Environmentalism, sick bike tricks, and a solar-powered trailer: an interview with Trapdoor Social

Trapdoor Social was founded by two college students who wanted to spread their message of environmentalism and making a change through music. Since their creation they have created their own solar festival called Sunstock, traveled around the country with their own solar trailer that has helped power countless concerts, and have released a full length album (with another one on the way). I sat down with the lead singer, Skylar Funk, to learn more about the band’s message, their latest music video for “The Move,” and their upcoming album. 

The message your band has is about sustainability and making a movement. You even have a solar powered trailer. I was wondering why you started a band instead of a nonprofit?

That’s a good question. I think – well for one Merritt and I started the band in college while we were doing Environmental Studies. We always had this interest in promoting sustainability, but we also always had this passion for writing music. We met in 2011, we hung out, and we were talking about what we were writing. When we started the band we acknowledged the same sense of duty for music as a platform for some kind of change.

The dream was to do both. That passion is to do music and enjoy that. We think artists can use their platform to have a message. We wanted to see how that would work for us.

Is that the same reason why you started Sunstock?

Yeah. Sunstock was particularly inspired by a few things I read. For example, Don’t Even Think About It is a book by George Marshall who talked about climate change and communication. He had this really interesting chapter about the environmental movement as a social experiment and how we see people talk about climate change and how it struggles to grow as a movement. It’s hard to talk about. He makes a comparison to religion as a social experiment and how successful that has been.

He draws this parallel and says that while at church we are all about community and acknowledging the difficulty of life and forgiving ourselves and each other. It’s about singing and having this positive experience. That really inspired me to try to create this really positive place where there’s a party, there’s a bar, there’s bands, fun activities, vendors, and all this stuff. But, at the core, the idea was to promote sustainability. We thought that maybe this is what the world needed.

Your song “The Move” says that everyone can be part of a movement. Was there a particular protest or movement that inspired it or did the idea for the song come out of the blue?

There have been some pretty amazing protests that I think of immediately. We went to Standing Rock when the Dakota Access Pipeline protest was happening. We recently ran power and sound for the Youth Climate Strike in LA. One of the biggest ones in LA was the Break Free From Fossil Fuels, and we ran power and sound for that. Every time our allies that organize those movements have an event that need sound or power, they call us up. We’re so happy to come and collaborate with them.

I think of people in the streets of LA, I think of people at City Hall where Break Free from Fossil Fuels was. I think of the streets the day after Trump was elected. People were just out there and it felt like people were ready to take to the streets. I always want to encourage that as much as I can.

I loved the music video for “The Move.” Was there a reason behind you riding your bike throughout the video?

A couple. The main thing is that I love riding my bike. It changed my life in LA. I was sick of sitting in traffic on the highway. When I started riding my bike around town – as dangerous as it is, it’s really not that bike-friendly – it totally changed my life for the better. For me, it’s my form of protest. It’s a fossil-fuel free form of transportation.

When we first started recording this song and I just had early phone recordings of what we were working on, I remember cruising around town and listening to it and just dancing on my bike. The fun-ness of the song connected with what it felt to be on a bike and that sort of carefree feel. It’s kind of dumb. I’m literally just riding my bike around and signing. There’s not much to it. It’s not a high production video. It just felt like the thing to do.

The guy who shot it for us also works a lot with movements. He spliced his own footage of protests. That’s what helped drive home what the song is about. You could easily not catch the lyrics or not connect to the carbon-free transportation. We wanted to make sure that people knew what it was about.

Will your upcoming album focus on social movements like “The Move” or will it delve into different topics?

There are definitely a few songs that pertain to that subject. We’re always trying to write songs that are relevant to those subjects. There’s definitely some other stuff like songs about love. There’s always something new.

How would you describe the vibe of that new album? Is it really upbeat?

You know, I think “The Move” is just as upbeat as it gets. “Hold me Down” and “Truth,” our other singles from that album, are pretty upbeat. From there it gets more moody and chill. We have a lot of dark vibes and angsty rock. It doesn’t come from me as much as Louie and Merritt, they love the twisted, dark vibes. Sometimes I meet in the middle and we create some weird stuff like that. It’s gonna be a mix. There are a couple of tunes that I’m really excited about. But they’re super dark and heavy. I think it should be a fairly cohesive body of work and I’m excited to share it.

I remember when I listened to the two previews you sent, I felt a Twenty One Pilots vibe.

Particularly that song “All” is kind of our first song that has more rapping than singing. You’re not the first one to make that connection. I’m always like “damn it!” It’s cool though. Obviously they’re out there, and I can see that comparison.

To end this interview I would like to ask what your favorite band memory is?

Gainesville, Florida a few years back when we were on tour we took a tour down a river. There was a lot of beer and floating. It’s kind of amazing over there. The locals were very sweet and we had a really nice time. That was the first great memory that comes to mind. There’s been a lot of good ones.

Article by Michelle Castillo