Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

formed in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringing global attention to the Dunedin sound, a cultural and musical movement in early 1980s

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

History

The label formed in the wake of a flurry of new

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

-inspired labels appearing in New Zealand in the early 1980s, in particular Propeller Records in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Shepherd had intended to record the original local music of

, but soon the label rose to national prominence by championing the emerging music of Dunedin. "Ambivalence" by The Pin Group (the first band of Roy Montgomery) was the first release from Flying Nun, although "Tally Ho" by

The Clean The Clean was a New Zealand indie rock band formed in Dunedin in 1978. They have been described as the most influential band to come from the Flying Nun label, which recorded many artists associated with the "Dunedin sound", and one of the fir ...

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 seminal ''Dunedin 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 the ''Ego Gratification Album'' by Chris Knox and '' Beatin Hearts'' by Builders (recorded 1982, Auckland). Many of New Zealand's most prominent kiwi rock and

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

bands have signed to Flying Nun at some stage in their careers. In 2000 Australian youth radio network

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

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-debated

Dunedin sound The Dunedin sound was a musical and cultural movement in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand, in the early 1980s. It helped found indie rock as a genre. The scene is associated with Flying Nun Records, an independent label. Bands associated with th ...

, "high-end pop with a twist",

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

experimentation, strongly

Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionist Moe Tuc ...

-influenced pop,

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

, industrial, and rock-electronic crossover. In 1999 Matthew Bannister of The Sneaky Feelings wrote ''Positively George Street: A Personal History of the Sneaky Feelings and the Dunedin Sound'', covering the New Zealand

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

of the 1980s, including Flying Nun. In 1990

Festival Records Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to 2005. The com ...

bought a fifty-percent stake in Flying Nun, and then in 2000 merged it with

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

, bringing Flying Nun into the Festival-Mushroom Records family of companies.

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

acquired Flying Nun as part of its purchase of FMR (Festival Mushroom Records) in 2006. A consortium that included Shepherd bought back the label from Warner on 21 December 2009, for "more than what I sold it for". New Zealand musician

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a principal member of Split Enz and for being the lead singer of Crowded House. He was also a member of Fleetwood Mac from 2018 ...

, his wife Sharon, and another business partner together own a quarter-share in the repatriated record label. In 2013, American label

Captured Tracks Captured Tracks is an American independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. The label was founded in 2008 by Mike Sniper. About Current flagship artists include: Craft Spells, DIIV and Wild Nothing. Captured Tracks has reissued reco ...

announced plans for selected

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Reco ...

s of Flying Nun's back catalogue. 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 the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours Shepherd was appointed an Officer of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

(ONZM) for services to the music industry. 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 on Cuba Street in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, and in 2023 they opened another retail store on

Karangahape Road Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) is one of the main streets in the Auckland CBD, central business district (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flig ...

. In 2022, Canadian author Matthew Goody published ''Needles 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. The book took 10 years to write, and includes live photos, posters, artwork and other documentation.

Roster, early 1980s to mid-1990s

* Able Tasmans * The Axemen * Bailter Space * The Bats * The Bilders * Bird Nest Roys *

The Chills The Chills are a New Zealand indie rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band were fronted by founding mainstay singer-songwriter, guitarist Martin Phillipps (singer), Martin Phillipps (2 July 1963 – 28 July 2024). During the mid-1 ...

* Crude * The Dead C * Dead Famous People * The Expendables * Exploding Budgies * From Scratch * Alastair Galbraith * Goblin Mix * The Gordons * The Great Unwashed *

Headless Chickens The Headless Chickens was a New Zealand band. Going against the grain of the Dunedin sound that dominated the Flying Nun Records roster at the time, the Headless Chickens made extensive use of electronic instruments in their music. They reco ...

Jean-Paul Sartre Experience The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, later renamed JPS Experience after the estate of Jean-Paul Sartre threatened a lawsuit, were an indie rock band on New Zealand's Flying Nun Records. History The band was formed in 1984 by Dave Yetton (vocals, b ...

David Kilgour David William Kilgour (February 18, 1941 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian human rights activist, author, lawyer, and politician. He also served as a senior fellow to the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Kilgour earned a degree in ...

* Chris Knox * Look Blue Go Purple * Loves Ugly Children * Mainly Spaniards * Marching Orders * The Max Block * The Pin Group * The Puddle * The Renderers * Scorched Earth Policy *

The Skeptics Skeptics were a New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smalle ...

* Snapper (band) * Sneaky Feelings * The Stones * Straitjacket Fits * Tall Dwarfs * The Terminals * This Sporting Life * 3Ds * The Verlaines * The Vibraslaps

Roster, mid-1990s to present

Since the mid-1990s many of the original stable of artists have split up or moved to other labels, including Xpressway Records (

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers () is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The or ...

, New Zealand),

Arch Hill Recordings Arch Hill Recordings, formerly Arch Hill Studios, is a New Zealand recording studio and record label in Auckland. It was founded in 1998. Artists include David Kilgour, The Clean, The Bats, Don McGlashan, Bachelorette, The Boxcar Guitars, Luk ...

(

), Powertool Records (

), South Indies, Paris or

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City ap ...

(

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

). A similarly varied new generation of bands is signed to Flying Nun, including: * Aldous Harding * Badd Energy * Betchadupa * Bressa Creeting Cake * Cloudboy * The Courtneys * The D4 (formerly) * DARTZ *

Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! (sometimes styled Die!Die!Die!) is a three-piece New Zealand noise pop/Punk rock, punk/post-punk band. Formed in late 2003, the band has released seven albums, all backed with extensive international touring. A number of differen ...

* Erny Belle * Fazerdaze * Garageland * Gerling * Ghost Club * Grayson Gilmour * HDU * Mermaidens * The Mint Chicks (formerly) *

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

(formerly) * Pavement *

The Phoenix Foundation The Phoenix Foundation is a New Zealand indie rock band formed in Wellington in 1997. History Early years and ''China Cove'' The band was founded by Conrad Wedde, Samuel Flynn Scott, and Luke Buda in 1994 while students at Wellington High ...

* Reb Fountain * Recitals * The Subliminals * Vera Ellen

Compilations

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. * ''

Tuatara The tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') is a species of reptile endemic to New Zealand. Despite its close resemblance to lizards, it is actually the only extant member of a distinct lineage, the previously highly diverse order Rhynchocephal ...

'' (1985) * '' In Love With These Times'' (1990) * ''Roger Sings the Hits'' (1991) * ''Getting Older 1981-1991'' (1991) * ''Pink Flying Saucers over the Southern Alps'' (1991) * ''Shrewd: A Compilation of NZ Women's Music'' (1993) * ''The Sound Is Out There'' (1995) * '' Pop Eyed'' (1996) * ''15 – Flying Nun Records'' (1996) * '' Topless Women Talk About Their Lives'' (film soundtrack) (1997) * ''How Much For Trade? – 1998 Flying Nun Sampler'' (1998) * '' Scarfies'' (film soundtrack) (1999) * '' Under the Influence - 21 Years of Flying Nun Records'' (2002) * ''Speed of Sound'' (2003) * ''Very Short Films'' (music video compilation DVD) (2003) * ''Second Season'' (music video compilation DVD) (2004) * '' Where In The World Is Wendy Broccoli?'' (2006) * ''Flying Nun 25th Anniversary Box Set'' (2006) * ''Tally Ho!: Flying Nun's Greatest Bits'' (2011) * '' Time To Go: The Southern Psychedelic Moment 1981-1986'' (2012)

References

External links

Official Flying Nun siteradionz.co.nz/flyingnun
– A five-part Radio New Zealand documentary about the label and its musicians.
tallyho.co.nz
– website that has a large number of Flying Nun concert posters, magazine advert and misc.

— detailed feature-article fro
Stylus Magazine
on Flying Nun artists
"Dunedin and Christchurch Bands"
— Part Two of a 3-part TV New Zealand series from 1984, featuring interviews and live footage of several Flying Nun Records bands.
Heavenly Pop Hits – The Flying Nun Story
full length 2002 documentary on NZ On Screen
Flying Nun Records master tape archive
at the

Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...

{{Authority control New Zealand independent record labels Record labels established in 1981 Alternative rock record labels Dunedin Sound 1981 establishments in New Zealand