TRAPDOOR SOCIAL is Merritt Graves and Skylar Funk, and they’re here to save the world. Merritt and Skylar met at the Environmental Analysis program at Pomona College in Southern California. By day they studied the challenges for planet Earth, and by night they found refuge in their music. “I'm extremely anxious about things going wrong in our environment, and that becomes a source to draw from.”, says Merritt. “A song for me is just about taking energy and transferring it into a sonic medium.”

Merritt, who hails from Iowa City, had been putting together a band and sealed the deal to have Skylar, originally from Seattle, join him in creating TRAPDOOR SOCIAL while hanging backstage at a Death Cab for Cutie concert at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles. They are a powerhouse duo, playing off of each other’s very different personalities - Merritt’s darker, angst-driven creativity coupled with Skylar’s bright and dynamic performance. “There is a serious dark thing and a serious light thing happening in TRAPDOOR SOCIAL.” says Skylar. “Merritt derives creative energy out of stress and anxiety - his art thrives when he’s suffering. My way is bouncing, affectionate, super positive - I live to be on stage.”

The result is a lush, moody indie alt-pop experience where lyrics, melody and beat work intimately together to create a compelling and seductive melange.

TRAPDOOR SOCIAL makes its official debut with a six song EP Death Of A Friend,
due out October 2012. The songs were produced by Curt Schneider, with
Death Cab For Cutie drummer Jason McGerr playing on the tracks.

Video plays an important part of the creative process for TRAPDOOR SOCIAL. They are prolific, with outstanding clips for “Inertia” and “Death Of A Friend” released Summer 2012, and “Away” and “Like You Never” currently in production. "Video is another great canvas to paint on. It can connect the dots from different concepts in a very visceral way.” describes Merritt, who wrote, produced and performed in the video for “Inertia”. “As soon as the song is done, I immediately go to imagery.”

The songs on Death Of A Friend speak of love, emotion, introspection. “We want to eventually write an anthem for the renewable energy movement.” proclaims Skylar. “I had an epiphany when I saw the Harry Belafonte documentary ‘Sing Your Song’ while at the Sundance Film Fest last year. Harry was a star, but then also got into civil rights movement, using his clout to swing a big sword at those issues, dedicating the rest of this life to affect change. You can be a rock star and change the world - this is what I want to do. We have to become rock stars in order to get this message out, in order to get the work done that we want to get done.”

In the meantime, TRAPDOOR SOCIAL walks its talk, with continued involvement with green companies Farmscape and Agrisaurus, which Merritt helped create, and the development of an awareness campaign around solar and other renewable energy. “Life is about finding situations into which you can add love.” says Merritt. “I want to help get the message out that everyone should just do what they can!”.

TRAPDOOR SOCIAL inspires us with that message, loud and clear. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.