 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Flying Nun Records" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Flying Nun Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1981 (1981) |
| Founder | Roger Shepherd |
| Genre | |
| Country of origin | New Zealand |
| Location | Auckland |
| Official website | www |
Flying Nun Records is a New Zealandindependent record label formed inChristchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd.[1] Described byThe Guardian as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringing global attention tothe Dunedin sound, a cultural and musical movement in early 1980sDunedin.[2]
The label formed in the wake of a flurry of newpost-punk-inspired labels appearing in New Zealand in the early 1980s, in particularPropeller Records inAuckland. Shepherd had intended to record the original local music ofChristchurch, but soon the label rose to national prominence by championing the emergingmusic of Dunedin.
"Ambivalence" by The Pin Group (the first band ofRoy Montgomery) was the first release from Flying Nun, although "Tally Ho" byThe Clean was the first release to draw public attention to the label, as it unexpectedly reached number nineteen in the New Zealand charts, bringing the label unanticipated profile and income. There followed the seminalDunedin Double, a release which cemented the place of the southern city in the forefront of New Zealand independent music. Flying Nun moved into the full-length album market in 1982 with theEgo Gratification Album byChris Knox andBeatin Hearts byBuilders (recorded 1982, Auckland).
Many of New Zealand's most prominentkiwi rock andalternative bands have signed to Flying Nun at some stage in their careers. In 2000 Australian youth radio networkTriple J produced a list of the thirty "Greatest New Zealand acts of all time", twenty of them by Flying Nun artists. The label has been home to various styles of music, including the much-debatedDunedin sound, "high-end pop with a twist",lo-fi experimentation, stronglyVelvet Underground-influencedpop,minimalism,industrial, and rock-electroniccrossover.
In 1999 Matthew Bannister ofThe Sneaky Feelings wrotePositively George Street: A Personal History of the Sneaky Feelings and the Dunedin Sound, covering the New Zealandmusic industry of the 1980s, including Flying Nun.
In 1990Festival Records bought a fifty-percent stake in Flying Nun, and then in 2000 merged it withMushroom Records, bringing Flying Nun into the Festival-Mushroom Records family of companies.Warner Music Group acquired Flying Nun as part of its purchase of FMR (Festival Mushroom Records) in 2006.[3] A consortium that included Shepherd bought back the label from Warner on 21 December 2009, for "more than what I sold it for".[1] New Zealand musicianNeil Finn, his wife Sharon, and another business partner together own a quarter-share in the repatriated record label.[4]
In 2013, American labelCaptured Tracks announced plans for selectedreissues of Flying Nun's back catalogue.[5]
The label's history and daily workings of Flying Nun were extensively covered in Roger Shepherd's 2016 autobiography,In Love With These Times.
In the2018 Queen's Birthday Honours Shepherd was appointed an Officer of theNew Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to the music industry.[6]
In the 2020s, Flying Nun ventured into retail with both an online store and physical locations selling records from their own artists alongside other albums on vinyl and CD. In 2022 they opened a record shop onCuba Street inWellington,[7] and in 2023 they opened another retail store onAuckland'sKarangahape Road.[8]
In 2022, Canadian author Matthew Goody publishedNeedles and Plastic: Flying Nun Records, 1981–1988, a comprehensive book charting the label's history, associated figures, and every release or band put out during its first seven years.[9] The book took 10 years to write, and includes live photos, posters, artwork and other documentation.
Since the mid-1990s many of the original stable of artists have split up or moved to other labels, includingXpressway Records (Port Chalmers, New Zealand),Arch Hill Recordings (Auckland), Powertool Records (Auckland),South Indies, Paris orMatador Records (United States). A similarly varied new generation of bands is signed to Flying Nun, including:
Flying Nun also released numerous compilations of a cross-section of its artists. These are now often the only easy-to-find documents of certain featured artists.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
