Life & Work with skylar funk of Chinatown

The following article was published by VoyageLA in October 2025. Here is a link to the original article.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Skylar Funk.

Hi Skylar, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m an entrepreneur, activist, musician, linguist, and now, educator. Growing up near Seattle, WA, I came to California for college (Pomona College) and moved Los Angeles after graduation. Having obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Analysis, I sought to work in the sustainability field, but having always participated in music ensembles and independent musicking, I couldn’t resist the call to stay creative, and dove headfirst into a music career. I began a solo music career, taking my mother’s last name (Funk), created the indie rock band, Trapdoor Social, that would go on to tour with The B-52s and sign a deal with Pasadena Records, and began gigging – finding creative ways to pay the bills with saxophone, voice, loop pedal, guitar, harp, piano… whatever I could get my hands on.

I stayed involved with the environmental movement, protesting and organizing where I could. Trapdoor Social has always wanted to “Save the World” with our music, and we took several opportunities to leverage our art to push for a better future, including the creation of Sunstock Solar Festival, and our years of touring with a solar generator and clean-powered concerts. We provided zero-carbon sound for the Youth Climate Strike, where I met Greta Thunberg, Jane Fonda, Lil Dicky and countless wonderful young organizers. Then in 2020, the pandemic came, and live music and events went away. I was a little confused about my purpose in the world.

A conversation with mentor Chris Sampson in early 2022 changed the course of my career. Chris had been helping me as a songwriting coach, but in his 9-to-5 he had created the Popular Music undergraduate degree program at the University of Southern California (USC), and was then launching a new collaboration with the Music Teaching and Learning graduate department. This would become the masters degree program, Popular Music Teaching and Learning. When I found out about it, I could suddenly make sense of my career that had such great breadth and passion for music, without any significant financial security. I knew that I could become a great teacher, and applied for the program.

Three years later, I’m holding a masters degree, teaching Music Theory 1 at the LA County High School for the Arts (LACHSA), and applying for a Fulbright Scholar award to teach songwriting in Brazil. My lifetime love of learning languages (I’m fluent in French, Spanish, conversational in Portuguese, and learning German, Italian, and others) is carrying me into academic research interests around the overlap of music and language pedagogy. I am loving teaching, and SO excited for this new area of work.

At the same time, I have not slowed down with my work as a musician. Touring and recording new music with Trapdoor Social, gigging regularly with a show band called Classic Noir, releasing a solo album via Audio Network in January 2026, and always finding new ways to work and connect people in the music world. I let Anteres (the maker of autotune) clone my voice for a new AI vocal tool, released a podcast series behind the making of our first vinyl record, and for once, was making a comfortable living playing live music.

I’ve stumbled into ambitious side quests along the way. I have been selling my own brand of hot sauce since 2015 – 10 years now – which you can buy at UncleSkys.com. I’ve been part of the Magic: the Gathering gaming community, and just lauched a new YouTube channel for gameplay. I play ultimate frisbee, and spent two years keeping up with the USC club team, still having eligibility during grad school, outrunning athletes half (37 to 18) my age. I’m simply having too much fun.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Trapdoor Social invested a LOT of resources into our project… maybe kinda hoping it “takes money to make money” and that we’d make it back with our music. That’s unfortunately not how the music industry works. Especially brutal, the recent theft of our solar trailer/generator (from Chinatown, LA, July 2024, at least $20k of equipment) was just backbreaking. Then we toured the west coast (at a loss of $5k) and were robbed AGAIN the night we got back, from right in front of my house, losing my pedal board, most of our merch, cases of vinyl records and hot sauce… Both thefts uninsured. Whoops. Huge props to Merritt Graves for being able to invest in the first place, and for sticking with me to this day to keep the band alive. Finding new ways to be sustainable and just stay in the game… has been a wonderful challenge, now for 14 years. I love my band =]

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I still consider myself a songwriter above all, but I am having so much fun with a variety of projects… I might start with breadth of my work. I’m a gigging musician, recording artist, and now teacher, working with music whenever I can. I have a solo album coming soon via Audio Network, new recordings with Trapdoor Social, and regular shows with Classic Noir.

Outside of music, I also have a hot sauce brand I’ve been selling for 10 years (see uncleskys.com). I am excited to announce a new YouTube channel called Garage Games LA, where my friends and I play Magic: the Gathering. To share this playful pastime, I have built and given away over 280 Magic decks in the last few years to people in Los Angeles. I study foreign languages, play ultimate frisbee, ride my bike, and try to stay involved with the environmental movement.

If I can go into a little depth about some of my work, teaching is something that has become increasingly interesting. In May of this year (2025), I finished a masters in Popular Music Teaching and Learning from USC. This is something that felt profoundly important, turning 15 years in the music industry into a service I am happy to provide. I am now teaching the Music Theory 1 class at LACHSA, or LA County High School for the Arts, and loving the challenge.

Taking this a step further, this year I have also pursued the ambitious target of applying for a Fulbright Scholar award, which would enable me to teach a course on songwriting at a university in Brazil. Having learned French to fluency in undergrad (and in Monpellier, France), then Spanish to fluency while living in LA, my next language project has been Portuguese, inspired in part by Brazilian fans of my band Trapdoor Social who found us on social media before the pandemic. If my application is successful, I will be there for the last 4 months of 2026, mastering another language and kickstarting my career as a music professor. My research interest is in the overlap of music and language learning, and I hope to distinguish myself in this field in the coming years.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Call me crazy, but an optimistic naïveté has served me incredibly well. The more I trust people and treat them like friends, even before I know them, the more people treat me that way right back. The small handful of times I’ve been disappointed or taken advantage of in the many years I’ve lived this way is not enough to change my mind. People are good, doing their best, and hoping to help you if they can. So help them, treat them like they’ve been helping you, and good things will flow.

Pricing:

  • Private music lesson: $100/hr

  • Hot sauce: $10/ea., bulk discounts available

  • Classic Noir performances: Please Inquire!

Contact Info:

Skylar Funk