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In Love With These Times: My Life With Flying Nun Records
The inside story of New Zealand's iconic independent record label by the man who made it happen.I wanted to be more than just an observer. I wanted to be a part of what was going on. I had told someone and the word was out, and now I had to actually do this thing. Start a record label. I must have been drunk. Roger Shepherd was working in a Christchurch record shop when he realised the local bands he loved needed someone to make their records. Flying Nun was born. Those records and the bands that created them – The Chills, The Clean, Chris Knox and the Tall Dwarfs, The Verlaines, Sneaky Feelings, The Bats, Straitjacket Fits and many more – went on to define an era and create what became known as “the Dunedin Sound”. In truth it was less a unified sound than a spirit of adventure and independence that characterised the Flying Nun ethos. In this long-awaited memoir, label founder Roger Shepherd describes the idealism and passion that drove the project in the first place, the hard realities of the music industry, and the constant tension between art and commerce. Filled with revealing anecdote and insight, this is the definitive insider history of the one of the most innovative and original record labels of the modern era. "Surely the label with the highest quality output per capita in pop history." – Guardian UK. "Something inexplicably special happened in the Southern Hemisphere a quarter of a century or so ago, the ripples still rumbling, and without it, all the music you love today would sound ever so slightly, and indefinably, different.” - British comedian Stewart Lee.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
298 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
September 12, 2016
For anyone interested in the life and times of New Zealand's wonderful Dunedin Sound and with that the independent record label Flying Nun, this autobiography by founder Roger Shepherd is essential reading.
As a fan in love of the music he was listening to live, Shepherd went out and did what the majority could only dream of and started a record label to record what he wanted to hear. With that he gave the world some of the finest DIY recordings in contemporary music.
In love with this book.
As a fan in love of the music he was listening to live, Shepherd went out and did what the majority could only dream of and started a record label to record what he wanted to hear. With that he gave the world some of the finest DIY recordings in contemporary music.
In love with this book.
January 2, 2019
Always liked those Kiwi bands, probably because their biggest common dominator was The Velvet Underground, also one of my favorite bands of all time. Funny is the perspective of Roger Shepherd, the author and founder of the Flying Nun label. In his mind something uniques came out of New Zealand, the most unique was that such a small country could produce so many bands, probably they had nothing better to do. And when one of the key figures of those bands, David Kilgour from The Clean, mentions there is something as a Dunedin Sound Shepherd contradicts. Wel mr. Shepherd I am sorry to say but there is definitely a typical sound. But there is nothing wrong with that, wonderful and beautiful music came out of New Zealand and Roger Shepherd and his Flying Nun label made it possible for people all over the world to hear it. And to quote the last line in his book: Music, A bit like fresh air: essential to life.
Mr. Shepherd thank you .
Mr. Shepherd thank you .
December 26, 2016
A really great story about one of the world's greatest independent labels. Roger Shepherd spins a good yarn, and whilst there is lots missing, the cast of characters - Chris Knox, The Clean, Martin Phillipps, Peter Gutteridge etc. are well drawn, and the chaotic (and occasionally repetitive) narrative is always engaging. Highly recommended, if only because it'll make you pull out some of those great albums and EPs and give them another spin.
June 8, 2016
A really great book. An easy, engaging read - and you're swept up in the music and the time and the near-absurdity of 'just starting a label' for the right reasons: a love of music, not an aim for a career. Some of the best music I've ever heard lives inside Flying Nun. And Roger has told his tale so well.
February 27, 2018
Let me preface these remarks by saying I was a big Flying Nun fan from circa 1987 onwards and have read many articles, interviews and reviews of artists on the label and about the label itself over the years, and I still have many of the records. So I'd consider myself fairly knowledgeable. I expected to learn a lot more from this book. Instead I learned almost nothing. It's a hugely disappointing wasted opportunity in my opinion.
If you've come here looking for reminiscences of obscure bands or even basic information about the more obscure releases on the label, well forget it. The narrative sticks to the well known names for the most part: The Clean, The Chills, etc.. If you hoped for some insight into the inner workings of the label in it's early years, how certain things got released that weren't Rogers projects, or even how this division of labour occurred, how different projects were agreed upon -- you can forget that too. There's nothing here. Nothing to explain a whole host of acts who managed just one or two releases on the label.
Most indie labels are collectives, in one way or another, and those that enjoy any kind of longevity usually do so because of the personalities involved. You get very little sense of this from Rogers book. He only discusses the bands he liked that were successful (in indie terms) or laments those that weren't liked enough (Look Blue Go Purple - hardly an obscure name). There are some interesting reminiscences of the very early years of the post-punk scene and occasional character studies of some key players (Knox, Bathgate, Downes, the Kilgours, etc). None of these are particularly detailed, apart from Chris Knox. These are fundamental failings. I could go on and on. Perhaps this book should have been written as a collaboration, because there is so much MISSING from the history, it's unreal.
My second main problem with the book is its lack of style. It's chronological, naturally, and follows the gradual growth of the label and it's main artists, in reputation and sales, it's location changes, changes in office personnel, relationships with bigger labels at home and abroad, etc, and uses each milestone to provide us with a banal description of the pros and cons of each event. Platitudes about the music business in NZ abound. If I'd pieced together a label history myself from internet sources, I could have come up with more-or-less the same material. There is no insight, no deeper detail.
Towards the end of the book, Roger is diagnosed with manic depression, which comes as no surprise to himself, and he reckons it was reflected in the manic way he ran the label. I have to say it came as a complete surprise to me, because none of that manic energy was transmitted in his descriptions of running of the label over the 200 preceeding pages! Instead he told us how much he liked cardboard dividers. And whiskey, lots and lots of whiskey. If you google Roger's name, you will find various anecdotes which illustrate his manic character, (e.g. driving to a Toy Love gig while holding onto the bonnet of the car) but the problem is very little of this is present in the text. Maybe he really needed an outsider co-writer for that.
If Roger ever tries to write a definitive history of Flying Nun (again), I'll certainly read it, but I hope next time he'll collaborate more and more importantly use a co-writer to tell the story properly.
If you've come here looking for reminiscences of obscure bands or even basic information about the more obscure releases on the label, well forget it. The narrative sticks to the well known names for the most part: The Clean, The Chills, etc.. If you hoped for some insight into the inner workings of the label in it's early years, how certain things got released that weren't Rogers projects, or even how this division of labour occurred, how different projects were agreed upon -- you can forget that too. There's nothing here. Nothing to explain a whole host of acts who managed just one or two releases on the label.
Most indie labels are collectives, in one way or another, and those that enjoy any kind of longevity usually do so because of the personalities involved. You get very little sense of this from Rogers book. He only discusses the bands he liked that were successful (in indie terms) or laments those that weren't liked enough (Look Blue Go Purple - hardly an obscure name). There are some interesting reminiscences of the very early years of the post-punk scene and occasional character studies of some key players (Knox, Bathgate, Downes, the Kilgours, etc). None of these are particularly detailed, apart from Chris Knox. These are fundamental failings. I could go on and on. Perhaps this book should have been written as a collaboration, because there is so much MISSING from the history, it's unreal.
My second main problem with the book is its lack of style. It's chronological, naturally, and follows the gradual growth of the label and it's main artists, in reputation and sales, it's location changes, changes in office personnel, relationships with bigger labels at home and abroad, etc, and uses each milestone to provide us with a banal description of the pros and cons of each event. Platitudes about the music business in NZ abound. If I'd pieced together a label history myself from internet sources, I could have come up with more-or-less the same material. There is no insight, no deeper detail.
Towards the end of the book, Roger is diagnosed with manic depression, which comes as no surprise to himself, and he reckons it was reflected in the manic way he ran the label. I have to say it came as a complete surprise to me, because none of that manic energy was transmitted in his descriptions of running of the label over the 200 preceeding pages! Instead he told us how much he liked cardboard dividers. And whiskey, lots and lots of whiskey. If you google Roger's name, you will find various anecdotes which illustrate his manic character, (e.g. driving to a Toy Love gig while holding onto the bonnet of the car) but the problem is very little of this is present in the text. Maybe he really needed an outsider co-writer for that.
If Roger ever tries to write a definitive history of Flying Nun (again), I'll certainly read it, but I hope next time he'll collaborate more and more importantly use a co-writer to tell the story properly.
November 8, 2024
This is a fascinating contrast to Bannister’s memoir, partly because that’s the product of a complex and complicated man whose opinions range from concisely articulated to maddeningly frustrating. Shepherd is clearly not one of those people blessed with the spark of artistic creativity, although this is a fine book. Rather it’s a diplomatic, canny and sometimes a little knotty remembrance of the sometimes little dry frustrations of the business end of the music industry. It’s kind of fascinating that at the point Flying Nun’s uniqueness begins to slightly fracture (and sorry Roger, Garageland will always be shit) that Shepherd slightly begins to write himself into knots to sort of defend previous actions and try and make certain decisions sound entirely planned (essentially the Xpressway stuff). It feels like this is where Shepherd is just determined to keep everybody happy even when the narrative is sort of at the stage where him trying to do that is causing all manner of problems. It’s a great book though, with some lovely moments and I will particularly treasure the image of Chris Knox licking Mark E Smith’s face (and, sorry Matthew Bannister, but Roger does have the right Smith girlfriend here). That’s a moment for the ages
June 13, 2016
This book was hard to put down. It transported me back to the wonderful 80s in particular; that sense of place and time; going out in freezing smoggy ChCh nights to various - often short-lived - venues to see bands; handmade posters; record shops; chaotic parties; student radio; rough fanzines; NME and Rip It Up; feeling like we existed in a different world to mainstream NZ; music that I loved and still love; the political backdrop of those times. It is a very accessible book and I loved it. I never knew much about Roger Shepherd, and so it was wonderful to get to know a bit about him - it is amazing what he managed to achieve in his understated way and lovely that he got to buy FN back. You really do need to dig out some of the old faves after reading this book, give them a spin (at the right speed) and take yourself back there.
September 18, 2016
Brilliant read that was personal and historic
I am the same age as the author and could relate to everything he wrote. Yes I am a Flying Nun fan but I also enjoyed the way the culture of New Zealand music was described when Flying Nun started. Pretty much how I remember things were back in the late 70s and 80s. In middle age you do begin to say 'do you remember' just like your Parents did but that's not a bad thing. Great read and I highly recommend.
I am the same age as the author and could relate to everything he wrote. Yes I am a Flying Nun fan but I also enjoyed the way the culture of New Zealand music was described when Flying Nun started. Pretty much how I remember things were back in the late 70s and 80s. In middle age you do begin to say 'do you remember' just like your Parents did but that's not a bad thing. Great read and I highly recommend.
May 28, 2016
An important record label, an important book
Flying Nun Records is iconic as an independent New Zealand record label and this book from the labels' creator, Roger Shepherd is a must read for fans of New Zealand music. It is an easy read and a captivating story of what can be achieved from a love of music.
Flying Nun Records is iconic as an independent New Zealand record label and this book from the labels' creator, Roger Shepherd is a must read for fans of New Zealand music. It is an easy read and a captivating story of what can be achieved from a love of music.
October 7, 2016
Excellent biography of New Zealand's most important indie record label, Flying Nun, well told (largely autobiographically) by label founder Shepherd.
Here's a much more comprehensive review I wrote for Landfall journal... http://www.landfallreview.com/otara-m...
Here's a much more comprehensive review I wrote for Landfall journal... http://www.landfallreview.com/otara-m...
August 3, 2016
Superbly written. Brilliant history of the label that could and the music I grew up listening to. Interesting insights to the personalities from those times. And of Roger himself as well.
August 4, 2017
Let's go out and get drunk together and get depressed together.
December 2, 2021
in love with these times is a compelling memoir of the indie music scene in new zealand during the 1980s and 1990s, told with good humour and without ego. roger shepherd makes for a fantastic musical tour guide through the trials and tribulations of setting up an independent record label, as well as the various bands that would go on to join its roster. i also loved learning a little bit about new zealand during the late seventies - politically and musically - as it helped to provide some context and bettered my understanding of a time that i wasn't around to witness.
as publications on the dunedin sound and artists of its ilk are so few and far between, i was eager to gain new insight into some of my favourite groups, such as the chills and the clean. however, this is ultimately about a record label and the music industry. yes, there are moments given to hash out the story of flying nun's 'heritage acts', but it's mostly things that the average dunedin sound enthusiast will probably already know. nothing wrong with that, i think i just came to realise over the course of the book that what i had really hoped to read was a detailed biography on so many bands who have been relegated to the more obscure depths of music history. it's me, not you, roger.
so if you're interested as to the ins and outs of the music business and how independent record labels work, i could not recommend in love with these times more. it's a well written, concise memoir. but, if like me, you're simply digging for more information on bands that have so little written about them in the first place, this book won't be telling you much that you don't already know.
as publications on the dunedin sound and artists of its ilk are so few and far between, i was eager to gain new insight into some of my favourite groups, such as the chills and the clean. however, this is ultimately about a record label and the music industry. yes, there are moments given to hash out the story of flying nun's 'heritage acts', but it's mostly things that the average dunedin sound enthusiast will probably already know. nothing wrong with that, i think i just came to realise over the course of the book that what i had really hoped to read was a detailed biography on so many bands who have been relegated to the more obscure depths of music history. it's me, not you, roger.
so if you're interested as to the ins and outs of the music business and how independent record labels work, i could not recommend in love with these times more. it's a well written, concise memoir. but, if like me, you're simply digging for more information on bands that have so little written about them in the first place, this book won't be telling you much that you don't already know.
January 18, 2021
"In Love With These Times" is the story of Flying Nun, the iconic independent record label from New Zealand, Roger Shepherd its creater, and the musicans it produced. Shepard tells his story of how he started a record company as a reaction to the lack of outlets for NZ bands to be heard beyond their locales particularly if their own brand of music was outside the "oppressive mainstream". All Shepard had to start with was a "she'll be right" attitude, a love of the local music scene and a small sum of money.
The reader gets a little of Shepard personally, the times generally, and a lot about running the business and bands such as the The Chills, Chris Knox, The Bats, Sneaky Feelings, Headless Chickens and plenty of others.
Its generally an easy to read tale with plenty of nostalgia if you were there experiencing these bands and New Zealand or even spent time in Dunedin -- mention of the Empire Tavern did it for me. If you're not from NZ you may be lost by some geography and history mentioned in the book but if you're a big (independent) music fan you'll still want to read the book.
My only criticisms of the book are they Shepard falls in to a number of repetive pat phrases and constantly circling back in time that left me wondering how long are we going to take to get past 1982. But then again this is an autobiographical work so the issues are minor.
The reader gets a little of Shepard personally, the times generally, and a lot about running the business and bands such as the The Chills, Chris Knox, The Bats, Sneaky Feelings, Headless Chickens and plenty of others.
Its generally an easy to read tale with plenty of nostalgia if you were there experiencing these bands and New Zealand or even spent time in Dunedin -- mention of the Empire Tavern did it for me. If you're not from NZ you may be lost by some geography and history mentioned in the book but if you're a big (independent) music fan you'll still want to read the book.
My only criticisms of the book are they Shepard falls in to a number of repetive pat phrases and constantly circling back in time that left me wondering how long are we going to take to get past 1982. But then again this is an autobiographical work so the issues are minor.
February 1, 2018
I'm currently at the peak of what I'm sure I will later refer to as "my Flying Nun phase," so this hit a particular sweet spot for me. I also agree with the general criticisms that others put forth: it's somewhat repetitive, could use a more judicious editor, and the writing occasionally leaves something to be desired. At the same time, I also appreciated the writing in its unpretentious folksiness and I found Roger Shepherd's self-effacing tone to be rather endearing (these all seem to be classic Kiwi traits anyways). Maybe not as comprehensive as I'd like (I'd love a detailed history of the label and its bands or the Dunedin scene in general), but understandably so since this is a memoir and not a history. There are a lot of funny stories, juicy gossip and musical insights, enough to make you forgive it being a bit rough around the edges, just as the music that Flying Nun released was often very rough around the edges.
My top five favorite Flying Nun albums:
1. The Bats - Daddy's Highway
2. The Chills - Submarine Bells
3. 3Ds - Hellzapoppin
4. The Clean - Anthology*
5. Sneaky Feelings - Send You
* Yes, I know it technically came out on a different label, but it's a compilation of material that was all originally released on Flying Nun so I say it counts.
My top five favorite Flying Nun albums:
1. The Bats - Daddy's Highway
2. The Chills - Submarine Bells
3. 3Ds - Hellzapoppin
4. The Clean - Anthology*
5. Sneaky Feelings - Send You
* Yes, I know it technically came out on a different label, but it's a compilation of material that was all originally released on Flying Nun so I say it counts.
October 16, 2016
Unmissable, indispensable reading if you too were obsessed by Flying Nun bands in the 80s and 90s. If you fondly remember those ear-bleeding orientation gigs and the packed out smaller venues then this memoir of the founder of Flying Nun has so many little gems in store for you. I loved it, warts and all. It made me dig out my old compilations, search out old records and bands on streaming music services, and even venture into a physical music store in search of the odd hard to find thing! An important piece of NZ's musical history, and a welcome piece of nostalgia for some.
December 18, 2022
I enjoyed this I grew up in Dunedin / NZ these years when Flying Nun Records started. Roger Shepherd wrote it seemed to me a very honest account of his Flying Nun times. It bought back memories of the music and times of that era. Radio with pictures, Ready to roll, EMI records and Roy Colbert 2nd hand record store where I bought and sold many records as a student. Netherworld dancing toys at the Oriental, 1970’s carless days, The goodnight kiwi at 11 o’clock when tV finished for the night. The Screaming Mee Mees and “ see me go “ Thank you most enjoyable account
February 22, 2017
Excellent book. Roger is bluntly honest in his depiction of the legendary label. It's amazing that any albums were actually released given it's ramshackle operation. Essential reading for anyone interested in NZ music
March 6, 2017
Although I've not been a fan of the music Flying Nun produced, this book is a very interesting insight into the process of creating an independent label in little old New Zealand. It is also a part of New Zealand music history, and a bloody good read as well.
September 3, 2017
Entertaining read with a behind the scenes look at the NZ independent music scene. As someone who was unfamiliar with the Flying Nun catalogue, this gave plenty of recommendations on what to listen to and helped connect the dots between musicians and how they were involved with various bands.
January 12, 2018
An enjoyable history of Flying Nun Records and the people who made it happen. Roger Shepherd’s understated recount of the life and times of a record label and the creative people who played in the bands that recorded on it was an interesting read.
January 7, 2017
Look Blue Go Purple are the ducks nuts.
July 31, 2017
as unique & beautiful as the music that Flying Nun makes available to the world.
December 6, 2018
Don't even love the label's output, but this was a fascinating documentation of the creation and development of it.
June 17, 2021
Great stories from Flying Nun head honcho.
Bought while in AK for Nowhere Festival.
Bought while in AK for Nowhere Festival.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2022
How uncommon and how delightful it is to say that a book you've just finished reading was exactly what you wanted it to be. I wanted the story of Flying Nun records -- I got it. I wanted behind-the-scenes access to the Dunedin scene -- I got that, too. I wanted the characters and local color and all that, and Roger Shepherd's book absolutely delivered. I'm almost ashamed to say that one of the most pleasant surprises, for me, is that it's written as well it is. Shepherd's voice in these pages is chummy and earnest and articulate, wonderfully well-suited to telling this story in particular. Highly recommended for fans of the record label and students of independent music everywhere.
October 13, 2017
Nice summary of the little record label that could...
October 27, 2021
Pretty fun, but perhaps a little milder than I would have liked.
December 14, 2024
Really enjoyed this book recounting the history of fantastic music and the label.
April 12, 2018
As a fan of many of the bands championed by Flying Nun down the years (and those lumped in under the catch-all 'Dunedin Sound' label) I'd been waiting for something more authoritative than Matthew Bannister's somewhat bitter 'Positively George Street' to come along, and Roger's account is definitely that. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews