Martin Phillipps: “Sometimes the right words can really help other people”

 

Musically uplifting, Scatterbrain, The Chills’ latest pop “confection”, does, however, sound like an honest and profound personal and creative testament, as is evident in several songs.

In conversation with Martin Phillipps, the creative mastermind behind the legendary New Zealand band.

Musically uplifting, Scatterbrain does, however, -at least in terms of lyrics- sound like an honest and profound personal and creative testament, as is evident in several songs. Has it indeed stemmed from such a pressing internal need?

Following my recent health scare, as documented in the film The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps, and also the death of my mother, I have found myself thinking more about mortality and how much control we have over our own destiny.

It became apparent that these were common themes amongst my age-group and now was the time to talk about it. Sometimes the right words can really help other people cope with difficult situations.

Who’s the “scatterbrained”, in fact? Is it you, certain others, the era we live in?

All of the above! It was my own confused state of mind, it was watching the rise of stupidity as a valid intellectual stance and it is watching the shutting down of rational discussion in the face of the armies of ‘the offended’.

“Dark times- nothing left to say/Black holes draining all the light away,” you lament ominously in Hourglass.

Although the so-called “pandemic era” has been more lightly felt in New Zealand, how much has it darkened your outlook on life and humanity?

The lyrics and themes of Scatterbrain were completed before we’d even heard of Covid but it has turned out to be an oddly prophetic album.

The early months of lockdown were a time of strange, quiet beauty but also of growing terror as I wondered whether this was how life would be forever.

On the positive side it gave us extra time to share sound-files and really fine-tune what the album was about before we regrouped for the final recording sessions and it really has benefited from that.

“I know I won’t avoid the void eternally/And mortality- well, it must be met alone,” you confess in Destiny. You’ve come face to face with void in the past.

Do you feel more prepared to fight it at present, creatively as well as biologically, to “weather the ages”?

Scatterbrain is possibly the best of the recent three albums and I now feel I can step back and take stock of where I am in my life and where The Chills need to explore next.

I am relieved that the saga of this band has been brought up to date and no longer rests entirely on achievements made in the eighties and early nineties.

“The old people (like me) want to feel more involved but they also know that their time of influence has largely passed,” you write about You’re Immortal.

Assuming that your time has passed, what’s the imprint that The Chills have left on the world of music?

It appears to us that there are a lot of people only just discovering our band for the first time and it speaks well of our legacy that so much of the music has aged well and can still feel relevant to new listeners.

While we are often referred to as just a pop band we have, in fact, covered a lot of ground musically and the new fans do find a large world of music to explore.

What kind of music do you most fondly listen to when you feel like it?

I have moods.

Recently I had a night of listening to very loud Deep Purple and Motörhead and the next night I binged on Scott Walker - from his early works right through to the later more experimental albums.

I don’t do Spotify, on principle, but I fear that I will have to adapt just to keep up with more of the amazing music that is being made today.

Legendary graphic designer and musician David Costa, whom I interviewed last year, is responsible for the highly imaginative cover art of the album. I assume this has been a rewarding collaboration. Is that so?

I was thrilled with his artwork. We quickly established a good relationship through email and I had one or two suggestions about the color palette and script but everything else was David’s natural response to hearing Chills music for the first time.

And I’ve really been enjoying discovering more of Trees through the wonderful Fire Records box set.

Each time the listening experience of Scatterbrain is over, I keep wishing there was more of it, somewhere. So, revisiting my initial question, is there any chance of a follow-up to this brilliant, introspective pop creation?

There were three other songs completed and mastered and one epic song we nearly started but realized we did not have the time to do it justice. We hope to record that soon and perhaps release all four tracks as the modern equivalent of an E.P.

Other than that there are the usual plans for beginning the process of writing the next album - although this time I don’t see any need to be hurried.

I would like to warmly thank Alice Gros of Fire Records for facilitating the realization of this interview, and Martin Phillipps for “carrying the flag”. Creatively may he go on!

The Chills’ Scatterbrain is released by Fire Records.