Of Chill & Frost.

Rip It Up, Issue 81, 1 April 1984, Page 20

Of Chill & Frost.

The sleeve of the new Chills' single, Pink Frost', contains a dedication to the band's former drummer, Martyn Bull.

Bull died on July 22,1983, after an extended battle against leukaemia. A donation to cancer research will be made from any profits from the sale of the single. "Martyn has left our lives enriched

and we feel lucky to have known and worked with such an amazing and creative man," part of the dedication

reads. The only remaining member of the lineup that recorded the original tracks for the single in mid-1982 is singer/ guitarist/songwriter Martin Phillips. Bass player Terry Moore left the band and is now mixing for

various Dunedin groups. "With Terry, after Martyn died, the music sort of lost its purpose for a while, I think. And initially with the new band it just felt so horrible practising without Martyn. So that was enough for him.” Were you ever close to calling a halt yourself? "Well, for a long time the new band

wasn’t going to be the Chills we thought, that's it. It's alright when you change members in a band, but when somebody dies ... and it had just become, for the first time, a proper working unit, Terry, Martyn and I. I thought there was no way I could call it the Chills but there was so much pressure from all Flying Nun and so on to do it. And, as it turned out,

everyone just referred to it as the Chills anyway. No matter what I do from now on it's still going to be called the Chills.” Why release ‘Pink Frost' now, after all this time? ‘‘Well, it's a long story. When Martyn was ill, at first we thought we'll put it out, then he started getting better his blood counts were only five points

off normal. So we thought, well, it's not as good as we wanted, we’ll record it again, so that was another six months. Then, when he died, we thought, well have to do it now. I came up here this year with Terry and we put more guitar and new vocals on it and it's just changed everything. It's exactly what we wanted." Playing with Phillips in the new Chills are bassist Martin Kane (ex Blue Meanies), original drummer Alan Haig (who spent some time with the Verlaines) and keyboardist Peter Allison. The new lineup has only been

together four, or five months and, as became obvious on the Flying Nun • tour, still has some growing together to • do. ; How long will that take?sßgH “God knows: I thought it would be ready : by the ! end of the tour but it! looks like its going to take a ' while yet." ' ’:.-v , , Do you feel pressured by, the fact that, particularly now, the Chills are; thought of ‘as simply Martin Phillips and band?V : "Yeah, that pisses me off. It's some-; . thing I really., want to change. At the. moment it's horrible, I'm just sort of standing up there and ■ everybody's'... watching me— including the band. Everybody’s watching me for cues we're just not working properly as a ; band." i Is there any solution other than to . just keep on playing? - “Well that's the best way, obviously;‘j* but we've got few things we’d like to feet worked out... he said mysteri- : ously." .: ... fc* How are you writing with the new band? Is it a matter of you bringing songs complete to them? ■ v'-v . “Yeah, unfortunately, most of < the time it is at the moment. It’s not the way I want it, butXX;Martin Kane is; 'starting to put forward some • ideas now. ; He f actually i wrote ; some very ■ good ’ songs for the Blue Meanies Nothing like that’s come forward yet X, though." X. ■ When were the new songs written? During the break between bands? “Most of them. For years now I've been able \ to!sit; down at the piano and play* for hours and come up' with. four or five riffs and put them on tape and the buildup on tape. So one thing ' tjjjjd do in that year was to go through *tenVouTW; °!! you. come up. with ne^',C? s lkaia So I finally got out quite a few old ones. There's a ton more where they came from too, about four-90! minute cassettes full of riffs.” . | That seems to be reflected in the very riffy nature of most Chills' songs. p "That's the same point again about ’' us 'hot working together as a band we’re hot going past that riffy stage.; In a way that's good, because I really

enjoy that sort of music but Id really .- like to get into the other side as well.” ?®An<J you were moving that way with the old band. , - .*' • "Yes, we definitely were then, that was the first time." What were the criteria for deciding ' . which old songs to drop and which to. keep 7 ' "Well, it's not complete yet. Most of ; the old ones well eventually have a go . at. There were another six we wanted | >Yto get ready for - the tour but we didn't ' < have time; I don't know about any of the stuff on the Dunedin ER I'm really sick of that.” Something ■; like 'Flamethrower’ obviously couldn’t be reproduced by another lineup. . .. .•'Yeah'. ‘Flamethrower' is totally out. - A monument to Martyn's drumming." • The three songs on the EP and . * •Rolling ; Moon’ ; arei full 'of; fantasy, - escapist even. Do they reflect your .. own state ; of mind at • the time/of. - writing? ; - : "Oh, yeah, I've always been an ; escapist. When I was a kid I used to ■ be right into C. S. Lewis and all that sort of thing." ; : o ]. •: Is that element present much in ' ’-•/ new songs or are• things changing? " i : * : “l - still; feel . like that : but • it’s (not coming out in the songs now because : - I was ridiculed so much], because of it. The sort of ‘kiddy pop music' thing. It made me think about it and think \. \ that it was actually"probably true; so ;; 1 ; I’m looking towards the more serious - ; side of myself." - * - ''; How do you write,your; lyrics? / "I’ve got a little pocketful of ideas, ■ just bits of paper I keep in my pocket.Also' if you come up with a good riff ‘it quite often just triggers off a whole ," new train of thought and the words . . come really easily. But that’s what I've : . been having trouble with lately, the' . lyrics.' I just can't write" them.” Why? u Yu' reason, the ridiculing. . .’ . Why not jua.A p e 0 , e and ■; .' write what you want? ' ";■ ‘ "No, : it’s \ not just people really, i : looked to ; myself and I i wanted to ,7 advance too. That's the good thing ; .‘about being in'; the public : eye, you .. undergo criticism,’’; ... ' . The i common = conception of ;■ the

.. ------"-y-TV- • Chills is as a pop band.-How do you. feel about that? "It really fucks me .off. Anybody who's seen us live should know we're not just a pop band. ; We’ve got a lot |of pop songs but we’ve got a good array 0f... big sort of songs as well .! I make damn sure we have.”! !vX Roy Colbert claimed on TV once that what set Dunedin ; musicians'! / apart was that they were real record) ' listeners. Do you think that’s true? "Yeah, I'- suppose so. There are ! some . pretty massive collections' in Dunedin, covering a .wide range. I

suppose the main reason is because ; . the new stuff isn’t as available so they can't spend their money on that so they have to go back and search out. ] the : good old stuff." V; : X: : ! V. - Does it hold true for you? “Well, I’ve just been right into music ever since I was about 10, just buying records and finding new sounds.” ■ ' What . was - the first! record f you bought? , “Ah ... Rock Explosion, it was a : compilation, because I was right into • the Sweet. Then it was Alice Cooper and David Bowie and stuff , and a nasty little binge on Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin for a while and then Kiss / and then back on the right track." Do you have an i ambition within : ::music?//;' : ..V “Lots of little things. I definitely want to get involved with some movies in . terms ;of ! rock music , . because that’s pretty, well untouched in terms of what you can do getting music across. Because I think seeing *- :X/a' band on the big screen is second • only to seeing it live. Like the Who in - l •. The Kids Are Alright { that was ; neat." Do you think you can accomplish , p what you , want to in New Zealand?;:; “I think so. I think what well do is; just travel out occasionally. There’s a V possible Australian visit this year. I’ve ? • * got crazy ideas ... Id love to just fly. to New York ;—. contacts are starting to get closer and closer for that sort of thing. I’d love!to just fly into New i York for a month and just see what !Xrwe!cari*d6"XXX; : . If the Chills sometimes ,failed to . come up to their own or others' expectations on the Flying Nun tour X it was only because they were judged ■X: against their own standard of excel- • ; lence. Many bands - in! the | country! ! Xwould slaughter to own such songs,, - : 'or even ’ just toe' riffs. -. Whether ■ the current lineup - will develop : the empathy that permitted the emotional . swell of a song ! like ‘Flamethrower’ •i-remains ,to! be seen but I think the XSChills will find it very difficult to be bad. ;.. "Can I have the interview tape back ~!X; vou've finished with it? I want to remen .-^t.'riff ; l was playing •- ■ when you switched it on.~~-.4^;-- ■; And the boy with the faraway eyes is off again. ; ‘ !;! .Russell Brown