Musical chairs may not seem like the game most likely to be played at a frat party, but it happened to be the cause of Boston-based band The Sheila Divine’s most unpleasant touring experience.

Lead guitarist and vocalist Aaron Perrino described what happened when his band agreed to play at a frat party seven hours away.

“When we got there, we found everybody playing musical chairs,” Perrino said. “They told us that they weren’t going to pay us. So we turned around and drove another seven hours back home. So that kind of sucked.”

The Sheila Divine has taken a giant career step since being upstaged by musical chairs.

The band released a five-song self-titled E.P. earlier this year and has also signed a contract with Roadrunner Records. A full-length debut titled “New Parade” is scheduled to be released in February next year.

A three-piece rock band, The Sheila Divine weaves the influences of several bands with its own personal tastes.

“We like to think of ourselves as passive-aggressive rock,” Perrino said about the band’s musical style. He tabbed Sunny Day Real Estate and Radiohead as the band’s influences.

“We’d love to someday open for the Afghan Whigs or Sunny Day Real Estate,” Perrino said.

Since The Sheila Divine formed, it has entertained New Englanders by playing regular shows in the Boston area.

“We started growing tired of the whole Boston thing,” Perrino said. “That’s why we started touring. We wanted to get out of there and start getting our name out.”

The band got its start at Oneota State University in upstate New York.

“Aaron and I were in a music theory class together,” drummer Shawn Sears said. “It was right in the middle of the grunge thing in Seattle. I said I was from Washington State, so I guess Aaron thought I might be cool and started talking to me.”

Sears and Perrino met bassist Jim Gilbert soon after.

“Jim worked at the student union and he was really funny,” Perrino said. “We’d see him every day, and he’d tell us jokes. We also saw him out all the time at the bars.”

How the band got it’s name is best explained by Gilbert.

“A ‘sheila’ is slang in Australia for guys that don’t play sports or act tough,” he said. “Sheilas are … I guess they’re pussies. If you’re gonna be a pussy, you might as well be the very best.”

When it comes to music, The Sheila Divine is far from sheilas.

“We’re definitely a live band,” Perrino said. “We’re a lot more powerful on stage.”

The trio promises a crowd pleasing show when they open for Babe The Blue Ox Saturday at 9 p.m. at The Maintenance Shop. The show is $4 for students and $5 general admission.

Don’t come expecting to play musical chairs.