Melissa Chilinski’s Beautifully Perfect Trash Moon Collective

Sitting in a coffee shop talking music with Melissa Chilinski is like opening up a box of sunshine. Chilinski is the founder of the Trash Moon Collective, a nonprofit promoting and supporting the bluegrass, old-time and roots scene in Salt Lake City. “I just want to continue to be a platform for people to stand on so musicians—at whatever level—don’t feel like their little islands are isolated,” she explains. “With Trash Moon, I like [to see] people creating and collaborating, learning and growing, jamming and socializing. It can be out and about, or it can be on your porch. I think having community and people who support each other can give people confidence to keep creating art, which is important.”

This vision exploded at Buckhorn Wash at the San Rafael Swell in the spring of 2023 where Chilinski’s band Pompe ‘N Honey was making a video for their song “Desert Moon.” They made a moon out of literal trash and other discarded items. It all ended with a big party. Chilinski would later reach out to another local nonprofit, Hot House West, with a goal of merging under the same umbrella, and the Trash Moon Collective was born. “Some of us feel this way with this music, it’s not really mainstream but we love it,” Chilinski explains. “We are trying to keep these traditions alive, bring them to more people and enjoy playing music together.”

Scene building is not an easy thing to do in Utah. “A lot of us were frustrated when people in the community would see a musician rising, [and] the thought was, ‘When are you going to Nashville?’” Chilinski says. “I think every musician should travel, but I think things have changed [so] that you don’t have to upend your entire life in order to achieve a dream like that … The goal is to keep fostering this scene … it’s a beautiful place to live. We have a good life balance.” Chilinski adds that “a good scene is built from the dedicated people having jams and having these spaces for people to connect.”

“I just want to continue to be a platform for people to stand on so musicians—at whatever level—don’t feel like their little islands are isolated.”

Meg Peters is the owner of Acoustic Music in Salt Lake, which has been a hub for the acoustic music scene. These musicians are brought together at The Woodbine Jam at The Woodbine Food Hall every Wednesday. “It’s the heart of the collective,” Chilinski explains. “It helps to bring people who are more advanced and intermediary together. It provides a fun role to meet people, to play either as amateurs, semi-pros or pros. It helps to keep fostering the scene.”

One of the big events for The Trash Moon Collective is the Cosmic Hootenanny. Anything goes at the Hootenanny. “We have an edge to us and a silliness,” Chilinski says of the collective. “We take music seriously, but we don’t take ourselves serious. Because for us, entertaining can be emotional, but it’s entertaining and fun. A woman in town was having trouble medically. We wanted to do something for her. Throw a big party under Trash Moon.” Chilinski expounds, “I had some crazy ideas to raise money and do it in the most ridiculous way possible.”

The Cosmic Hootenanny ended up with multiple bands of musical genres overlapping each other and jamming. It turned into an interactive show that included reverse burlesque and other antics. The event sent Chilinski’s creative mind racing. “I really like producing. I love generating ideas and bouncing them off people,” Chilinski says with joy. “Creating something big, exciting and different.”

“Wherever I traveled I kept finding people who played bluegrass and old-time. It’s a common language where you can just sit down and pick some tunes with a stranger.”

The second Cosmic Hootenanny turned into an over-the-top variety show with Josie O And The Big Six, Pompe ‘N Honey,  The Elderblossoms, The Hot House West Septet  and Theoretical Blonde. Chilinski explains, “People who are part of the collective have micro sets—about 25 minutes—with skits in between that promote our programs, but in a very silly way. More musicians doing reverse burlesque dancing, a banjo orchestra in a two-part tab arrangement playing the Star Wars “Imperial March” with Darth Vader on stage.” Chilinski and the Trash Moon Collective know how to throw a party.

Melissa Chilinski is a brave, creative and curious soul. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a family that encouraged her pursuits and passions. She had a folk rock band in high school. She went to college and studied environmental science with a minor in non-fiction writing. She worked in conservation and agriculture in her 20s. Chilinski would go on to get a Masters in soil services, but something else started to blossom. “Wherever I traveled I kept finding people who played bluegrass and old-time,” Chilinski says with a light in her eyes. “It’s a common language where you can just sit down and pick some tunes with a stranger. I really loved that. It became an obsession. All I wanted to do was sing, play guitar and banjo. When you are fully on the path of what you are supposed to be, there is no resistance.”

Joseph Campbell once said: “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.” Chilinski is following her bliss. Wherever she goes, doors open. “I hope Trash Moon has gravity.” Chilinski reflects, “I hope it starts to become a magnet for musicians who can really bring more credibility to our scene, and just more fun, more jams, more perspective.” With walls becoming doors for Melissa Chilinski, her goal is to stick her foot in all of them, so that everyone else can come through. Find Chilinski on Instagram at @melissachilinski. Keep up with The Trash Moon Collective’s upcoming events at hothousewest.com and follow them on Instagram at @trashmooncollective.

Graphic Designer: Maddie Hoggan
maddiehoggan.com | @maddiehoggan

Walk us through how you created this layout. What inspired you when designing it?

I did a lot of stalking of Melissa and the Trash Moon Collective, so their sound definitely helped guide me, but I was also pulling a lot of bluegrass-y designs and posters from festivals and concerts. I wanted my design to kind of emulate that vibe. 

Tell us about your design background. How has your style evolved over time?

I’ve always loved art and design, and I remember spending hours on Microsoft Paint as a kid creating dumb little posters and things. I have always been drawn to posters, album covers and street art. My style is still evolving, and I hope it always will evolve, but at the heart of my work is a fascination with contrast. I always look for strong opposition in whatever I’m doing because I find opposites interesting and complimentary. 

What are some of your design inspirations or influences? 

Music and album art, punk concert flyers and posters, and photography. I watch a lot of movies and [I] think I get a lot of inspo from those. I’m a rabbit hole-r, so once I watch or consume something, it consumes me, and I have to look into every detail … and dissect their portfolio. I also take inspo from other artists and designers; I’ve always loved David Carson (obviously), and some illustrators like Polly Nor and artist Terry Urban. 

What does your graphic design process usually look like? 

I love the beginning exploration stage—I could mood board for days. I’m a big researcher and try to look at lots of varying inspirations for each project. I typically make a board and brain dump everything in my head, and try to hit the ground running for a huge first round to show clients all the different avenues they could go down, and try to dwindle [it down] to one idea from there.

What is your favorite aspect of graphic design?

I love design because it feels like a big curation of different influences. Everything has already been done before, but what makes good design is taking what’s been done as influence[s] and combining it with something new or unexpected. I love contrast, so every time I can mix huge, bold type with something small and delicate, I try to do that.

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