Side Projects
Karlus completed an E.P. of African Music, with Kenyan Lyricist Kahoro Kibochi
I had no intention of creating a recording of African music. I was in the middle of trying to finish my CD when Kibochi came to me for guitar lessons. Six months after we started, he began bringing me lyrics for a song he had in mind about the holiday Kwanza. King Sunny Ade and His African Beats was my first connection to music from the motherland. Check out “Synchro System” for a joyful jamming good time. Paul Simon’s record “Graceland” with Ladysmith Black Mambozo was also influential in crafting the sound for this record. Playing with musicians from West Africa (The African Blue Notes) and South Africa (The Pipes, Blondie Chaplin, Keith Lentin, and Anton Fig) was educational and electrifying. I’d never spoken a word of African before I met Kibochi, but the beauty of Kikuyu, Luo and Swahili dialects made the learning a lot of fun. That’s me (born in the U.S.A), you hear on 90% of the vocals. You can listen to Kahoro’s distinct vocals on the spoken words chants and some choruses.
These recordings are like abstract musical paintings to me. I’m creating soundscapes of rhythms, chants, harmonies, and improvisation from a blank canvas to create music that traverses the language barrier. I don’t know where the songs are going. Each one is its adventure. When I listen back to this music, it’s almost like listening to the music of a stranger. I’m still discovering who that someone is.
The 9/11 Children's Song Residency
The children’s song project started in the spring after September eleventh. The New York Times sponsored artists to go into schools directly affected by 9-11 to help children express themselves through the arts. The education department at Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island chose me to do songwriting residencies at these schools. Initially, participation was in grades one through five and eventually branched out to the sixth and seventh grades. Staten Island, with its blue-collar population, was especially hard hit by the tragedy. All the classes had a child who had suffered a loss, making it personally painful for all of them. To my surprise, most of them had never spoken to anyone about their feelings. These feelings of sadness, anger, patriotism, hope, fear and anything else on their minds became fodder for the songs.
One morning a particular third-grade class drove home the reality of our new world in crystal clear form. I always let the children pick the topic and then the song title.
This class chose the title “As The World Goes Round,” and they were buzzing with excitement, ready to jump right in. I asked them to tell me activities they might be doing as the world is going round. I liked the first response of celebrating with friends and family and thought to myself; this is going well. I then asked for something they might be celebrating, and a bright-eyed, eager child in the first row raised her hand and volunteered a birthday celebration. This is great, I thought. We’ll get a rhyme for her Birthday and be rolling. I turned back to the wide-eyed innocent girl looking up at me and asked, “when’s your birthday?” When she replied September eleventh, the air went out of the room.
A voice inside my head said she couldn’t be serious. Twenty-seven pairs of nine-year-old eyes were looking at me, as unsure as I was about the next step. Gathering myself from this shock, I looked at her and asked, “So your birthday is September eleventh?” She nodded yes, and I thought, okay, Trapp, time to earn your pay. I turned back to the blackboard and wrote, “Celebrating with my Friends and Family on my Birthday on 9-11. I turned back around and said, “okay, class – give me some rhymes for one. Hands all around the classroom shot up in the air.
Film/TV
Various Japanese Television commercials
The American Dream is Over – An independent film by Tom Lawrence The Haunting (UPN)
General Hospital (ABC) – “RAINING DEEP INSIDE” (WOW) was featured on its September 11 broadcast in the Fall of 2003.
Karlus Trapps Solo Set List
- Say Hey (I Love You) M. Franti
- Could You Be loved /B. Marley
- Here Comes The Sun/ Beatles
- Hey Soul Sister/ Train
- Drift Away/Dobie Gray
- Toes/Zac Brown Band
- Put Your records On/Corrine Baily Rae
- Forget You/Cee-lo Green
- 3 Little Birds/ B.Marley
- Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Hawaiian style)
- Ring Of Fire/J.Cash
- Mercy/Duffy
- Iko Iko/Belle Stars
- The Longest time/ Billy Joel
- Banana Pancakes/Jack Johnson
- I’m Yours/ Jayson Mraz
- You Never Can Tell/Pulp Fiction
- Umbrella/Rihanna
- Crash/Dave Matthews
- You Sexy thing/ Hot Chocolate
- Every Little Thing She Does..? Police
- Abracadabra/ Steve Miller band
- Waiting On The World To Change/John Mayer
Karlus Trapps Band Set List
- The Joker/Steve Miller
- Steal My Kisses/ Ben Harper
- Low Rider/ War
- Banana Pancakes/Jack Johnson
- No Woman No Cry/Bob Marley
- Superstition/S.Wonder
- Crazy/Gnarls Barkley
- Crosstown Traffic/ Jimi Hendrix
- Mercy/Duffy
- You Never Can Tell/Pulp Fiction
- Could You Be Loved/ B.Marley
- What I Got/ Sublime
- Tightrope/Stevie Ray Vaughn
- Sol Makosa/Manu Di Bango
- Use Me Bill Withers/Lenny Karvitz
- Iko Iko/ Dr. John
- Upside Down/Jack Johnson
- Keep On Dancing Me/Marvin Gaye
Karlus Produced Joan Caddells Almost Naked CD,2009
Karlus produced and played instruments on Joan Caddell’s 2009 release “Almost Naked. Highlights are “Frequencies Of Love” and “Wanna Be In Love Again”
Karlus plays electric guitars, and electric bass as well as keyboards and drum programs on:
“Frequencies Of Love”
“Wanna Be In Love Again”
“Penance”
“Romeo And Juliet”
“Cry” Elec. guitar. and bass
Karlus Produces Songs With Cara Lanzi
Karlus produced and co-wrote songs with singer Cara Lanzi in 2007 and 2011. Fresh out of college and winning a vocal contest at Wagner college, Cara Lanzi came to karlus Trapp to produce a demo. They wound up co-writing three songs since then, featuring Cara’s natural gift and no-frills songwriting nack. Highlights are the reggae-influenced “3:09″, the jazzy “Brighter Days,” and the funky ” Exit Sign.