BIGSOUND 2016 Speaker Focus: Roger Shepherd

Organisation: Flying Nun Records, Director

How did you first become involved in the music business and how did you end up where you are today? I got a holiday job in a record shop in 1976. I was hooked when I discovered punk-inspired live music. Starting a label to release records by my favourite bands seemed totally logical.

What's been the biggest change in the music business you've seen over the past 12 months? The continuing obsession with the vinyl form rather than the actual music it transports.

What do you think will be the biggest issue affecting the music industry in the next 12 months and why? Reconnecting the music audience to the actual as the allure of vinyl peaks and hopefully fades rather than crashes. 

What advice would you give young practitioners in your area starting out today? Work with people you like and music you love. Have some fun and keep in mind that nothing works for long without sales, which represent a tangible positive response to your taste and enthusiasms.

What will you be primarily discussing during your appearance at the BIGSOUND conference? My recently published memoir In Love With These Times, which is a personalised history of Flying Nun Records, the record company I founded in 1981 and which is still going strong.

What are you hoping that people will be able to learn from your panel/interview? Everything has changed but remained remarkably the same. The hard lessons I learnt developing Flying Nun are universally the same ones affecting anyone trying to run a music focused independent record company today.

What do you personally hope to take away from your time at BIGSOUND? I aim to reconnect with some old friends in the Australian music industry and make some new ones by talking about my book and the music released by Flying Nun over the last 35 years.

When and where is your panel/interview? 7 Sep, The Judith Wright Centre, 2pm.