Chris Trapper plays The Burren in Somerville this coming Friday and Saturday. — Photos by Topher Cox

By Blake Maddux

Singer-songwriter Chris Trapper’s non-musician jobs have included “selling chocolate chip cookies to tourists in Boston’s Quincy Market” and “food and beverage guy” for Copley Plaza Hotel.

That was before the Buffalo native found success as the leader of The Push Stars, which formed in Cambridge, MA and released four albums and an EP between 1996 and 2004.

Songs that Trapper wrote for the band appeared in movies such as There’s Something About Mary, Me, Myself, & Irene, and The Devil Wears Prada. The trio also toured 10-20,000-capacity venues with Matchbox Twenty in 2003. (The band recently reunited – although it never officially broke up – to record 3 Feet in the Air, which came out on September 21 of this year.)

As a solo artist, Trapper has 10 recordings to his credit. These include his 2002 debut, one of all original Christmas songs, and a 17-track rarities collection. His compositions have been placed in films like August Rush and Some Kind of Beautiful and TV shows such as ER and All My Children.

Trapper’s final two performances of 2018 will be on consecutive nights at The Burren. He spoke by phone to the Somerville Times from his home in Westwood, where he lives with his wife and two children.

The Somerville Times: When were you enshrined in the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame and who are some of your illustrious fellow inductees?

Chris Trapper: Just a couple of weeks ago, actually. The Goo Goo Dolls. Natalie Merchant. Rick James is one of the most notorious. And the barbershop quartet from the film version of The Music Man. They were called the Buffalo Bills, and I was a barbershop nut back in high school, so I loved those guys. That was probably the coolest thing for me, to be with the most famous barber shop group of all time. Ani DiFranco, too.

TST: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it?

CT: I would say it falls comfortably in the singer-songwriter vein of say, Paul Simon. He always experimented with different eras of music. I’m a big 1950s music nut, so I’ll always throw in one track on every record that’s kind of 50s-inspired. It’s lyrically driven singer-songwriter, because the lyrics dictate where the song goes and where the production goes.

TST: Do you usually include Push Stars songs in your set lists?

CT: I try and have a few of the more popular Push Stars songs. I’ll play those. The nice benefit of never having a bona fide hit song is that you can play stuff from every record and the crowd doesn’t leave.

TST: How long after a new release do you begin working on the next album?

CT: There’s no specified time. I just wait for inspiration to strike. When I wrote my last record, what was happening was I’d written a song for a film called August Rush, and the producer from that was working on a new movie. And he called me one day and he was like, “I’m working on something new. Can you write some songs for it?” I was like, “Yeah, I can.” So he started sending me scenes and sending me the script. And one a scene, he’s like, “Selma Hayek gets undressed in this scene. We need a song in the background.” And I was like, “Well, yeah, you can send it to me, I guess.” So I got this advance copy of that scene, and I wrote a song for that. At the end of that process, I’d written maybe eight songs for the film. And that became Symphonies of Dirt & Dust (2015). And then I wrote a few additional songs.

If I get a little melody idea, no matter where I am – if I’m at a party or one of my kid’s soccer games – I’ll duck into a corner and sing into my phone. Then I’ll go back later, listen through them and see if anything sounds interesting or unique or catchy. And then that’s usually where a song starts from.

TST: Has your career been negatively affected by piracy, file sharing, or streaming services?

CT: For me, longevity is such a gift that I embrace whatever’s new because I’m just glad to still be around. So yeah, people expect free music, but honestly with Spotify for the past couple years, I’ve gotten songs of mine on a couple playlists that have had huge followings. So I have a lot of plays and then you get a check in the mail that’s, like, pretty nice. And you didn’t have to ship anything, you didn’t have to pack anything, you didn’t need postage. It’s just like money from thin air. And that’s a beautiful thing. I think with technology there’s always something gained and something lost.

TST: What has been one of your most memorable Spinal Tap moments?

CT: That’s a great question! I was just telling somebody recently that one time our band was booked in Virginia Beach. We had just toured with Matchbox Twenty, opening for them. Some towns didn’t have small rock clubs, so we got booked in this metal club on a Tuesday night. And we pull up and our name is written in the marquee as “The Punishers,” as opposed to The Push Stars, which told you what kind of thought went into promoting the show as well. Usually, if the club doesn’t know the band name, that’s not a good sign. So we went from arenas to being The Punishers the next tour. There’ve been a billion moments like that. It’s actually fun to think about those. And they still happen on a regular basis!

Chris Trapper with Mary Scholz. Friday, December 7 and Saturday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m. The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Sq.