Story & Lesson Highlights with Claudia Robin Gunn of Auckland, New Zealand

Claudia Robin Gunn shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Claudia Robin, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Truthfully, writing songs. Funny thing is, because I wear a lot of hats in life as a mum, sister, daughter, business owner, human seeking balance in a topsy turvy world, songwriting isn’t my main daily occupation, even though it is the primary heart of my musical career.

So oftentimes a song comes about as a form of procrastination for me, something that I lose myself and then find myself in, a moment in the day when time stands still, and I follow a train of thought to its conclusion. If I’m working on something that isn’t my favorite, a moment (or hour) of songwriting is the way my brain and heart sends me back to a grounded state and then I can carry on and achieve the *thing that I’m stuck on.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m the founder of Little Wild Music in Auckland New Zealand. I make songs that connect kids and families with nature and their emotions. This project began organically, with a suite of lullabies from my time as a young mother, and has evolved as they have grown up. Just as some parents are really great with journaling and photo books (I’m not!!) I have documented parenting life through songs, so it’s both a project with a mission to give back to my fellow humans, as well as a form of mental health wellbeing process for me.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
I remember doing a poetry assignment in school, and it feeling somehow magical to end up with a book full of life in words after I had finished, like snapshots in metaphor of that year. I think I lost that book so I can’t remember any of the work at all, but it was like being a magician, to be able conjure up the world in a book, from just some words and time.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
I would never have stopped entirely, but I did have a minor tragedy that made me think about how to carry on when our flat got robbed and my whole drawer full of mini discs of song recordings got taken. I thoughts I’d never be able to remember those songs, that were so important to me at the time.
Now I look back and it was kind of a gift actually, like having the slate wiped clean and having to start from scratch. Some of the tunes did come back to me and I figured if I still remembered them, they must be the ones worth keeping anyway.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That AI is a brave new world for creative arts. There is a whole dilemma in the music and creative arts on how to manage the provenance of ideas, influence and the dichotomy of personal creative acts vs pattern recognition and manipulation.
The soul of the work matters to me, and the why of the making. As so many say about life in the bigger scheme of things, it’s the journey not the destination. Using AI seems to me a lot like skipping the journey and taking the short cut straight to the endpoint. Who loses? Arguably the artist, for not going through their own discovery, as well as humanity, because we don’t even know what new forms might have been when everything is simply an echo or repetition of previous ‘hits’.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
Writing a song everyday. I don’t know which songs will make their mark, or most accurately capture the feeling of a day in a way that elevates others in the way that I hope to, so I just keep trying to uncover them one by one.
Some songs I started ten years ago, and finally finished recently, so I look at every idea as a seed I’m planting in my garden, and then I’m committed to nurturing them then to find the sunlight they need to grow.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Photo by Charlie Rose Creative

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Highlighter Series
Life, Lessons, & Legacies

Shari Mocheit Put God first and trust the process. See God in everyone and everything.

Highlighter Series
Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?

Del Kary Definitely what I was born to do. Since I can remember, movies have

Highlighter Series
Local Highlighter Series

Sean Glatch Anyone can write poetry! To prove this, well, everyone would have to write