Earth Day event offers ‘trashy’ music, freebies

Dallas College hosted a drive-in concert to celebrate Earth Day. The April 21 event took place at the North Lake Campus. The event featured the North Lake jazz band and the globe-trotting “edutainment” ensemble, Vocal Trash. There was lots of Skinny Pop popcorn, sodas and free plants too.

Will Young with Richland’s Office of Student Life (OSL) thought the event shaped up well.

“For having an event during the pandemic, we had a pretty good turnout,” Young said. “The musicians were great. The jazz band was a great opening for them. We had snacks and free succulents. What more could you want?”

The green-minded ensemble, Vocal Trash ensemble, wore monogrammed track suits and performed choreographed dances to each song. Dallas College students, faculty and staff were socially distanced, bobbing their heads to the music and singing along to a few familiar tunes.

“I think it was pretty cool and fun. It’s something different and I think we needed [it] during these times of the pandemic and quarantine,” said Valeria Chaurero, a Dallas College student majoring in architecture.

From Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” to original hits like “Harmony,” all of the Vocal Trash songs were accompanied by instruments created from repurposed trash. There was a guitar built out of a toolbox, trashcan lids were used as cymbals and a drum set created from three-gallon water jugs. In between songs, band members spoke of their past performances like breakdancing on dirt and performing at Madison Square Garden.

Previously an acapella ensemble, the founder of Vocal Trash, Steve Linder, said they shifted gears after getting a random spurt of inspiration to experiment with trash cans, water bottles, barrels, buckets and brooms for a song.

“It was such a big hit and we started to do it on a regular basis. And then we realized, ‘you know what? We could be saving the Earth with this message.’ And it kind of changed us too,” he said.

The U.S. Department of State seems to agree. They sent Vocal Trash around the world to perform in places like Mongolia, Europe and Africa. The band’s personal favorite was Africa, a continent they’ve visited three times.

“Africa has been heavy on our heart because those people are so joyful and they know some of the inspirational songs we sing,” Linder said. “If someone doesn’t speak English, that’s OK. We talk to them through the music and dance, the universal languages.”

This isn’t the first time Vocal Trash has set foot on the North Lake Campus. The OSL coordinators hope it won’t be the last.

“We’ve had Vocal Trash out here for multiple events and they always have a great message and are a great entertainment,” said Debra Jenson from North Lake’s OSL. “We just thought it’d be a great opening to get a little life back at Dallas College. This would be our first official on-campus event. Hopefully, we’ll have more.”

Vocal Trash hopes to continue circling the globe when COVID-19 is under control. They expressed gratitude for the opportunity to perform at North Lake during this time.

“We’re just glad to be at North Lake. Everyone has been so kind to us and the message is really important to the staff and that means a lot to us,” Linder said.