STACK #130 Aug 2016

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with STUART COUPE, AUTHOR OF ‘GUDINSKI’

Were you personally acquainted with Michael Gudinski before you began this project? I first met Michael in the early ‘80s when I became manager of Paul Kelly and negotiated his re-signing with Mushroom Records... [Michael] really took me under [his] wing and taught me how things worked in the American music business. Did you have to work hard to convince him to be your subject? I tried to convince Michael about a book for over a decade – and he says he’s turned down dozens of offers and proposals. [He] spent at least a year hoping that I and the book project would just disappear, but eventually he agreed to a few interview sessions and gave his blessing to people in his world talking to me. You’ve worked with some stellar acts in your time – how was your approach to Michael different from the way you’d normally work with bands and performing artists? I treated Michael with the same respect I’d treat an artist who invited me into their world. I told him very early that I didn’t want to write another sex, drugs and rock’n’roll book and that I not only knew how to spell defamation, but I was aware of what it meant. I wanted to write a book about an inspired entrepreneur, a great lover of Australian music, and extremely astute businessman.

How did you go about collating all your material and ordering it in a meaningful way? I was very clear that I didn’t want to write a history of Mushroom Records or Frontier Touring Company – it is a book about Michael and his world. Everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – has a Michael story. I had to work out which ones were true, and then if and how they related to my story.

What was your major takeaway from putting this incredible story together? It was a saga from start to finish and I think I’ve learnt a new calmness and philosophical quietness from the past 18 months. You just have to learn to operate on Gudinski Time and assume that 9 out 10 meetings or conversations will either not happen or be rescheduled. It’s a sorta joke but over the writing time I frequently said, “It’s Michael’s world – we just live in it.”

Gudinski by Stuart Coupe is out now.

stack.net.au

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