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stack.net.au
with
STUART COUPE, AUTHOR OF ‘GUDINSKI’
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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.