The Chills
The Chills were formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1980, from the remains of a two year old High School "punk" band named The Same.
Initially in The Same, Martin Phillipps was taken on as the guitarist but soon became lead vocalist, and then started writing the songs.
Martin's songs began to outstrip the very rudimentary capabilities of The Same and he formed a new group with Chills co-founder Peter Gutteridge (who had recently been fired from fellow-Dunedin band The Clean). Martin had then (and still does today) a single-minded determination to take quality, original N.Z.-sounding, melodic rock music to the world.
Peter Gutteridge soon left to follow his own musical path. His departure was the first of nearly forty other band members who, in the last 24 years, have played in The Chills. Martin's requirement of band members over the years has been to meet a standard of musicianship which is necessary to deliver The Chills' songs with essential, consistent energy in the live arena.
Martin has maintained this difficult ideal through nearly all of the band's twenty incarnations, and when it has been missing he has acted and changed the line-up. This determination to maintain a high-powered approach to The Chills live shows stems from the punk rock ethics of Martins musical awakening, and from the subsequent proximity to charismatic persons like Chris Knox who drove home how crucial it was to deliver music always with intensity and conviction.
This live energy is the central reason why The Chills are remembered fondly in all of the thirty-nine countries that they have thus far visited on their promotional tours. It is the combination of this AND the consistent quality of their songs which have established The Chills as one of the most well-known New Zealand groups to date - particularly in the U.S.A., U.K. and Europe.
The Chills have had a string of hits over the years and have become a NZ institution with their songs being used in TV shows, commercials, and movie soundtracks.
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