The goal of this project is to collectively build an interpretative soundtrack with the members of the Gilman community because the most legitimate way to achieve an understanding of the community’s values, meanings, and philosophies as it relates to punk rock culture is to listen to the musical expressions of these concepts which bring this community together in the first place. Participants are asked a single question: if you had to describe Gilman with one song, what would that song be and why? This project will contribute to the sustainability of the site because it will contribute to a wider accessibility of potential audiences into the punk music scene by giving visitors who don’t necessarily have a context or an initiation for exploring the musical aesthetic, an introduction to punk indicative of what one might experience by naturally engaging with Gilman. Furthermore, the ambiguity of the question we ask allows participants to ascribe what is specifically and personally meaningful to them at the forefront of the Gilman experience. By being able to describe that affect through the use of a song allows for participants of the project to guide the audience in a personal narrative, while allowing the audience to make their own interpretations about how the song reflects their understanding of the culture, history, and musical aesthetics which are connected to the site.

Tait- Sound System by Operation Ivy:

Ryan E- Reflections by Trial:

Harley- Whore by the Insaints:

Pema- Berkeley is My Baby (and I wanna Kill It) by Blatz:

Sam Smash- Kiss the Bottle by Jawbreaker: