SHIROCK is a five-piece band on a mission. Realizing the power music holds, this band hopes their platform can bring attention to the needs around them. “The reason we make music is because we want to be a catalyst for change, and we feel like that begins with being honest about who we are and where we’re at…the dirt and the glory, the big ideas and the problems, all of the dreams and uncertainties…” the band’s founder and frontman, Chuck Shirock, said. “Our hope is by doing that, we’ll be part of a shift in our generation to live for the things that matter and not get caught up in the things that don’t.”

Core songwriters Shirock and Pap met in Nashville in 1999 and discovered they similar backgrounds, which included time spent living overseas. While living and going to school in Nashville, they met up with the other members in the band. Adam Gatchel,  drummer, started playing with them early on, and then more recently they brought in Kevin Whitsett on bass and Evan Weatherford on guitar.

The group plays Saturday at the SXSW music fest to bring attention to a worthy cause. We talked to Shirock this week to get the details.

How did you become involved with the SXS2010 event?

SHIROCK has been at SXSW the last few years, and we have always thought it would be really amazing to put on our own event here. When we launched the non-profit Everything Burns, last year, we thought this would be a really great venue to get the word out about it. There are a lot of passionate, taste-making people that come to SXSW every year, and we’d love to help them become involved in what we’re trying to do with Everything Burns.

Tell me about your upcoming show on the 20th? What is the vision behind it?

The Everything Burns event is a daytime party at one of the premier SXSW venues, Central Presbyterian Church, located right off the main 6th street. We wanted it to be accessible to anyone who wanted to hear more about Everything Burns – so it’s free, and open to all ages, with no badge required. When we started planning this event we were envisioning a laid-back party atmosphere, with great music (the other acts involved are really good friends and great artists), where people could take a break from the “white noise” of SXSW and think about how they can make a difference in the world around them.

For the past year, one thing we’ve highlighted through Everything Burns is the fight against Malaria. It’s something we are really passionate about, and have been excited to be able to donate proceeds from the sales of our EB armbands to help purchase mosquito nets to keep people from contracting malaria. At the SXSW Everything Burns Party, we are helping to spread the word about “When the Night Comes” – a movie about the effects of Malaria – which Pap, Adam and Evan saw a screening of in Nashville. After hearing about the film, it was really clear that this would be a great partnership since it was something we were already trying to raise awareness about.

Can you introduce our readers to your non-profit?

Everything Burns was officially launched about a year ago. The idea is “Living For Things That Matter” – with EB we work to provide practical, measureable ways that people can get involved putting this idea into practice in their communities and around the world. Early on, one of our main goals has been to find ways that young people can get involved in social issues. As we toured and met people all around the US, and connected with people around the world online, we saw a trend … young people that connected with the EB idea, and the messages in our songs – but they felt like the issues were too big … that they couldn’t actually make a difference. We wanted to help solve this problem, and give young people practical ways they can make a difference. So we helped launched peer-to-peer mentoring programs in Detroit, partnered with 13 organizations in key cities we tour to in an attempt to get more young people engaged in the battle against homelessness, and most recently we’ve launched this EB Armband campaign … it’s a simple equation. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you can make a difference. You get an armband, and you help get one person a mosquito net.

How did it get started and where is it going (your vision for the future)?

The idea for the organization first came when I was working on the song “Everything Burns” – which happens to be the oldest song on our record. The idea is that our time is so limited and valuable, and I wanted to make sure that the things I was spending my time and resources on were going to last. As I looked around I started to see a separation between certain types of people. There were the people that were just building kingdoms for themselves, and then there were the people that were building into something bigger … something that would last. I decided then that I wanted to live my life for more then the temporary. I wanted to “Live for things that matter” – instead of the “things that burn…” That’s where the whole idea started, and quickly a lot of people grasped onto it and began to talk about it. We started to see that this idea was something that resounded with many people, and so we began brain-storming ideas on how we could take it further.

In the future we hope to use EB to get more young people involved in social issues. One idea we’re beginning to pursue is launching EB in high schools…forming groups at schools around the US, and helping these groups to identify and tackle issues right in their communities. We also will be continuing our work to help resolve poverty and homelessness issues in the US

For those who cannot come to the show…What message do you want them to come away with?

If people aren’t able to come out to the party, they can find out more about EB and “When the Night Comes” at:

• EverythingBurns.org
• WhenTheNightComes.com

I guess what we really hope everyone comes away with is the reality that small things can make a big difference…so look around you, and think about what it means in your life to “live for things that matter,” and take action, whatever that may be.

How can readers become involved?

We are currently selling EB armbands that people can wear as a daily reminder to live beyond the mundane. Every sale of an armband helps to provide a mosquito net for someone in Africa. We try to keep our goals and causes “small an attainable…” We want to make sure that when someone donates to Everything Burns, or purchases an EB armband you know where your money is going, and the effect it will have. You can purchase an EB armband at EverythingBurns.org.

Where can readers purchase your music/read tour dates?

On our website we have links to our store where you can buy physical CDs, shirts, posters and other merch. We also have all tour dates listed on the site. If you’re on Facebook you can also see our tour dates on the SHIROCK page.