In the mid-1980s Martin Phillipps led his rock band the Chills from the small New Zealand city of Dunedin to international acclaim – they were championed by John Peel on the BBC, and by US college radio, and bands including the Fall and REM declared themselves Chills enthusiasts. It seemed at the time that widespread commercial success would surely follow.
Alongside their fellow Dunedin bands the Clean and the Verlaines, the Chills helped pioneer a melodic, offbeat, literate, lo-fi rock music that was dubbed the “Dunedin sound”. These bands all released records on Flying Nun, a no-frills independent record label, and when the likes of Peel and the Village Voice music writer Robert Christgau began championing them, Kiwi rock music experienced an attention it had never previously known. Of all the Flying Nun bands, the Chills were thought most likely to win a wide audience for their intimate, melodic songs, which were written by Phillipps, who has died suddenly aged 61. However, stardom perpetually evaded the band and depression almost destroyed Phillipps.
