Martin Phillipps
{{Short description|New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician (1963–2024)}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Martin Phillipps
| image = SXSW 2019 - The Chills (46720630214).jpg
| alt = Phillipps in 2019
| caption = Phillipps in 2019
| birth_name = Martin Phillipps
| birth_date = 2 July 1963
| birth_place = Wellington, New Zealand
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|7|28|1963|7|2|df=y}}
| death_place = Tainui, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand
| genre = {{hlist|Dunedin sound|indie rock|alternative rock|jangle pop|lo-fi}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Singer|musician|songwriter}}
| years_active = 1980-2024
| label = {{flatlist|
| past_member_of = The Chills, The Same
}}
Martin John James Phillipps (2 July 1963 – 28 July 2024) was a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for The Chills. As part of the Dunedin sound, Phillipps and the Chills helped lay the groundwork for modern indie rock, and the band's innovative approach to alternative rock and lo-fi formed his legacy.{{Cite news |last=Cartwright |first=Garth |date=2024-07-30 |title=Martin Phillipps obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/jul/30/martin-phillipps-obituary |access-date=2024-08-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} After he died suddenly in 2024, Split Enz and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn said Phillipps was a "true original, fascinated by and devoted to the magic and mystery of music".{{Cite web |title=Stuff |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/culture/350358673/heavenly-pop-hits-life-and-times-martin-phillipps-chills |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=Stuff }}
Early life
Phillipps was born in Wellington in 1963, to parents the Reverend Donald Phillipps and Barbara (née Laurenson). Before the end of the decade the family had moved to Dunedin for the elder Phillipps' career as the chaplain of the University of Otago. He attended George Street Normal School in Dunedin North, and formed his first band, The Same, at Logan Park High School at the age of 15.{{Cite web |title=Martin Phillipps Remembered: Brave Words, 1 - Article {{!}} AudioCulture |url=https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/the-chills/articles/martin-phillipps-remembered-brave-words-1 |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=www.audioculture.co.nz |language=en}} Initially on guitar, he became its lead singer shortly after.{{cite web |last=Nimmervoll |first=Ed |author-link=Ed Nimmervoll |title=Martin Phillipps' Chills |url=http://www.howlspace.com.au/en/chills/chills.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20120320021305/http://www.howlspace.com.au/en/chills/chills.htm |archive-date=20 March 2012 |access-date=5 December 2023 |website=HowlSpace: Music from Australia & NZ |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Andrew |date=28 April 2013 |title=The Chills - Person |url=https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/the-chills |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118170626/https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/the-chills |archive-date=18 January 2022 |access-date=5 December 2023 |website=AudioCulture}} His early musical influences included Nick Drake, Randy Newman, The Beach Boys, and other aspects of psychedelic music.{{Cite web |date=2023-01-27 |title=VARIOUS - THE DUNEDIN DOUBLE, 1982 {{!}} MAN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN |url=https://www.flyingnun.co.nz/blogs/man-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown/various-the-dunedin-double-1982-man-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=Flying Nun |language=en}}
Career
{{Incomplete|section|Most of career, including years at slash records|date=October 2024}}
With his first band The Same, Phillipps began to play regular gigs as a teenager, beginning with the school ball at Logan Park. He then began supporting Chris Knox's band Toy Love, but mostly played covers before forming The Chills in 1980, aged 17, with high school friend Jane Dodd (also of The Verlaines). The Chills' initial line-up included his sister Rachel Phillipps on keyboards, former The Clean frontman Peter Gutteridge on guitar, Dodd on bass guitar, and Alan Haig on drums.
The band made their live performance debut in support of Bored Games at Dunedin's Coronation Hall on 15 November 1980; Gutteridge departed shortly thereafter. By June 1981, Dodd and Rachel Phillipps had also left, leaving the Chills on a brief hiatus. The band poached Terry Moore from Bored Games as their new bass guitarist, and then were joined by Fraser Batts, who played keyboard. In June 1982, they provided three tracks, "Kaleidoscope World", "Frantic Drift" and "Satin Doll", for a local various artists double-12" record, extended play, Dunedin Double via the Christchurch label Flying Nun Records, which marked their recording debut.Thompson 2000, p. 259
Health issues and death
Phillipps's health and career was affected for much of his later life by hepatitis-C, which he likely caught as a result of a needlestick injury.{{Cite web |last=Potiki |first=Tuari |date=2024-06-24 |title=A great musician — and a leader on hepatitis C |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/great-musician-—-and-leader-hepatitis-c |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=Otago Daily Times |language=en}} He made successful efforts to quit drugs, and in the late 2010s he was cured of hepatitis. His health was permanently impaired, however. A feature-length documentary about Martin's health struggles and his music, The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps was directed by Julia Parnell and Rob Curry and released in 2019.{{IMDb title|qid=Q129715686|id=tt9617712|title=The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps}}
Phillipps was found dead at his home in Tainui, South Dunedin, on 28 July 2024. His funeral at Dunedin Town Hall was attended by hundreds of friends, fans, and family members, with the service led by former New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson.{{Cite web |last=Littlewood |first=Matthew |date=2024-08-10 |title=Farewell for Phillipps |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/farewell-phillipps |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Otago Daily Times |language=en}} His body was cremated after the service.
References
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Category:Musicians from Dunedin
Category:Dunedin Sound musicians
Category:Flying Nun Records artists
Category:People educated at Logan Park High School
Category:New Zealand rock guitarists
Category:New Zealand rock singers
Category:20th-century New Zealand male musicians
Category:21st-century New Zealand male musicians
Category:20th-century New Zealand male singers