Flying Nun Records

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Flying Nun Records
Active years since 1981
founder Roger Shepherd
Seat Auckland , New Zealand
Website www.flyingnun.co.nz

Flying Nun Records is an independent label originally from Christchurch , New Zealand . The label was founded in 1981 by music shop owner Roger Shepherd. Known and popular for its rather anti-commercial “ do-it-yourself ” aesthetic, the label represents various bands from a variety of genres, although it is often associated with the “ Dunedin Sound ”. Flying Nun has been based in Auckland since 2012 .

history

1981-1990

Flying Nun Records was founded in 1981 in Christchurch by music store owner Roger Shepherd. According to his own statement in the documentary 'Heavenly Pop Hits', he wanted to record young local bands who otherwise had little chance of having records recorded. Dunedin-based musician Chris Knox has been very active since the label's inception, initially buying a portable four-track recorder to record bands in Dunedin and Christchurch in the 1980s and then Wellington and Auckland. In the late 1970s, New Zealand saw a wave of new post-punk bands and various new independent labels. In 1980, for example, Propeller Records began recording some Auckland bands. Flying Nun, one of the earliest examples, initially focused on the South Island of New Zealand. Before that, New Zealand did not have an established music recording industry.

Roger Shepherd initially wanted to record music from Christchurch, but music emerging in Dunedin was soon promoted. Flying Nun has since been known for the “Dunedin Sound” - actually a controversial term coined by Roger Shepherd [1] - which can be described as LoFi , guitar-oriented “ Jangle-Pop ”. The Dunedin sound is represented by bands like The Clean , The Chills , The Verlaines and Straitjacket Fits , all classic examples of the early Flying Nun tone. But the label represented a variety of genres, including garage rock , indie pop, noise and hard rock . Bands like The Skeptics, for example, tried to establish a harder, more complex style, The Dead C experimented with improvisation, electro and layered guitars.

"Tally Ho!", The Clean's first single, is often considered the first Flying Nun release, presumably because of its unexpected success as it quickly rose to number 19 on the New Zealand charts. In fact, “Tally Ho!” Followed shortly after The Pin Group's single “Ambivalence”, which was actually the label's first release. Tally Ho! was recorded on a budget of just under $ 50, and the success of the single provided the label with much-needed funding in the early days. In 1982 the “Dunedin Double EP” secured this southern city a prominent place in the New Zealand independent music scene. This EP contained four bands on four sides (two 12-inch records): The Chills, Sneaky Feelings, The Stones and The Verlaines. In the beginning, the label only released EPs and singles, the first LPs were not pressed until 1982.

Flying Nun gave the bands a completely free hand with their sound, album art and album length. The label has never been very profit-making - its express intention was simply to produce good local bands.

Many of the memorable earlier bands were only briefly active before breaking up, often after just an album or two, such as The Stones (1982–83) and Look Blue Go Purple (1985–88). The Clean, one of the most influential Flying Nun bands and often referred to as the parade specimen of the Dunedin sound, was actually separated for most of the 1980s.

1990-2009

In 1990 The Chills' album "Submarine Bells" rose to number 1 in the New Zealand charts. In the same year the Festival Records label acquired a 50% stake in Flying Nun. Festival exerted some influence on the content and style during this time, for example the Headless Chickens were persuaded to make singer Fiona MacDonald a permanent member of the band, but Flying Nun was still pretty much independent. In 1994 the Headless Chickens achieved the first number one hit on Flying Nun with their single "George".

In the early 1990s, when bands like The Chills and Bailter Space moved to the US and many of the original Flying Nun bands broke up, a new era began for the label. Many new bands emerged in the 1990s under the Flying Nun label, such as the pop-rock band "Garageland". The D4 , with their fast-paced, hard rock 'n' roll style, released their first album in 1999 and achieved international success, particularly in the US and UK.

Matthew Bannister of the Sneaky Feelings published his book Positively George Street: A Personal History of the Sneaky Feelings and the Dunedin Sound in 1999, which covers the New Zealand music industry of the 1980s, including Flying Nun Records. The book was quite critical of Flying Nun, and especially of Chris Knox.

Festival Records and Mushroom Records merged in 2000, with Flying Nun being brought into the Festival Mushroom Records group. In 2006, Warner Music Group Festival acquired Mushroom Records while also purchasing 100% of Flying Nun Records. Roger Shepherd left the label in 1999 and vowed never to work in the music industry again.

Since 2009

Even so, Shepherd came back ten years later to save Flying Nun Records. In 2009 he orchestrated the buyback of Warner together with other investors in order to bring the label back into New Zealand ownership. The New Zealand musician Neil Finn , his wife Sharon and another business partner now jointly own a quarter of the label.

The New York label 'Captured Tracks' have been selling a large selection from the former Flying Nun catalog since 2013. In the same year, Flying Nun was more closely connected with the indie label Arch Hill Records, so that a selection of Arch Hill artists are now also released under the Flying Nun label. Both labels have opened a joint music store and distributor called “Flying Out”.

Various successful New Zealand alternative bands have been signed to Flying Nun at least once in their careers. The label has a reputation for unique, original music and has been described by MTV as one of the world's most influential indie labels. The Australian youth radio station "Triple J" published a list of the thirty best New Zealand musicians of all time in 2000, twenty of whom were Flying Nun artists.

Artist

1981 to mid-1990s (selection - alphabetical)

Even in the early days of the label there was a very diverse mix of bands.

  • The 3Ds
  • Able Tasman's
  • The Axemen
  • Bailter space
  • The Bats
  • The Bilders
  • Bird Nest Roys
  • Bored Games
  • The chills
  • The clean
  • Chris Knox
  • Crude
  • David Kilgour
  • The Dead C
  • Dead Famous People
  • The DoubleHappys
  • the Expendables
  • From scratch
  • Alastair Galbraith
  • The Great Unwashed
  • Headless chickens
  • Jean-Paul Sartre Experience
  • Look Blue Go Purple
  • Mainly Spaniards
  • Marching orders
  • The Max Block
  • The Netherworld Dancing Toys
  • The Pin Group
  • The puddle
  • The Renderers
  • Scorched Earth Policy
  • The Skeptics
  • Snapper
  • Sneaky feelings
  • The Stones
  • Strait jacket fits
  • Tall Dwarfs
  • The Terminals
  • The Verlaines
  • The Vibraslaps

Mid-1990s to 2009 (selection - alphabetical)

By the mid-1990s, most of the original bands had either split up, looked for other labels, or moved abroad. A new generation of bands have been signed to Flying Nun.

  • Alec Bathgate
  • Betchadupa
  • Bike
  • Bressa Creeting Cake
  • Chug
  • The D4
  • dimmer
  • Garageland
  • Gerling
  • Ghost club
  • High Dependency Unit (aka HDU)
  • Jean-Paul Sartre Experience (aka JPS Experience)
  • King Loser
  • Love's Ugly Children
  • The Mint Chicks
  • Pan Am
  • Pavement
  • The Phoenix Foundation
  • Shocking pinks
  • The Subliminals
  • Superette

2009–2017 (selection - alphabetical)

Since the repurchase of Flying Nun by Roger Shepherd and others who wanted to see the label again in New Zealand ownership, the label has a new line of artists whose genres are as diverse as in previous years.

  • Aldous Harding
  • Badd Energy
  • The! The! The!
  • Fazerdaze
  • Grayson Gilmour
  • The Courtneys
  • Ghost wave
  • Mermaidens
  • Shayne Carter
  • Street Chant
  • Surf Friends
  • Tiny ruins

Compilation albums (chronological)

Flying Nun has released several compilation albums by various artists over the years.

  • Dunedin Double EP (1982)
  • The Last Rumba (1983)
  • A Flying Nun Sampler (1985)
  • Tuatara - A Flying Nun Compilation (1986)
  • Outnumbered By Sheep (1986)
  • In Love With These Times (1989)
  • Roger Sings the Hits (1991)
  • Getting Older 1981-1991 (1991)
  • Pink Flying Saucers over the Southern Alps (1991)
  • Beyond The Jangle (1993)
  • 12 Hours Fast (UK 1993)
  • AK-79 (With Propeller Records 1993)
  • Shrew'd: A Compilation Of NZ Women's Music (1993)
  • Something For The Weekend (Europe 1994)
  • Abbasalutely (1995)
  • Sampler 95 (1995)
  • Super Trouper (1995)
  • The Sound Is Out There (1995)
  • 15 (1995)
  • Pop Eyed (1996)
  • Heaven ?! 81-96 (France 1996)
  • Topless Women Talk About Their Lives (1997 film soundtrack)
  • God Save The Clean, A Tribute To The Clean (1998)
  • How Much For Trade? (1998)
  • Scarfies (1999 movie soundtrack)
  • Under the Influence (2002)
  • Speed ​​of Sound (2003)
  • Very Short Films (music video compilation DVD) (2003)
  • Second Season (Music-Video Compilation-DVD) (2004)
  • Better Production, Wider Appeal (2005)
  • Where In The World Is Wendy Broccoli? (2005)
  • Flying Nun 25th Anniversary Box Set (2006)
  • Whatever I Do It's Right - Flying Nun Spring Sampler (2010)
  • Tally Ho !: Flying Nun's Greatest Bits (2011)
  • Time To Go: The Southern Psychedelic Moment 1981-1986 (2012)

literature

  • M. Bannister (1999). Positively George Street: Sneaky Feelings and the Dunedin Sound - a Personal Reminiscence.
  • R Shepherd (2016). In Love With These Times: My Life With Flying Nun Records.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Heavenly Pop Hits: the Flying Nun Story . nzonscreen.com. 2002. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  2. ^ Stuff NZ . stuff.co.nz. 19th September 2012.
  3. ↑ a b c Flying Nun History 1981-2002 . radionz.co.nz. October 1, 2011.
  4. ↑ audio culture . audioculture.co.nz. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  5. ^ A b c Otago Daily Times - Founder reacquires Flying Nun after ten years . odt.co.nz. December 23, 2009.
  6. ↑ Stuff NZ - Finn helps finance rebirth of Flying Nun cult record label . stuff.co.nz. February 20, 2010.
  7. ↑ Captured Tracks, Flying Now reissues . capturedtracks.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 26, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.capturedtracks.com
  8. ^ Scoop NZ - Flying Out to Open Record Store, On Record Store Day . scoop.co.nz. April 13, 2015.
  9. ↑ a b MTV News - Five Fantastic Flying Nun-Inspired Bands . mtv.com/news. September 1st 2013.
  10. ↑ a b c d Discogs . discogs.com. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  11. ↑ Flying Nun Online Shop . flyingnun.co.nz. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  12. ↑ Flying Out online shop . flyingout.co.nz. Retrieved September 26, 2017.