Skylar Funk ’10
Rock festivals like Coachella require massive resources and, thus, end up with enormous carbon footprints. Coachella’s 600,000 daily attendees translate into an estimated net total of 700,000 gallons of diesel over two weekends—or enough gas to power 1,250 cars for an entire year.
Merritt Graves ’20 and Skylar Funk ’10 have spent the better part of a decade trying to play a role in minimizing concerts’ environmental impacts: 2026 will mark the 10th anniversary of their Sunstock Solar Festival, a California-based nonprofit indie-rock festival powered by multiple solar generators. The festival has drawn major rock bands like Ra Ra Riot and Wavves, as well as cumulative crowds of thousands over the years at locations such as Los Angeles and University of California at Berkeley.
Skylar Funk ’10 and Merritt Graves ’20
Graves, who was in Funk’s class year but officially graduated 10 years later, met Funk in Pomona’s environmental analysis program. The duo spent much of their college years participating in climate activism and playing music, including in their band Trapdoor Social, which toured with The B-52s and just signed their first record deal.
In 2013, they used crowdfunding proceeds to put solar panels on the roof of the L.A. nonprofit Homeboy Industries, which works with former gang members and ex-convicts. Two years later, they invested in a solar-paneled touring trailer outfitted with a 3.5-kilowatt inverter to power their subwoofers, speakers, amps, instruments and LED lights—which set the stage for not just Sunstock Solar Festival, but participation in environmental rallies like Youth Climate Strike Los Angeles.
This spring, Funk graduated with a master’s degree in popular music teaching and learning from the USC Thornton School of Music. During his time at USC, Funk found his way into its Student Sustainability Committee, and in his second year, worked as its graduate co-chair.
“Sky takes a collaborative, open-minded approach in his interactions with stakeholders, which ensures the students’ perspective is heard,” Chief Sustainability Officer Mick Dalrymple recently told USC Today. “He also leads students to propose well-researched solutions rather than taking the simpler route of voicing concerns. Through this added value, along with demonstrating persistence, Sky helps the students earn respect and accomplish their long-term sustainability goals.”
Graves is now a fiction writer, while Funk hopes to continue to integrate sustainability themes into his music teaching. As he told USC Today, “I’m in search of kernels of wisdom and knowledge that we can use to find that magical recipe for [climate] action.”