, a 19-year-old UF microbiology sophomore and Stellina guitarist. “I like to think that, especially in our genre, a lot of the best things are purely just born out of boredom.”
The night also featured a thrifted costumed contest through a collaboration with #UNLITTER.
Isabella Marti, a 22-year-old education science senior and fundraising chair for #UNLITTER, said the organization aims to promote sustainability in different facets of the community, like its nightlife. She finds that #UNLITTER’s mission is especially important during holidays.
“We promote sustainable costumes, because during seasons like Halloween, there's so much overconsumption and fast fashion that occurs,” she said. “We do our best to promote going to secondhand sources, thrifting everything you can, to just avoid being unsustainable in the sake of celebration.”
Both Marti and Vaserstein view R.I.P Rockfest as a way of bringing their organizations’ missions of promoting sustainability and local music together. Vaserstein described the event as a “cross-section” between the two non-profits and said #UNLITTER’s ideas are shared by the “artsy” people who make up Swamp Records.
Similarly, Marti said the event offers a space for creativity.
“I'm very excited to just have a space where everyone can come together, promote sustainability and share our art together,” she said. “I love being able to create something and see what other people create.”
Contact Juliana DeFilippo at jdefillipo@alligator.org. Follow her on X @JulianaDeF58101.
Juliana DeFilippo is a freshman journalism major and General Assignment reporter for The Avenue. In her free time, she loves to read and work on crossword puzzles.
