Martin Phillipps, frontman and founder of The Chills, dead at 61
Martin Phillipps, the founder and frontman of the influential New Zealand group The Chills, has died at the age of 61.
The Dunedin rock band announced the tragic news on social media on July 28th. Their short statement reads: “It is with broken hearts the family and friends of Martin Phillipps wish to advise Martin has died unexpectedly. The family ask for privacy at this time. Funeral arrangements will be advised in due course.”
It had recently been reported that Phillipps was admitted to Dunedin Hospital with liver issues, but no cause of death has been disclosed. The frontman was known to have had health complications in the past, including a life-threatening experience with Hepatitis C in the 1990s, as well as battles with alcoholism and drug addiction. A 2019 documentary, The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps, delved into these issues.
Besides his well-publicised personal struggles, Phillipps was one of the most influential songwriters New Zealand has produced. The Chills were one of the earliest proponents of the Dunedin Sound, which fused punk and psychedelic jangle pop and coalesced in Otago City in the early 1980s.
Phillips remained their lead singer, guitarist, and driving force since founding the band in 1980. The group are closely associated with the cult label Flying Nun Records, and acts such as them and others on their roster have been enjoying a renewed interest in recent times.
The Chills were formed following the dissolution of Phillipps’ earlier band, The Same. Almost immediately, they found themselves at the forefront of the fervent Dunedin scene, but this was ephemeral, and they fell into a state of creative inertia following a member exodus. During this period, Phillips became an ancillary member of The Clean.
Following the death of 22-year-old drummer Martyn Bull from cancer in 1983, The Chills’ future hung in the balance, considering they had already been virtually inactive before due to the early departures. However, in 1984, Phillipps reformed the band in a defiant stance against misfortune, and what became one of their definitive tracks, ‘Pink Frost’, was snapped up by Flying Nun. This convergence led to their future cult glory. They secured Top 20 singles in the likes of 1984’s ‘Pink Frost’ and ‘Doledrums’, as well as later efforts ‘I Love My Leather Jacket’ and ‘Male Monster from the Id’.
The Chills enjoyed a particularly fruitful 1990s. Their 1990s Submarine Bells and 1992’s Soft Bomb achieved top ten albums in New Zealand, and they would later break into the higher echelons of the charts with 2018’s Snow Bound and 2021’s Scatterbrain, their most recent effort.
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