The Chills

After the demise of the Same, one of the earliest punk rock bands in New Zealand, vocalist and guitarist Martin Phillipps started a new band, the Chills, in Dunedin in 1980. The initial line-up also featured his sister Rachel Phillipps and former the Clean frontman Peter Gutteridge on guitar, Jane Todd on bass and Alan Haig on drums. They made their first live performance supporting Bored Games at the Coronation Hall in Dunedin on November 15, 1980, after which Gutteridge departed. By June 1981, Dodd and Rachel Phillipps had also left, leaving the Chills on hiatus. Martin Phillipps became a short-lived member of the newly reformed the Clean, serving as their keyboardist on tour and for their debut single "Tally Ho!" (1981). The following month, the Chills reconvened with Phillipps, Haig, and Fraser Batts and Terry Moore of Bored Games, on keyboards and bass, respectively. They provided to songs to a local various artists EP, Dunedin Double by Flying Nun Records, marking their recording debut.[5]

Shortly after the EP's release, Haig left to join the Verlaines, being replaced by Martyn Bull. Rachel Phillipps temporarily returned after Batts departed, prior to a tour of the North Island with the Clean, though did not stay for the whole tour. The remaining dates of the trek had the band performing as a trio; this iteration of the band recorded two singles, "Rolling Moon" (1982) and "Pink Frost". Their subsequent plans were put on pause when Bull got a leukemia diagnosis, with the band re-appearing after when his health allowed over the next six months. Peter Allison then took on the keyboardist role, with the band performing sporadically. In the meantime, Phillipps jammed with David Kilgour of the Clean in the band Time Flies, though they never performed live. By June 1983, Haig was asked to re-join them after it became clear that Bull was unlikely to recover, dying the following month. The band became reclusive again, though Martin Phillipps played a some number of solo performances till the end of 1983.[5]

By December 1983, they re-emerged under the new moniker A Wrinkle in Time, with a line-up consisting of Phillipps, Haig, Allison and Martin Kean on bass.[6] The name change was temporary, reverting back to the Chills by early 1984 for the Flying Nun-sponsored Looney tour with Children's Hour, the Expendables and the DoubleHappys. At this point, public perception saw the Chills as solely a backing band for Phillipps, who was the sole member to survive their myriad of line-up changes. "Pink Frost" was released and became a hit in New Zealand, soon followed by another single, "Doledrums", and The Lost EP (1985). The latter reached number 31 on the UK Independent Chart. They played a few shows in London, England towards the end of 1985. In March 1986, the Kaleidoscope World compilation was released, collecting their early recordings, reaching number three on the UK Independent Albums Chart. By October 1986, the line-up shifted again: Phillipps, Justin Harwood of Coconut Rough on bass, Caroline Easther of the Verlaines on drums and Andrew Todd of Smart Russians on keyboard.[7]

They recorded another single, "I Love My Leather Jacket", reaching number 25 on the UK Independent Singles Chart and number four in New Zealand. Spurred on by this success, the band moved to London in February 1987, prior to a five-week trek across Europe. After returning to London, they began working with Mayo Thompson of Red Krayola on their debut studio album, Brave Words.[7] The band spent most of 1987 (February through mid-December) promoting the album by touring Europe, interspersed with four July dates in New York and Boston. A full-fledged North American tour occurred in the fall of 1988; tour dates would be a regular part of the band's life for the next several years.

In 1990, the band were signed to a worldwide record deal with their music appearing on the Warner Brothers imprint Slash Records in North America. Their 1990 album Submarine Bells included their biggest international hit, the whimsically titled "Heavenly Pop Hit". The tune was also a hit in the US, charting at #17 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay Chart; it remains their only American chart appearance. The group's follow-up album, 1992's Soft Bomb, featured a totally different Chills lineup (save for Phillipps), and spun off the hit "The Male Monster from the Id".

The Chills performing at a free concert in Dunedin Botanic Gardens, January 2013

Phillipps announced the dissolution of the Chills after the Soft Bomb tour, and joined David Kilgour in a loosely organized covers band known as The Pop Art Toasters, which released a self-titled EP in 1994. Shortly thereafter, though, the 'Toasters dissolved, and Phillipps put together another Chills lineup and resumed gigging.

This seemingly constant turnover of personnel is often cited as 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".[8] This became well-enough known to become the title of a 2016 documentary about Phillipps and the Chills.[9]

The "curse" struck again with the recording of the album Sunburnt in England, in the summer of 1995. Two band members were refused entry into the UK, so session musicians had to be recruited at the last moment. Dave Mattacks of Fairport Convention and XTC's Dave Gregory provided drum and bass work for the album, with Phillipps the only other credited musician (aside from guest keyboards played by producer Craig Leon). This album was issued in early 1996 under the group name Martin Phillipps and The Chills.

After that, the band again split, with Phillipps appearing in another one of David Kilgour's bands, the Heavy Eights. Nevertheless, Phillipps continued to recruit new Chills members for live shows and played at least a few shows as The Chills every year from 1997 on. For much of the late 1990s, though, Phillipps was laid low with hepatitis C, a side effect of drug addiction problems.[10] He released an album of solo home demos (Sketch Book: Volume One) in 1999; the demos themselves dated from 1988–1995. In 2000, Secret Box, a three-CD box set of Chills live tracks, demos, radio sessions, and rarities was released.

In 2004, an eight-song Chills mini-album called Stand By was issued, the first all-new Chills material in nine years. Phillipps's album liner notes promised:

I am preparing to take the band in quite a new direction on the next album. And on that we will begin work shortly.

Despite Phillipps's claim, however, no new Chills album appeared for over a decade.

In May 2010, the band played two shows in Australia, their first shows outside New Zealand since 1996. Three years later, after another nine-year hiatus from the recording studio, a single newly recorded Chills track called "Molten Gold" was issued. The track, released on Martin Phillipps's 50th birthday (July 2, 2013), was a non-album 7” single with the rerecorded "Pink Frost 13" as a B-side.[11]

In October 2015, the band issued Silver Bullets, their first album-length release in 19 years.

In February 2017, the band released the David Bowie song "Conversation Piece".[12]

On September 14, 2018, the band released its seventh album, Snow Bound.[13]

The Chills have been the subject of numerous documentaries, predominantly produced for New Zealand TV.

In March 2019, a feature documentary exploring the history of the band and Martin Phillipps's contemporary struggle with hepatitis C,[14] directed by Julia Parnell and Rob Curry premiered at SXSW[15] before being released theatrically in New Zealand and Australia. It was broadcast in New Zealand on Prime TV.