The Chills

ROCKHAPPENZ Public Collection

The Chills  —  an iconic indie rock band formed in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1980
Martin Phillipps (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Rachel Phillipps (Keyboards), Peter Gutteridge (Guitar), Jane Dodd (Bass Guitar) and Alan Haig (Drums).

During the mid-1990s they were billed as Martin Phillipps and The Chills, and they were fronted by the rare and brilliant songwriting talent of the late Martin Phillipps (1963–2024), becoming one of the most prominent and enduring figureheads of the famous Dunedin sound - a distinctive style of jangly, melancholic indie pop pioneered alongside the legendary independent record label Flying Nun Records.  The band achieved a massive global cult following and critical acclaim across their decades-long journey, navigating more than 25 lineup changes with Phillipps remaining the sole constant driving force.  They are globally revered for seminal indie-pop tracks like the hauntingly moody Pink Frost, the driving tribute I Love My Leather Jacket, and the brilliantly uplifting top-ten single Heavenly Pop Hit.  Their major NZ top-ten charting albums span decades, including classics like Submarine Bells (1990) and Soft Bomb (1992), alongside their triumphant later-era releases Snow Bound (2018) and Scatterbrain (2021).  They toured extensively through the US, UK, Europe, and beyond, famously playing to a crowd of 60,000 at the Glastonbury Festival in 1987.

With their top ten studio albums in their homeland being Submarine Bells (1990), Soft Bomb (1992), Snow Bound (2018) and Scatterbrain (2021), The Chills remained a cult band in other parts of the world as one of the earliest proponents of the so-called Dunedin sound.

Martin Phillipps became an auxiliary member of The Clean, serving as their touring keyboardist and studio musician for their debut single Tally Ho (1981) before The Chills reconvened in July 1981 with Haig and Phillipps being joined by Fraser Batts on keyboards and Terry Moore (ex-Bored Games) on bass guitar.  They provided three tracks for a local various artists double-12" record, extended play, Dunedin Double (June 1982) via Flying Nun Records, marking their recording debut.  Just before the EP's appearance, Haig left to join The Verlaines and he was replaced by Martyn Bull on drums.  Rachel Phillipps temporarily returned after Batt's departed, prior to a tour of the North Island with The Clean, though she did not stay for the whole tour - for the remaining dates they performed as a trio; which recorded two singles.  Andrew Schmidt of AudioCulture described their debut single as sunny, summery, upbeat.  Their performances were paused when Bull was diagnosed with leukemia.  The band worked whenever Bull's health allowed from October 1982 to early 1984.  Peter Allison had joined on keyboards, but in the meantime, Phillipps rehearsed with David Kilgour (of The Clean) in a group called Time Flies, though they never performed live.  By June 1983, Haig had re-joined The Chills on drums after Bull's leukemia became more severe leading to his death on 18 July 1983.

1987

1990

1992

2013

2015

2018

2021

2025

By December 1983, they had re-emerged under a new moniker, A Wrinkle in Time, with a line-up consisting of Allison, Haig, Phillipps and Martin Kean on bass guitar.  The name change was however temporary, reverting to The Chills by early the next year.  They undertook a Flying Nun-sponsored Looney Tour alongside several lsbel-mates.  They played shows in London late in 1985.  By October 1986, the line-up shifted to Phillipps, Caroline Easther (The Verlaines) on drums, Justin Harwood (ex-Coconut Rough) on bass guitar and Andrew Todd (ex-Smart Russians) on keyboards.  They relocated to London in February 1987, prior to a five-week tour across Europe.  In London, they worked on their debut studio album, Brave Words (1987), which reached the top 30 in New Zealand.  The band spent February through mid-December of that year promoting the album by touring Europe, interspersed with four July dates in New York and Boston and the a full North American tour occurred during 1988.  1990 saw the band signing to a worldwide record deal with Warner Brothers' imprint Slash Records in North America.  Their second studio album Submarine Bells (1990) reached number one in New Zealand and provided their highest charting international single and it remains their only American chart appearance.  Phillipps was joined by a new lineup of Mauro Ruby on drums, Lisa Mednick on keyboards and Steven Schayer on guitar and backing vocal for the group's third studio album, Soft Bomb (1992) which peaked at number three in New Zealand.

In a second reformation (1995–2024) The Chills performed at a free concert in Dunedin Botanic Gardens in January 2013 where Phillipps announced the disbandment of The Chills after the Soft Bomb Tour and joined David Kilgour in a loosely organised 1960s covers band, the Pop Art Toasters, which released a self-titled EP in 1994.  Shortly thereafter, that group broke up and Phillipps put together another Chills lineup.  The turnover of members is cited as a reason for the band's lack of consistent saleability and is referred to by local music press as the Curse of the Chills.  A documentary of the same name regarding the history of Phillipps and The Chills was broadcast in 2016.  The curse struck again with the recording of their fourth studio album Sunburnt in England, during August to September 1995.  Two members of the group were refused entry into the UK, so Phillips recruited session musicians, Dave Mattacks (of Fairport Convention) and Dave Gregory (of XTC), who provided drum and bass guitar respectively.  Guest keyboards were played by producer Craig Leon.  It was issued in early 1996 under the name Martin Phillipps and The Chills.  The Chills split again with Phillipps joining another of Kilgour's bands, The Heavy Eights.  Phillipps then recruited new Chills members for live shows, which he performed each year from 1997 on.  During the late 1990s, Phillipps was incapacitated by a Hep C infection, a side-effect of his drug addiction.  He released a solo album of home demos, Sketch Book: Volume One, in 1999 - it had been recorded from 1988 to 1995.  In 2000, Secret Box, a triple-CD box-set of The Chills' live tracks, demos, radio sessions and rarities was released.  An eight-track Chills EP, Stand By was issued in 2004, the first all-new material in nine years.  Despite a Phillippsassurance of new material, no new album appeared for over a decade.  In May 2010 The Chills played two shows in Australia, their first outside New Zealand since 1996.  Three years later, after another hiatus from recording, a lone Chills track, Molten Gold, was issued, appearing on Phillipps' 50th birthday (2 July 2013) as a non-album single with a re-recording of Pink Frost 13 as its B-side.  In October 2015 The Chills issued Silver Bullets, their first studio album in 19 years.  In February 2017 they released a cover version of David Bowie's 1970 song Conversation Piece, followed up on 14 September 2018 by their sixth studio album, Snow Bound.  Scatterbrain, their seventh studio album, was issued in May 2021.  Martin Phillipps died on 28 July 2024 with a new album called Springboard: Early Unrecorded Songs in progress at the time of his death.  It was released on 28 February 2025.