BOOK RELEASE
Giant Steps
My Improbable Journey From Stage Lights to Excecutive Heights
Available October 7th, 2025
Pre-Order Now
In an eye-opening memoir, Giant Steps traces Derek Shulman’s unexpected journey through decades of music. From early success with Simon Dupree & The Big Sound to creative innovation with Gentle Giant, and later to a career in the music business working with Bon Jovi, Slipknot, Dream Theater, and more.
In Giant Steps, Derek Shulman chronicles a remarkable life and career surrounded by music and creativity in many forms. It begins with a young Derek confidently telling his schoolteacher he would grow up to become a star, and unfolds into a fast-paced and eye-opening journey through decades of pop culture, creative risk-taking, and personal reinvention.
Shulman first found fame as a teenager in the 1960s pop and r&b group Simon Dupree & The Big Sound, then pushed rock music to the outer edges in the 1970s as frontman of progressive rock pioneers Gentle Giant.
In the 1980s, he made a bold pivot into the record business, taking on senior roles at labels like Polygram, ATCO, and Roadrunner Records. There, he signed and developed artists including Bon Jovi, Dream Theater, Slipknot, Pantera, and Men Without Hats, while also helping to revitalize the careers of AC/DC, Bad Company, and others.
Along the way Gentle Giant would become a defining influence on hip-hop, sampled by many of the genre’s leading lights including J. Dilla, De La Soul, Run The Jewels, Travis Scott and dozens more. The band was later championed by Questlove, drummer of The Roots and acclaimed filmmaker, who named them one of his favorite rock acts of all time.
Clean-living and focused in an industry often defined by chaos and excess, Shulman offers a rare perspective on the evolution of music and culture from the 1960s to today. Giant Steps is essential reading for fans of prog, rock, hip-hop, and anyone curious about the inner workings of the music industry.
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Available October 7th, 2025
Pre-order Now
Giant Steps
My Improbable Journey From Stage Lights to Executive Heights
Available in Paperback & Digital Download
$24.95
LIMITED SIGNED COPY
Giant Steps
My Improbable Journey From Stage Lights to Executive Heights
Orders for signed copies end on July 31st.
$34.95
"Derek Shulman was there before there was a there. We grew together as a team. We learned as we lived. He was the one real A&R man that we could count on when we needed him."
-Jon Bon Jovi
"Many years ago, I had the privilege of playing with Simon Dupree & The Big Sound on a tour of Scotland. It was a joyous experience. The band were fabulous musicians and great guys and treated me so well."
-Elton John
"Gentle Giant's intensity didn't end on stage. Backstage post-mortems often turned into fraternal screaming matches over a missed note or imperfect harmny. Spirited bunch, the Giants in full flow. Move over Cain. Step aside, Abel."
-Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull
"We were into prog rock hard back then and loved it all. However, Gentle Giant was different. The articulate and musically experimental yet beautiful music that came out of the speakers was captivating."
-Steve Lukather, Toto