BOOK REVIEW: In Love With These Times by Roger Shepherd

BOOK REVIEW: In Love With These Times by Roger Shepherd

Harper Collins Australia 
May 2016
Paperback, $29.99
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar

Autobiography / Music

7 ½ /10

Roger Shepherd was just an ordinary guy who like going to see bands, graduated to working in a record store, and realised that the only way more people were going to hear some of the bands he liked, was if he put their records out himself. It’s a punk attitude that predates the current indie scene dramatically, and one which is nearly unique in the New Zealand music scene.

Without Shepherd’s and his label Flying Nun’s presence, bands such as The Chills, The Clean, The Bats, The Verlaines and many more may have remained forever ‘local bands’.

Of course, not all of them made a dent further afield – not even as far as Australia, in some cases, so the impact of this tome is diminished by those who may not be familiar with the cult nature of the label and its roster, but it remains an important historical document of the Kiwi music scene.

What also emerges is a picture of Shepherd as a quiet and shy fanboy, albeit one with great ears and good business sense. He underplays his part throughout, but anyone who would make deals with some of the most important indie Kiwi bands of the past few decades on a handshake, then give his all to promote their career, and then write about it in such a friendly and amiable way, is a gentleman indeed.

Category: Book Reviews