“If you're seeing The Chills for the first time - you're going to walk away impressed."
We sat down with Martin Phillipps from legendary New Zealand band The Chills before their upcoming show at Melbourne Recital Centre. He claims it’s the best version of the famed New Zealand group in 35 years and for once, we couldn’t agree more.
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The Chills are one of the most acclaimed bands of our time.
Fronted by Phillipps, The Chills have played from strength to strength throughout their career, developing a devoted international following over the last four decades. Phillipps (guitar, vocals), Callum Hampton (bass, backing vocals), Todd Knudson (drums, backing Vocals), Erica Scally (guitar, keyboards, violin and backing vocals), and Oli Wilson (keyboards and you guessed it) are known for their diverse sound, melding jangle-pop with punk rock ethics. In 2021, The Chills released their seventh studio album – Scatterbrain – which was worth the wait. Universally acclaimed, it proved that the band are at the peak of their powers, reaching the top five on the New Zealand Albums Chart.
Fresh off the back of their US tour, The Chills are bringing that renowned Dunedin sound to Australian shores for the first time in six years. Martin says to expect a set list packed with timeless favourites including Heavenly Pop Hit, Pink Frost, Doledrums and I Love My Leather Jacket.
The last time Phillipps was in Australia it was just him performing solo, so he’s looking forward to coming back with the band. “Obviously we have a lot of friends in Australia and some New Zealander friends live there as well, so we’re really looking forward to it. It will be our first time in Tasmania – everyone says that Hobart is kind of like Dunedin meets Wellington – so we will feel right at home. We’re really looking forward to it. It’s going to be exciting!”
Not only is Phillipps excited to see some new and old faces but he is looking forward to the distance between Australian cities and the ability to travel by plane. The Chills spent their time in the US in a van, driving from the east coast to the west coast and back again.
“There was a weather warning when we were doing a long drive through Dakota or somewhere, I can’t remember,” he remembers. “I look out one side of the van and there’s a tornado falling. There’s a big dark cloud coming out of the sky, then I look out the left-hand side and there’s another one.
“We were actually driving down the highway with pelting hail on the windscreen and two tornadoes falling. Everyone was asleep and I said ‘no, leave them asleep, there is nothing else we can do but just keep driving’. You know, good times.”
They may be sick of vans, but time on the road has given them plenty of time to perfect their setlist. “We think we will probably do more or less the same set (in Australia) that we did in the US because we did a lot of fine-tuning over that tour and got to a place where we were alternating between two sets just to keep it fresh for us.
“There were certain songs that we would only do every second night – that kind of thing. So different cities in Australia will get slightly different sets but it will work well.”
The Chills bring with them a collection of timeless songs spanning 40 years of music; their most recent setlist tells a story that essentially presents the legacy of the band. “Our most recent album Scatterbrain is now about two years old or something, so we are doing stuff off that and we are doing a really good cross-section of pretty much everything from the start.
“There are certain key songs that we always have to play and we listen to the old records and choose what we are going to do next and incorporate them. If songs don’t feel right we drop them. We don’t play songs that we are getting bored with. It has to flow as a set, like a narrative, there has to be a sort of story to it. And it’s really working at the moment. There are certain songs that people call out for that we’re not playing but not that many these days. We have sort of picked up most of the ones that people would really love to hear.”
Fans have come to know and love the diverse sound that has become synonymous with The Chills, but in 2023, Phillipps says fans can now expect something a little different, and a whole lot more noteworthy.
“The older fans we have been meeting are saying that this is the best version of The Chills they have seen in like 35 years and we know it is. There’s just something really special that’s happening with the new lineup.
“It’s not the kind of thrashing, post-punk we were into in the early 80s – even the pop songs were played really hard back then – but it’s a much more considered approach as to how to best do the songs. How to best do this material. We have such a wealth of material now to choose from. Something I am really thankful for is that we are not like a ‘one hit wonder band’ who has to pad out the set, we can actually choose an entire set of really good quality stuff. So someone coming along for the first time is going to walk away impressed at the very least.”
If you have been listening to The Chills since the 80s or 90s – and for Beat’s sake, we hope there are a few of you left out there – Phillipps especially wants you to come along and create some new memories with the band. “The people I’m most worried about are the people who think ‘I saw The Chills back in the 80s or the 90s and I don’t want to ruin my memories’. I want them to know we are not going to override your memories, come and get some new memories and you’ll be quite happy, you’ll be quite pleased with them!”
Come make new memories with The Chills, supported by wonderful Melbourne rockers Parsnip, at Melbourne Recital Centre on Saturday February 18. Grab tickets here.
This article was made in partnership with Melbourne Recital Centre.
