Martin Phillipps, best known as guitarist and lead singer of New Zealand rock band The Chills.
The Chills' founder, Martin Phillipps, passed away.
Following years of fighting liver disease, Phillipps, 61, passed away suddenly, the band said in a statement on Sunday.
Close friend Scott Muir told the Otago Daily Times it was “with broken hearts” that family and friends advised of Phillipps's death.
He said it was “unexpected“.
“The family ask for privacy at this time. Funeral arrangements will be advised in due course.”
The Chills came out of the post-punk frenzy in Dunedin.
In 1980, Phillipps joined forces with his sister Rachel Phillipps, who played keyboards, Jane Dodd, who played bass, guitarist Peter Gutteridge, and drummer Alan Haig to form The Chills.
The group gained a passionate fan base in New Zealand very quickly, and then they went global, being successful in both Europe and the US.
Songwriting legends like “Pink Frost,” “I Love My Leather Jacket,” and “Heavenly Pop Hit” are the result of Phillipps' unmatched skill.
With the publication of Submarine Bells in 1990, the band's commercial success reached its zenith. Melody Maker, a British music publication, named “Heavenly Pop Hit” the week's top song and described the album's parent record as “a magical experience.”
However, as the 1990s went on, The Chills' US label folded, the band's career stagnated, and the music landscape changed.
“Nobody anticipated how the digital revolution would affect us, how music would drastically change—thanks to Nirvana, hip-hop, and other influences—or how soon we would grow dated and obsolete.
Around this time, Phillipps began abusing drugs. He withdrew to Dunedin, where he spent the most of the following ten years fighting both despair and drug addiction.
“It was about '95/'96, a couple years after we'd re-signed with Flying Nun and gone on the Sunburnt tour. We came to realize it was truly over.
“It was after that, retreating to Dunedin, tail between my legs, everyone saying, ‘Oh you gave it a good go, time to get a real job,' all sorts of things conspired, but there was some sort of breakdown, mental breakdown involved there.”
Following a protracted absence, Phillipps' health gradually improved. In 2015, The Chills released Silver Bullets, their first studio album in 19 years. In 2018, they released Snow Bound, their sixth studio album.
The final studio album, Scatterbrain, was released in May 2021.
The Chills were a uniquely Dunedin band, but they had a global fan base.
“It was an odd story, because we didn't use the traditional New Zealand pathway and go to Australia and toughen up there and then be allowed to go on further.”
In 2019, Phillips told RNZ, “We just went straight for England, and it paid off.”
In 2019, Julia Parnell's documentary, The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps, on the band The Chills, was published to positive reviews. It was an unapologetic examination of Phillipps's life.
In the beginning of the documentary, Phillipps is informed in the hospital that, as a result of the hepatitis C he acquired in the 1990s, he may only have months to live.
According to Phillipps, he was compelled to examine himself closely, sometimes exposing past injuries.
“That's been both painful and healing, and I think redemptive too, as the movie shows.”
He began selling a large portion of his prized collection of pop culture items on TradeMe in May of this year. These items included rare records, collectible books, comic books, toys, posters, CDs, and DVDs.
In a 2019 Musical Chairs episode, Phillipps discussed how his health issues plagued the band.
“Thus, even if I don't have hepatitis C, I only have around 20% of my liver left, and I won't be Charles Atlas for very long.
“We thus take great care in everything and meticulously schedule the tours. We're on such a great wave that we just ride the sound and see what happens, so it's not quite like taking it day by day, but I suppose there are no ambitions for world dominance anymore.”
Phillipps's passion for music remained unwavering throughout.
“I think that rock music is the most liberated art form available, allowing one to plunder, steal, and use it whatever they choose.
“When I realised I had music in me, I just felt this weight off my shoulders, that there is my path.”
