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Flying Nun founder Roger Shepherd publishes autobiography

By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 24 November 2016

The memoir of Flying Nun Records founder Roger Shepherd, ‘In Love With These Times’, has been published in the UK by HarperCollins.

Shepherd founded the New Zealand indie label in 1981, putting it at the forefront of what became known as the ‘Dunedin sound’. Acts like The Clean and The Chills went on to influence numerous guitar bands around the world, and still have a fervent fanbase. After the indie became wholly owned by Warner Music in 2006, Shepard and a consortium of investors, including Neil Finn, then bought it back in 2013. The company then partnered with New York indie label Captured Tracks on a series of reissues.

Discussing how the book came about, Shepherd told CMU: “A friend of mine had this documentary idea that was to be based on my personal perspective as the founder and owner operator of Flying Nun Records. But film industry advice was that the success of such an approach was dependent on a strong and interesting central character. Being the shy and introverted type I knew that it wasn’t going to work unless I sat down and wrote my story about Flying Nun and my relationship with the bands that I have worked with since 1981”.

“Having completely forgotten about the film idea I then spent a considerable amount of time staring out the window desperately trying to remember what had actually happened, but eventually there was self-discovery as I stitched my past together, reconnected with the music and finally made sense of my life”, he continues. “It’s a story of awkward talent, chance, chaos and madness all made worthwhile by a beautiful soundtrack”.

Watch a Q&A about the book with Shepherd and Graeme Hill of former Flying Nun band The Able Tasmans here: