The Chills’ Martin Phillipps has died
Martin Phillipps of iconic New Zealand indie rock band The Chills has died. He was 61. The sad news was shared via band’s social media, simply saying he “died unexpectedly.”
Phillips formed The Chills in 1980 in Dunedin, NZ following the breakup of his former band, the Same. The group, whose members rotated frequently, contributed three songs to 1982’s “The Dunedin Double,” a seminal release in the history of NZ indie label Flying Nun, which also featured songs by The Verlaines, Sneaky Feelings, and The Stones. The Chills would go on to release a string of great singles for Flying Nun including “Pink Frost,” “Rolling Moon,” “I Love My Leather Jacket,” but would not release their debut album, Brave Words, until 1987.
The band then signed to Warner Brothers subsidiary Slash where they released their second album, Submarine Bells (one of 1990’s best), and followed that up with Soft Bomb in 1992. Never ones to be able to hold a lineup of the band together, The Chills fell apart not long after Soft Bomb but he recorded a new album, Sunburnt, which was released under the name Martin Phillipps & The Chills in 1996.
The next year, Phillips contracted hepatitis C — a side effect of his drug addiction — that sidelined his musical career for nearly two decades. A new Chills EP came out in 2004 but the band were largely inactive until the 2010s when Phillips formed a new lineup of The Chills and released Silver Bullets, the band’s first album in 19 years, for which they would tour North American again. The Chills would release two more albums, 2018’s Snowbound and 2021’s Scatterbrain.
Neil Finn of Crowded House and Split Enz paid tribute, writing, “Very sad to hear of Martin Phillipps’ death. He was a good friend, wonderful musician and one of NZ’s greatest songwriters. A true original, fascinated by and devoted to the magic and mystery of music. His recent work was as good as anything he’s done. Martin’s songs live on with his spirit.”
Rest easy, Martin. Thanks for the music.
If you’d like to learn more, the excellent 2019 documentary The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps, explores his struggles with returning to music and hepatitis C. You can watch it for free on Tubi.
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