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A highly creative year for a treasured east Auckland children’s music artist has led to the release of a new collection of very likeable songs for young ones. Claudia Robin Gunn, who has thousands of fans and viewers around the world, has just put out Little Wild Singable Songs with a distinct theme in mind: “A song is more than a melody – a song can be a friend”. For children who have an ear for good catchy tunes, Gunn says: “The right song at the right time can transform the whole energy and dynamics in a room, or a car ride, making parenting a whole lot more melodic, harmonious and mindful.” She says the philosophy running through Little Wild Singable Songs pays homage to Raffi’s original Singable Songs for the Very Young, viewing “kids’ music as simple yet powerful”. “Raffi’s songs embody kindness and the idea that music can bring peace and harmony to the world. “As a 1970s’ child, I grew up with folk music like this, and all the musical evolutions of the early 1980s.” Little Wild Singable Songs, with its songs about dinosaurs, fire trucks, rainbows and other intriguing subject matter for little people, is an album that’s the culmination of a very productive 2025 for Gunn. “If you’ve been listening all year, and you’ve already found your fav new little wild song, it will be here in this project. “And you’ll also find a brand-new gratitude song to open the musical merriment, and one super sweet lullaby to gently close the book at the end.” Gunn says she’s heading out on tour around the country this summer to play live concerts that will be “full of movement, dance, and merry melodies”. As a preview of her live energy, so families’ can see how she performs, for the first time on her YouTube channel she’s appearing in the videos for each song, productions made with support from NZ On Air Tamariki. For this project, Gunn says she wanted to take “a new approach”, enabling the viewing children a chance to “meet” the artist singing the songs. “I wanted kids to feel like they could be a part of my show, even if they live on the other side of the world.” Gunn, who has been described as a “Kiwi kids’ music megastar”, has won two APRA awards in her career. She’s released six albums, two holiday EPs, and has collaborated on many productions with some big names in children’s music. Her following and popularity are international with a global reach of 15 million streams on Spotify. Last year, Gunn won the coveted Tūi prize for Recorded Music NZ’s Best Children’s Music Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards for a brilliant album, Firefly, created with Grammy-winning United States-based producer Dean Jones. “I’ve always used music as a method of processing emotions and experiences,” says Gunn, as a songwriting mother. “Songs arrive and sing themselves around my head until I figure them out. “Sometimes it’s a simple puzzle, sometimes it takes me years of experiments to understand what a song needs to be finished. “Sometimes it’s literally been my kids, and myself growing up a little more, then all those diary notes suddenly make sense.” Gunn doesn’t only produce music for young ones, as before deciding on a career path as a children’s music artist, she was, and still is, the vocalist and co-producer for dance music duo Substax. Gunn’s friend, Auckland music writer and publicist Renee Jones, says: “After her first child was born, something had to give. “With a deeply musical ancestral lineage, the crossover from dance to children’s music seemed like a destiny that couldn’t be halted. “This is music for kids that engages their curiosity, emotions, and zest for life, and also doesn’t drive their parents bonkers,” says Jones. “Music for learning, playing, dancing, and quiet times. Carried on warm, uplifting harmonies, Claudia’s songs are like a warm hug in sound that sets imaginations free.” For an earlier Times’ feature Q&A interview with Claudia Robin Gunn, read: https://www.times.co.nz/art-entertainment/qa-with-tui-music-award-winner-claudia-robin-gunn
