33⅓ minutes with... Derek Shulman

If Derek Shulman had just, in his career, been the frontman for revered and sorely missed niche prog ensemble Gentle Giant, his place in the pantheon would be guaranteed.

- Interview: Daryl Easlea

However, prior to that, with brothers Phil and Ray - he led Kites popsike hitmakers Simon Dupree & The Big Sound (to the point where everyone thought he WAS Simon Dupree), and then after Giant's decade run, Shulman went on to be one of the leading A&Rs in US rock music, signing Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Pantera and Slipknot. An affable storyteller, it seemed only a matter of time before these recollections were poured into a book. Giant Steps: My Improbable Journey From Stage Lights To Executive Heights, co-written with Jon Wiederhorn, is a 276-page canter through an illuminating life.

How did Giant Steps come to be?

I'd been told I should write a book many times, but I struggled. I’m not an author, I'm a lyric writer, and that’s a different thing. I got Covid very early on and I was isolated in my bedroom in New York. I was literally alone for six weeks because I was still infectious. What was I going to do? I had my laptop, so I started writing. I then got Jon Wiederhorn to listen to some of the stuff and transcribe the rest of the story effectively. Suddenly, I was an author, which was a bizarre title for me. I’m not an author, I’m just a bloke, for God’s sake.

Did you find out things about yourself that surprised you?