Transcript from an Interview with Carl Gunther

Why this name?

You'll have to ask my parents that.

Do you play live?

Although I started Songs for Social Change to support the community of Los Angeles songwriters who want to change the world with their music, my own songwriting has always been primarily a way of working through difficult and disturbing political, social and philosophical questions, and thereby evolving my own world view. Therefore, most of these works were produced through a process of intensive meditation on issues of great concern, such as wealth disparity, hierarchies of control, mortality, denial, and the possible destruction of the Earth, whose focal center was the evolving song.

In support of that process, it was important for me to get the ideas, the lyrical expression, and the emotional presentation of the songs right, so that the gestalt expressing the truth of the ideas could be heard and felt when each song was played. Hence, I was very interested and concerned with songwriting technique and craft, but was never strongly motivated to find an audience or to develop performance skills beyond those required to create song demos in my home studio.
Since that time, I have turned my attention away from songwriting and toward directly developing a comprehensive philosophical world view which I am presently documenting in written prose. But now, with the widespread availability of music on the Internet, it seems appropriate to spend a few days getting these works out of my archives to a place where they can be heard, and hopefully performed, by others.
These songs may be used for any non-profit or not-for-profit purpose, including radio broadcasts and performances at events, without further permission. I ask as a courtesy that you inform me whenever practical about the various uses that are made of this work. For other uses, I invite you to contact me for any permissions that you may require.

Would you sign a record contract with a major label?

For me, this is not a relevant question. I would, however, recommend to all performing musicians and songwriters that they develop their own, perhaps small, but meaningful, audiences rather than relying upon the major labels. The music industry generally does not treat artists well, and only a few are allowed to be successful, because there is more money in forcing a few "stars" down peoples' throats than there is in carefully cultivating a large and diverse group of artists with smaller audiences.

Your influences?

I don't sound like any of these people, but the following artists have influenced me: Ani DiFranco, Michael Franti, Linda Waterfall, Chuck D., Dar Williams, David Rovics, Ross Altman, Jello Biafra, The Impossebulls, Atilla the Stockbroker, Fine Arts Militia, Bruce Cockburn, Jackson Browne, Chumbawamba and many more...

Anything else...?

I would welcome bands and individuals at any level of skill who wanted to perform these songs, especially at political events. I'm open to collaboration on song projects that reflect my own core ideals of diversity and cooperation.

Equipment used:
Just a PC, some synthesizers, a microphone, some outboard stuff, and Cakewalk Professional software. I had some help from demo production companies on a few of these tracks, and they added their own live instruments.

Official Website: http://sfsc.home.mindspring.com/