Grayson Gilmour signs to Flying Nun

ROBERT KITCHIN/The Dominion Post

BIG BREAK: Indie singer and songwriter Grayson Gilmour is excited about being backed by a record label with such a strong heritage.

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Flying Nun founder Roger Shepherd jokes that Wellington musician Grayson Gilmour is "half my age but I'm not going to dwell on that".

Gilmour is the first musician to sign with Flying Nun since Shepherd and a group of backers, including musician Neil Finn, bought back the record label from the American music giant Warners for an undisclosed sum last December.

Gilmour, 25, also a member of the Wellington indie band So So Modern, has teamed up with Flying Nun to release his solo album No Constellation, which comes out on May 10. Previously he has released his albums himself. Also working in a record store and teaching music part-time at high schools, the indie singer and songwriter is excited about being backed by a record label with such a strong heritage.

"It's been a long time in the making. A friend had told me that I should probably meet Roger, and I said: `Roger who?' But working with Flying Nun will hopefully help my music reach a wider audience. It's very hard to get your music out there and if you're under the wing of a label like this, that should hopefully lead to more sales," he said.

Flying Nun, originally formed in 1981, helped launch bands such as The Clean, The Chills, The Verlaines and Headless Chickens in the 1980s and 1990s, under the ownership of its founder, Shepherd, and music producer Chris Knox, the musician who had a stroke last year.

Shepherd said he had followed Gilmour for some time and he was acknowledged as an up-and-coming artist to watch. "He's incredibly talented. He's in it for the long-haul."

Under the sale deal, Warners retains the distribution rights here. Shepherd said he was in talks with another band too.

- © Fairfax NZ News