The Chills

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The Chills
Martin Phillipps and The Chills in Bar Bodega, Wellington. March 2003
Background information
Origin	Dunedin, New Zealand
Genre(s)	alternative
Years active	1980-present
Associated acts	The Clean, Toy Love, Sneaky Feelings, The Heavy Eights, Luna, The Verlaines
Former members
Peter Gutteridge Alan Haig Jane Dodd Rachel Phillipps Fraser Batts Terry Moore Martyn Bull Peter Allison David Kilgour Steven Schayer Martin Kean Justin Harwood Caroline Easther

The Chills are a guitar and keyboard-based rock band from Dunedin, New Zealand.

In terms of public acclaim, The Chills were possibly the most successful proponent of the Dunedin Sound in the 1980s and 1990s, although they never achieved breakout sales or financial success.

Contents 1 History and line-ups 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Singles 3 References 4 Further reading

[edit] History and line-ups

Based around the one continual member of the band, singer-songwriter Martin Phillipps, the Chills have gone through an astonishing number of line-ups since founding in mid 1980 in Dunedin. At last count, there had been some 20 different line-ups, but by this stage even Phillipps himself has trouble remembering the exact number. Members of the band over the years have included Peter Gutteridge, Alan Haig, Jane Dodd, Rachel Phillipps, Fraser Batts, Terry Moore, Martyn Bull, Peter Allison, David Kilgour, Steven Schayer, Martin Kean, Justin Harwood, Caroline Easther, Jillian Dempster, and many others. Several of these musicians went on to further success in bands ranging from The Verlaines to Luna. Phillipps' earlier band, The Same, performed alongside Dunedin punk bands Toy Love and The Enemy. The Same included Martin Phillipps, Craig Easton, Paul Baird, Jeffrey Batts, Gaynor Propsting and others.

This seemingly constant turnover of personnel is one of several reasons for the band's lack of consistent "saleability", and is referred to by the local music scene as "the curse of the Chills". It reached its most extreme case with the recording of the album Sunburnt in England. The inability of two band members to get visas to travel to the UK resulted in session musicians having to be recruited at the last moment (Dave Mattacks and XTC's Dave Gregory providing drum and bass work for the album).

Another reason for the Chills' inconsistent output is Martin Phillipps' health - for much of the 1990s he was laid low with hepatitis, a side effect of his then drug addiction problems. In the past few of years his health has greatly improved and his addictions are behind him, and the Chills are now back recording for the first time in many years.

Initially signed by Flying Nun Records and one of the four bands recorded for the Dunedin Double EP in 1982, the Chills' output has been sporadic. Early tracks and singles to catch the public attention included "Kaleidoscope World" and "Rolling Moon", but it was 1984's "Pink Frost" that first made a chart impression in their native land. "Pink Frost" was recorded at The Point Studio in London, England, with Englishman Andrew Edge on drums.^[1][2] This was followed by "Doledrums", and then the minor international hit "I Love My Leather Jacket", which was dedicated to late drummer Martyn Bull, who had bequeathed the said item of clothing to Phillipps in his will:

It's the only concrete link with an absent friend

It's a symbol I can wear until we meet again..."

Bull's death (from leukaemia) led to the Chills changing their name to A Wrinkle in Time, as Phillipps was initially unwilling to continue performing under a name associated with his late friend. The name change was brief however, though they did perform live under the alternative name. No recordings were released as A Wrinkle In Time.

Despite their singles successes, it was not until 1987 that the band's first album Brave Words was released. Several more albums (including a compilation of the early singles) were released during the late 80s and early 90s, before the band called it quits in 1993. During this period the band produced three albums, which included memorable songs such as Submarine Bells and Rain, as well as their biggest hit, the accurately titled Heavenly Pop Hit.

Three years later, a reformed band (under the name Martin Phillipps and The Chills) released one further album, but after that the band again split, with Phillipps recording solo work, and also appearing as one of David Kilgour's band The Heavy Eights.

The Chills reformed for a second time in 2003, and have since been working on new material, some of which appeared on a mini-album, Stand By e.p., in 2004.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Date	Title	Label	Charted	Country	Catalog Number
Albums
1986	Kaleidoscope World†		19	New Zealand¶
1987	Brave Words		24	New Zealand
1990	Submarine Bells		1	New Zealand
1992	Soft Bomb	Slash Records	3	New Zealand	D30782
1994	Heavenly Pop Hits - The Best of The Chills	Flying Nun Records	24	New Zealand	FNCD306
1996	Sunburnt¹		25	New Zealand
2000	Secret Box (The Chills' Rarities 1980-2000)		-
Mini-Albums
2004	Stand By		-	-
EPs
1982	Dunedin Double EP²		-	-
1985	The Lost EP		4	New Zealand
1994	Ice Picks‡		-	-

• † a collection of early singles, B-sides, and eps.
• ¶ all New Zealand chart figures are from the New Zealand national sales chart
• ¹as "Martin Phillipps and The Chills"
• ²with The Stones, The Verlaines, and Sneaky Feelings
• ‡ released as bonus disc with some pressings of Heavenly Pop Hits.

[edit] Singles

Year	Single	Album	Charted	Certification
1982	"Rolling Moon"		26 (NZ national sales chart)	-
1984	"Pink Frost"		17 (NZ national sales chart)	-
1984	"Doledrums"		12 (NZ national sales chart)	-
1986	"I'll Only See You Alone Again b/w Green Eyed Owl"		-	-
1986	"I Love My Leather Jacket"		4 (NZ national sales chart)	-
1987	"House With A Hundred Rooms"	¹	-	-
1988	"Wet Blanket"	Brave Words	-	-
1990	"Heavenly Pop Hit"	Submarine Bells	17 (US Modern Rock)	-
1990	"Drug Magicians"		-	-
1990	"Oncoming Day"	Submarine Bells	-	-
1990	"Part Past Part Fiction"	Submarine Bells	-	-
1992	"Male Monster from the Id"	Soft Bomb	-	-
1992	"Double Summer"	Soft Bomb	-	-
as Martin Phillipps and The Chills
1995	"Come Home"	Sunburnt	-	-

¹Bonus track on the CD release of Brave Words

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Davey, T. & Puschmann, H. (1996) Kiwi rock. Dunedin: Kiwi Rock Publications. ISBN 0-473-03718-1
• Dix, J. (1988) Stranded in paradise: New Zealand rock'n'roll 1955-1988. Wellington: Paradise Publications. ISBN 0-473-00638-3
• Eggleton, D. (2003) Ready to fly: The story of New Zealand rock music. Nelson, NZ: Craig Potton Publishing. ISBN 1-877333-06-9
• Flying Nun 25th anniversary edition of Real Groove magazine, 2006.
• Heavenly pop hits: The Flying Nun story (Television New Zealand documentary, 2002)

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