Flying Nun Records

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Flying Nun Records is an independent record label in New Zealand. The label was formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music-store proprietor Roger Shepherd in the flurry of new punk rock-inspired labels forming in the early 80s. The intention was to record the original local music of Christchurch but soon the label rose to national prominence by championing the emerging music of Dunedin, New Zealand.

The Pin Group's "Ambivalence" 7" was the first release from Flying Nun, although it is widely assumed that Tally Ho by The Clean was the first release as it unexpectedly placed at #19 in the New Zealand charts, bringing the label unexpected profile and income.

Many of the most prominent kiwi rock and alternative bands have been signed to Flying Nun at some stage in their careers. In 2000 Australian youth radio network Triple J produced a list of the thirty "Greatest New Zealand acts of all time" twenty of which were Flying Nun artists.

The label has been home to various styles of music including the much-debated Dunedin Sound, "high-end pop with a twist" [1], lo-fi experimentation, strongly Velvet Underground influenced pop, minimalism, industrial and rock-electronic cross-over.

Significant New Zealand musicians associated with Flying Nun from the 80s to the mid-90s included:

Since the mid-90s many of the original stable of artists have split up or moved to other labels including Xpressway Records (Port Chalmers, New Zealand), Arch Hill Records, (Auckland, New Zealand, or Matador Records (U.S.A). A similary eclectic new generation of bands is signed to Flying Nun, including:

In addition to supporting the albums of emerging artists, Flying Nun also released many compilations of a cross-section of their artists, in some cases now the only easy-to-find document of some artists. The compilations are:

Dunedin Double EP (1981)
Tuatara (1986)
In love with these times (1990)
Pink Flying Saucers over the Southern Alps (1991)
Getting Older 1981-1991 The Flying Nun Retrospective Compilation (Tenth anniversary) (1991)
Shrewd: a compilation of NZ women's music (1993)
Pop Eyed (1996)
Topless women talk about their lives (film soundtrack) (1997)
Scarfies (film soundtrack) (1999)
Speed of Sound (2003)
Under the Influence - 21 years of Flying Nun Records (2004)
Very Short Films (music video compilation DVD) (2003)
Second Season (music video compilation DVD) (2004)

In 1990 Festival Records bought a fifty percent stake in Flying Nun, and then in 2000 merged with Mushroom Records bringing Flying Nun into the Festival Mushroom Records family of companies. Festival Mushroom Records were then sold to Warner Music in 2005.

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 of the 1980s including Flying Nun.

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