About his time with Mesa Ridge High School, Funk reflects,“ The‘ Fine On My Own’ project has been such a blast. We met The Pride of Mesa Ridge marching band while touring through Colorado, and I had recently written the song. The rhythm of it was asking for huge brass and drumline … and I was / am a huge band geek, so did whatever it took to set up concerts and recording sessions with them. The director and the students were all wonderful to work with.”
And then there is Funk’ s passion for this planet and his resolve to combine music with activism, which led to the“ outside the box” concept of harnessing solar energy to power the band. And it was this forward-thinking approach that led to realizing the vision for a music festival that is fueled by the energy of the sun. SUNSTOCK SOLAR FESTIVAL( www. sunstocksolarfestival. com) is celebrating its second year, with this year’ s festivities being slated for September. Why solar? According to Funk,“ Solar is exciting because the technology is advancing in leaps and bounds, the cost of production is falling on an exponential curve, and that kind of clean energy has the potential to replace huge amounts of pollution on the institutional level. It’ s almost there! If only the U. S. government subsidized these clean technologies as much as they do fossil fuels. We think it’ s an immediate solution with huge potential.”
Funk’ s attitudes are echoed with the co-founder of the band, Graves. The two met during college while delving into environmental studies. This led to a bonding over music— along with a mutual concern for the future of our planet. The friends began their musical journey as a duo, expanding to a 5-piece to achieve a bigger sound.
Funk adds,“ Merritt and I share a huge sense of urgency around climate change and have been happy to support causes that address the problem--mostly raising money to install rooftop solar for non-profits, charities, or lowincome housing. We’ re really lucky to be in a position to able to do it. But there’ s a lot of energy in music and entertainment, and we just try to channel that.”
However, Funk’ s mindset to“ do something” was evident before college. Says Funk,“ I think if I really traced it back, I started caring in high school. At first it was just picking up trash as I walked around on campus, until I realized that this little part of the world was already paved over, and the only people that were hurt by the litter were us, the same people that were throwing it all over the place. I tried to move on to bigger issues after that.” He continues,“ Merritt and I read and discuss and fret about philosophy, existential threats, where we come from and where we’ re going. The band for us is a necessary artistic outlet but it’ s also guided by our worldview and ideas. For examples, we commit a lot of the band’ s energy to the sustainability movement because that’ s important to us. Merritt has also been writing sci-fi novels for a few years, hopefully to be released soon, with his warnings about technology, etc. baked in. We use the band to affect change based on our beliefs about the world around us.”
Musically, Funk has found inspiration in BEN HAGGERTY( aka MACKLEMORE), due to his ability to roll poignant social critiques into tasty pop-sensible musical packages. Funk shares,“’ Same Love’ topped the charts AND made a beautiful argument for an important human rights issue at a crucial time. I aspire to do such work with my music.”
I wondered about the name of this band … Trapdoor Social … what does that mean? When posed to Funk, his response was,“ We sometimes think of it as an underground meeting of all your favorite minds, past and present … but honestly the name was picked semi-at-random, and not our strongest topic of conversation.”
I asked Funk what his advice would be to other artists who are trying to maneuver the business of music. His answer both reflected his humility and was pragmatic:“ I don’ t know if I’ m qualified to give any advice; every situation is so different. Do what you want to do; do your best; practice lots and play hard. When you figure it out, let me know how it works.” When asked about future goals and personal aspirations … is there a“ Plan B”? Funk responds,“ We don’ t really have a plan B. I make and sell hot sauce, but that’ s more of a hobby. Merritt has also been writing sci-fi novels for a few years, hopefully to be released soon, with his warnings about technology, etc. baked in. Environmental organizing will always be a part of my life, but I’ ve been able to work that into my music career and will try to keep it that way. It’ s music for me as far as I can tell. The other guys are as committed to it as I am, if not more so. We use the band to affect change based on our beliefs about the world around us.”