Trapdoor Social Speak About Sustainability, Hit Marquis This Saturday
By Tim Wenger
Trapdoor Social are bringing their socially conscious brand of LA rock to the Marquis Theatre on Saturday. CMB had the opportunity to catch up with the guys and get the status on their Pledge Music campaign, other partner campaigns, and what we can expect to see at the show this weekend.
CMB: Give us the info on the Pledge Music project.
TS: We’re pre-selling our album through Pledge Music to put a solar rooftop on Homeboy Industries, a sweet non-profit that provides job training for formerly gang involved men and women. Money that they save on their electricity bill each month from the solar panels is now money that they can spend on helping more people. Both of us think solar and job training are really important so we’re trying to help spread the word.
CMB: How has the response been to your message in different markets?
TS: I think it is kind of hard to get people in other corners of the world to care about environmental issues specific to our city, which is understandable. What does it matter to someone in the Philippines that LA still gets about 40% of its power from coal? However, we think climate change is so universally destructive, and renewable energy has such universal potential to improve lives on earth, that we will be able to bring together people everywhere to fight for sustainability.
CMB: How did you get involved with Farmscape and Agrisaurus?
TS: Merritt dreamed up Farmscape while we were in college together, and actually turned in the business plan as a homework assignment in a class we had together, called “Green Urbanism”. He got a few of his friends to help him launch the thing, and a few years of hard work are really paying off. They’ve built over 300 gardens in LA, and now they’re changing city policy to expand where local, organic produce can be created. Agrisaurus grew out of Farmscape as a way to bring the gift of healthy, sustainable food production to anyone not just in LA, but anywhere with an internet connection.
CMB: Your webpage talks about how you two are very different people, how does that help or hinder your songwriting? How does your songwriting process generally work?
TS: We share the task of songwriting, and it’s kind of an arms race. We both have our own styles – mine is more upbeat pop, and Merritt’s is more dark alternative. Whether we’re writing with someone else, just the two of us, or on our own, it takes a lot of work to write enough to keep your own sound equally represented in the mix. Merritt is a creative machine, so it has pushed me a lot in my writing just to try to keep up with him.
CMB: Is there an ultimate goal you are after?
TS: We want to be musicians that make a difference. We’d love to be successful with the band because music is what we love to do on a day-to-day basis, but we also want to create the best possible future we can for the next generations because that’s what we want to do with our lives. Ideally, the two can go hand in hand.
CMB: Where can we find your music online?
TS: www.TrapdoorSocial.com has the EP and our videos… but if you want brand new music and videos as they are created, go support the Pledge Music campaign – our supporters will get a bunch of exclusive content and early releases over the next 5 months.
Online: trapdoorsocial.com
Category: National News
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