Roger Shepherd from Flying Nun

A little while ago I got the chance to have a chat with Roger Shepherd, founder and owner of New Zealand's iconic Flying Nun record label. Having formed the label in 1982 Shepherd was at the helm until he sold it 1999. In the new century Flying Nun lost it's spirit and direction as it shifted through a range of corporate owners but in late 2009 Shepherd bought back the label and has embarked on a mission to not only release a wealth of long lost gems from the vaults but also to sign and release new material.

The first releases on Flying Nun since Shepherd took over again, Grayson Gilmour's No Constellation and Die! Die! Die!'s Form. The third release, just out is a new solo album from Robert Scott of the The Bats and The Clean, Ends Run Together.

I also spoke with Shepherd about his plans for re-releasing Flying Nun's back catalogue. While even well known acts like The Bats have classic material that is unreleased there is a wealth EPs from lesser-known acts. While some of this material, like the two 1983 EPs by Marie and The Atom, has a fairly niche audience it would be good to have it available in some form.

There are also a number of Dunedin bands who released material that was significant in the development of New Zealand music throughout the eighties and beyond which at present can't be heard.

After I turned off the recorder Roger and I kept on chatting and we discussed the possibility of previously unreleased material emerging. In a Counting The Beat exclusive this podcast includes a song from the 3Ds David Mitchell, recorded in the lead up to their Fying Nun EP Swarthy Songs for Swabs - a portastudio recording called Some Thing.

There are videos from Robert Scott, Die! Die! Die! and Grayson Gilmour on the video page.

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