Trapdoor Social Using Music to Work Towards Greener Future
by Tim Wenger
The two members of Trapdoor Social started their band out of passion. But unlike many bands, it was not just a passion for playing music that Merritt Graves and Skylar Funk shared- the pair hope to spread a pro-Earth message and help work towards a more sustainable future. The group, based out of Los Angeles, has been touring nationally this summer in support of their new EP The Science of Love and to spread the word of their Earth-friendly projects.
“We were both in the Environmental Studies program looking at society and development, looking at ways that our society can develop sustainably,” says Funk. “Music has always been the other thing that we’ve had in common.”
The first major project the two have worked on began last fall during the making of The Science of Love. “We took this album and last year we did a fundraiser with it on a site called pledgemusic.com,” says Funk. “We pre-sold the album and a bunch of other perks and with all the money we raised from that, plus money and equipment donations from our partners, including Sierra Club and a few solar-focused non-profits in LA and the Bay Area, made a donation.” Together, they ended up raising $35,000 worth of money and equipment to be used for solar power to donate to a non-profit in LA called Homeboy Industries.
“They are a great non-profit,” says Funk. “They’ve been around for a while. They provide social services and job training to formerly gang-involved men and women.” By the end of 2014, the funds and equipment raised should be covering the cost of solar power for the organization.
The band has been touring this summer to support the EP and spread their music around the country, spending nearly four months straight on the road. Merritt and Funk also have a collection of unreleased songs they hope to release in the near future. “We are supporting a new EP just out in May,” says Funk. “It’s six tracks out of a big pool of about thirty that we’ve been sitting on.”
Next year they plan to kick off another progressive project. If all goes well, “By September 2015 we are going to be in a solar-powered van,” Funk says. “It wouldn’t power the van, but it would charge batteries that would let us play concerts anywhere we want just off of solar power.” This would allow Trapdoor Social to do guerilla-style shows on a whim, or perform scheduled concerts without the need to plug into the grid to power their electric instruments.
“I have a couple of friends who are interested in helping me install solar panels on top of our trailer,” says Funk. “We’ll be with the van and trailer that we’re using now. We’ll be plugging in and playing anywhere we want with solar power, so next year’s tour hopefully will be a big event for us to be able to pop up wherever we like.” While the project is still in the planning phases, Merritt, Funk and their team will spend the upcoming winter and spring working on putting the plan into action. Where the equipment will come from and how everything will fall into place is still being determined, but parties interested in helping out or sponsoring the project can get in touch with the band through their website.
This winter will also see the band hitting the studio to record some of the songs they have written. “I’m very excited to get started,” says Funk. “We’ll be putting together our first full length album. We have less than a year to get it done, and then start touring again to support it. Between the album and putting together the solar trailer, I think that’s enough stuff for us to do (this winter).”
Eventually, the group hopes to work to support urban farming and other green-urban ideas, possibly using the upcoming album as a way to get word out and raise funds similar to how they did with the Homeboy Industries project. Stay up to date with their progress at trapdoorsocial.com
Category: Buzzworthy
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