Interview with Carla Ulbrich

For more info about Carla, see her Web site. You can reach her by e-mail.

How long have you been performing?

About 6 years consecutively. I had to overcome stage fright - or should I call it stage paralysis... I did guitar recitals, marching band and stuff like that growing up. I used to sign up for open mics then run away and not do them. My public singing debut was at a Pig Pickin on Spring Break my 2nd year of college.

Um. What's a "Pig Pickin"? :-)

LOL! It's a redneck Luau (what's a redneck?). They cook the pig all night, then the next day there is much beer and you take a bun and pick some meat off the pig and make a sandwich. In my case, you take a bun and go to the condiment table and have a ketchup sandwich and some Twinkies.

How long have you been playing guitar?

I tried to start when I was 4, but my teacher had me wait til I was 9. So... about 8 years now (haha).

I see from your Web site info that you took classical guitar lessons. When did you start branching out into other types of music?

I started classical guitar at age 9, marching/concert band at age 12, hum and strum guitar lessons at age 13, piano at age 14. I guess the hum and strum lessons (took that year from the YMCA counsellor who led all the singalong stuff at camp) got me started singing and playing. I also spent a summer at GIT in Hollywood (rock guitar school) when I was 19. There were 200-300 of us there, and 3 were female. One of the girls dropped out after a week...

Do you still play the tuba?

Yes. in fact, I own a sousaphone (marching tuba)!

How did you find out about filking?

A folkie friend (Deirdre Flint) invited me. She also knew nothing about filk but one of her fans told her she should check it out. We were doing some gigs together, and she invited me to do one in GA and to attend the GAfilk the same weekend. I passed on the gig, since it was for tips and there would be 3 of us, and ended up really enjoying the filk (while she had to go do the gig I had passed on).

And what do you think of filk?

I think filk rules. I think of it as the "real" folk music, where everyone is included and songs go through a process of change everytime they are sung by another person. I love the atmosphere of acceptance and I especially appreciate the level of intelligence. I know I'm in a good place when some of the jokes are going over *my* head! And even though I was a musician before becoming a lyricist, I really dig great lyrics and tend to focus on that most myself.

At Gafilk, I was worried about the 2x10 i had signed up for because I don't write about space or science fiction but nobody seemed to notice or care! And I've never gotten that big a laugh from the line (in Please Do Something Stupid) about never dating anyone named Steve...

I also like how relaxed the filks are. some other music conferences i go to, it's all high-pressure schmooze and everyone is stepping on each other or competing for attention. I go to a filk and it's all about enjoying the music.

What were you like as a kid?

Shy, very shy.

I didn't speak much 'til about 5 years old, but was a very early reader (was reading before first grade). Mom likes to tell this story about me: when we went to register me for school, my mom told the 1st grade teacher i could already read. The teacher was condescending to my mom, and thought I had probably just memorized my favorite books. My Mom said, "No, I don't think so. When we were in the bank the other day, Carla asked me if I liked service charges." I also apparently wrote a note to my 2nd grade teacher asking for more homework. How is that for nerdy? :)

My birthday is in September, so I was always a little young for my grade in school, turning 6 a month after first grade started.

I started studying classical guitar in 4th grade. I sucked at sports and math. i was not at all part of the popular crowd (didn't want to be), although I always had a small group of friends. I was a Girl Scout and earned every badge in the book (nerd alert!). I joined the concert and marching bands in Jr. High and High School, and was in a new class of nerd- band nerds. I was the drum major in 12th grade - head nerd.

I also had a small group of "cool" musician friends who were in a rock band (they all have jobs and spouses now. oh wait, one of them is still single and owns a comic book store). All very smart, all big fans of Dr. Demento and Monty Python. All better at math than me... I was somewhat rebellious once I turned 13. Flunked 8th grade on a technicality, paid for it all summer in summer school.

We lived near a lake so I cut school a lot my senior year to work on my tan. Best subjects in school: music, sunbathing, writing of any kind.

Popular or geeky?

Popular among geeks. :-)

What's your songwriting process?

Long ago, it was music first. You don't want to hear those songs. i don't want to play them :) Now it's lyrics first, pretty much always. I have quite a few lyric fragments that need finishing. I used to jot them on anything (napkin, receipt, envelope, speeding ticket) and stick them in a shoebox but that was a mess, so now I buy these overprices velvet covered small spiral notebooks and jot my ideas in there. I have one with me almost always.

Which of your songs are your favorites and why?

Of my own songs? I tend to like my most recent stuff, like a lot of songwriters. Audience faves are "Please Do Something Stupid" and "What if your Girlfriend Was Gone", and because the audience enjoys them, it makes them fun for me to perform. they have both earned me some awards, too, so I thank them for that. Of the stuff I haven't recorded yet, I like the "Wedgy" because it's so absurd and "I Have to Kill You Now". And the "Guy Who Changes the Light Bulbs". I like doing songs that surprise people.

Do you think you'll make it to FilKONtario (in Toronto, last weekend of March) or OVFF (in Columbus, Oct. 26-28)?

I won't make FKO this year as I will be going to Dementia 2001 the same weekend. Hopefully, next year. I hope to make OVFF this year, though! I may also make Dragoncon, as it is very close to where I live.

Do you have any upcoming projects/gigs?

I gig pretty much every weekend, all over the place. The current calendar is up at www.carlau.com. I hope to make a second CD this year. It always takes longer than expected, especially if you do it right, so it make go beyond this year as far as getting it completed. I'll also be teching guitar at three camps this summer, in NM, TN and VA.

Any personal info you want to share? (e.g. single? pets? pet peeves? favourite foods? idiosyncrasies? etc.)

Single. I travel too much to have a pet. I had the coolest cat in the world, but he lives with my parents now. He plays the piano and eats everything in sight and loves everybody. His name is Slick. I do *not* travel too much too have a pet peeve however. In fact, travelling has created some new pet peeves, such as being forced to check my guitar on the airlines. The second is being served something really gross when I'm starving. like a cheeseburger... Fave foods: chocolate, hummus, diet coke. Fave TV show: Moral Court. hey I only get 2 channels and one of them is PBS. I also get three hours of Start Trek (TNG) every day.

My Dad is a retired Physics Prof, Mom is a retired Econ Prof, both at Clemson U. I am from Clemson but did not go to Clemson (no music program there). Born in SC, but have no southern accent second of three girls.

What do you do when you don't have a guitar in your hand? :-)

Pack and unpack. :) I also still like to read... watch the odd good movie... go sightseeing! (one of the perks of bein a travelling musician! Water parks and putt putt -- oh yeah!) track down old friends from school and visit... long walks, yoga. I am the Queen of Boggle (timed alphabet dice game). Any takers? I'm really, really good! I also have a lovely bottle cap collection...