July 28, 2024 • 8 mins
Over the weekend we got the tragic news that the founder of Dunedin band The Chills, Martin Phillipps, had unexpectedly passed away. Back in 2019, Tracey caught up with Martin Phillipps to chat about his documentary "The Triumph And Tragedy of Martin Phillipps,” and how he wasn’t sure he’d be alive to see it.
RIP Martin.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Gold a sides podcast The Stories behind Just Great Rock. Look.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Congratulations to you Martin on the release of the movie.
It's fantastic. I saw it twice last weekend. It is
so good.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Thank you here. I've been getting a lot of emotional
texts and email from people I know or people haven't
seen in years who are actually very moved by it. So,
you know, the weird thing is I kind of put
myself out there with it with that movie sort of thing.
We decided to be very honest, and they was partly
because I wasn't sure if I was going to live
to see the end of it. Now I'm goind of
stuck with it to see the ramifications in it that,
(00:40):
you know, having been able to sort of step back
and look at it for what it actually is. Now,
I'm very proud of what dur To your Notable Pictures
have done with it, and I think it's uply with
some of the better rocumentaries I've seen, and it doesn't
even sort of quite fit into that category now because
it's such an unusual documentary.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Because I don't want to give away too much for
people that haven't seen it yet, but obviously the scene
is set in the opening moments with your health being
major concerned. Was it your decision to have those private
moments with the doctor on camera or was that the
director's idea.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
People have been asking whether it was kind of a
set up for the camera that they got permission to
come in and film what was going to be sort
of a regular kind of checkout, you know, not quite
a day in the life of Martin Phillips, but what
was happening at the time, and nobody expected the message
to be delivered that I might be deal within six
to twelve months kind of thing, so put the pressure
on to make the documentary worthy and that probably we're
(01:29):
not sure if I was going to survive to see
its completion. So I mean, all that very complicated stuff
was sorting out my collections and all that. It had
to be addressed pretty quickly because you.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Definitely get to see in the movie that you are
quite the collector. Your archives are extensive, which has got
to be a director's dream. I mean all a memorabilia,
but just the enormity of your collecting, you know, the toys,
the books, the comics, the cans. You say at one
point that you felt like this stuff was filling a
void in your life. You know, you are disarmingly honest,
You're very vulnerable on camera, which I think establishes a
(02:01):
massive connection with the viewer.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I try and do that with the music as well.
I reckon if you're not straight up with people, you're
not going to connect with them on that sort of level.
And I think that there are a lot of people
who relate to collecting as a way of filling a space,
you know, perhaps not socializing. Well, they don't have family,
So we live in a society that does gather things,
and there's somebody in the entertainment industry that's where I
kind of focus, you know, sort of pop culture. So
(02:25):
it's very easy to kind of justify that and start
building up collections of things which people need to know about.
And then all of a sudden you look at it
and it's it's a sort of an empty house full
of things.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
A lot of stuff that you have collected as well,
including like DVDs and VHS's. And I was quite blown
away by the amount of footage of the Chills from
over the years. Who had on that archived footage? Was
that you that had all that? And who was filming
all that at the time, because that was like way
pre smartphones.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Like you say, I mean, it was quite rare, to
the point that you would actually be aware if there
was somebody in the audience with a camera because they
were so huge, you know, because you could see somebody
with a camera on your shoulder. You know, we would
sort of come up to the person afford so you
quite happy to keep there, but would love so. Yeah,
we sort of kept track of who had what over
the years, and it has really paid off.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
It has paid off, hasn't it. My favorite part of
the film is actually toward the end when the exhibition
sort of gets realized and the curators come around to
your house and they got gloves on and they take
all your stuff out. I mean that was this time
last year. But now with the movie being out, there's
obviously going to be massively renewed interest in the band.
Are you going to take that exhibition around the country?
Will it come to Auckland or Wellington?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
When it happened, there was instant talk from a number
of places. Well you just placed it in London and
somewhere in New York we're talking about it as well.
But it's also on the boiler at the moment in
terms of what can travel. Obviously, there's so much stuff
we could actually travel some form or the exhibition, so
that's been looked at it and one of the good
things is the documentary may well come out eventually on
(03:53):
DVD with extra features. And there was some lovely footage
shot of the exhibition for people who didn't get to
see it.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I mean, I couldn't believe just how casually at one
stage in the movie you just open a covered or
and there's the leather jacket. I mean, God, what kind
of insurance do you have to have on such an
iconic piece of memorabilia. I mean, that's going to be
one of New Zealand's most iconic pieces of music memorabilia.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Surely, Yeah, I get tend to ensure with karma insurance
more than I do with sextual physical money. Is things
just kind of it's hard to put an actual value
on these things that the irreplaceable obviously, so most of
it could never be replaced.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
When you watched the movie, Bag, how did you feel
seeing like the raw emotion of some of your former bandmates,
I mean the hurt that some of them still seemed
to carry with them after so many years of how
their relationship with you and the band ended for them.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
How was that seeing that I was unaware of some
of the miskcommunication, some of the pain that was still
the exit apologize for any of that. At the end
of the day, we were young and we weren't communicating well.
But there were people around us who perhaps have been
in the industry longer, who could have said, you guys
just need to sit down a room and actually talk
with each other, you know, just a wee bit of
(05:02):
advice for that now and again actually could have really
say kind of stuff. It's been opening of old wounds
all round, but at the same time it's been a
great healing process and I've caught up with some being
in the saving things for years. And despite the movie,
the weird thing is we just fall into betting friends
again and talking about the wonderful time as we had.
So that's one of the best.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Things with the movie for me, because of course you
had the big premiere. Indoneda and Dneda plays such a
massive role in this movie. I mean, it's portrayed as
having a real impact on the lives of those who
live there, and I think it's even Neil Finn in
the film who says, you know, you're so isolated, indoneda
that you almost feel like you can make whatever music
you want because who's listening. Was that a feeling that
you shared back in the day.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I think so. Yeah. Some people who have complained about
that comment thing we're not dead isolated. I think that
Neil talking about the situation back then, not so much
now when everyone's in touch with each other around the world.
But our contact with the rest of the rock and
roll world was Sunday Night, whereby with pictures, people getting
three months old British weekly music papers, sharing records and
(06:01):
that kind of thing. Sometimes the crowpile through the media
of a band was much better than they actually were
a live So it took us going overseas to actually
see some of these things being to realize that what
had happened here was actually equity of the caliber.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
It's funny, isn't because you have this earning and probably
every band in New Zealand has this yearning just to
get overseas, and it feels like America broke the band.
Would that be a fair statement asn't broke up the band?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I mean not really, because it was the withdrawal of
Greek and Company support that just sort of clapped stuff
in the middle of the American tour because it's very
hard work and to get fans saying when are you
playing in outtown and having to tell them we actually
played the two weeks ago, and you know, the publicity
was so bad even fans weren't aware of it, and
just very disheartening.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Wow, you're such an interesting guy. I mean, I've always
been such a fan of yours, but now I feel like,
having seen this movie, I'm a super fan. Like, I mean,
You're going to open yourself up to a whole new
world of fans after this movie. It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Well thank you, it seems to be. What's happening is
the movie didn't discover kind of the health issues, but
also the rise and interesting in the chills again, which
has been really very timely, and somehow I sort of
connecting with people, not just old fans, but a whole
bunch of new ones are discovering as there are a
lot of younger bands out of name droppingness as an
influence and that's sort of spreading. So it's good times
(07:17):
and we're beck functioning as a stand again, which is great.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
That is such a pleasure to talk to you. Thank
you so much for making the time to talk to us.
And yeah, get that exhibition, get it on the road
and get it, you know, around the country, because there's
going to be a lot of interest in that right now.
You know, people are just vibing on you, guys. Thank
you so much for taking the time to talk to us.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Thank you, It's been fun. Cool. Now are you Esh's partner,
is it right?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yes, I'm his wife, you know, Ashley?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Oh yeah, hi, Hi, I haven't seen it all ages
and now actually right say hi.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Oh that gives me a little flutters I will tell
him that'll maker's day.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
All right, lovely talking to you.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
How we talk a game.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Soon Yer gold a sides podcast the stories behind Just
Great Rock. If you enjoyed this podcast, click to share
with fambly or free for Just Great Rock. Listen to
gold FM anytime anywhere on iHeartRadio.
Gold a sides podcast The Stories behind Just Great Rock. Look.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Congratulations to you Martin on the release of the movie.
It's fantastic. I saw it twice last weekend. It is
so good.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Thank you here. I've been getting a lot of emotional
texts and email from people I know or people haven't
seen in years who are actually very moved by it. So,
you know, the weird thing is I kind of put
myself out there with it with that movie sort of thing.
We decided to be very honest, and they was partly
because I wasn't sure if I was going to live
to see the end of it. Now I'm goind of
stuck with it to see the ramifications in it that,
(00:40):
you know, having been able to sort of step back
and look at it for what it actually is. Now,
I'm very proud of what dur To your Notable Pictures
have done with it, and I think it's uply with
some of the better rocumentaries I've seen, and it doesn't
even sort of quite fit into that category now because
it's such an unusual documentary.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Because I don't want to give away too much for
people that haven't seen it yet, but obviously the scene
is set in the opening moments with your health being
major concerned. Was it your decision to have those private
moments with the doctor on camera or was that the
director's idea.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
People have been asking whether it was kind of a
set up for the camera that they got permission to
come in and film what was going to be sort
of a regular kind of checkout, you know, not quite
a day in the life of Martin Phillips, but what
was happening at the time, and nobody expected the message
to be delivered that I might be deal within six
to twelve months kind of thing, so put the pressure
on to make the documentary worthy and that probably we're
(01:29):
not sure if I was going to survive to see
its completion. So I mean, all that very complicated stuff
was sorting out my collections and all that. It had
to be addressed pretty quickly because you.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Definitely get to see in the movie that you are
quite the collector. Your archives are extensive, which has got
to be a director's dream. I mean all a memorabilia,
but just the enormity of your collecting, you know, the toys,
the books, the comics, the cans. You say at one
point that you felt like this stuff was filling a
void in your life. You know, you are disarmingly honest,
You're very vulnerable on camera, which I think establishes a
(02:01):
massive connection with the viewer.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I try and do that with the music as well.
I reckon if you're not straight up with people, you're
not going to connect with them on that sort of level.
And I think that there are a lot of people
who relate to collecting as a way of filling a space,
you know, perhaps not socializing. Well, they don't have family,
So we live in a society that does gather things,
and there's somebody in the entertainment industry that's where I
kind of focus, you know, sort of pop culture. So
(02:25):
it's very easy to kind of justify that and start
building up collections of things which people need to know about.
And then all of a sudden you look at it
and it's it's a sort of an empty house full
of things.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
A lot of stuff that you have collected as well,
including like DVDs and VHS's. And I was quite blown
away by the amount of footage of the Chills from
over the years. Who had on that archived footage? Was
that you that had all that? And who was filming
all that at the time, because that was like way
pre smartphones.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Like you say, I mean, it was quite rare, to
the point that you would actually be aware if there
was somebody in the audience with a camera because they
were so huge, you know, because you could see somebody
with a camera on your shoulder. You know, we would
sort of come up to the person afford so you
quite happy to keep there, but would love so. Yeah,
we sort of kept track of who had what over
the years, and it has really paid off.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
It has paid off, hasn't it. My favorite part of
the film is actually toward the end when the exhibition
sort of gets realized and the curators come around to
your house and they got gloves on and they take
all your stuff out. I mean that was this time
last year. But now with the movie being out, there's
obviously going to be massively renewed interest in the band.
Are you going to take that exhibition around the country?
Will it come to Auckland or Wellington?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
When it happened, there was instant talk from a number
of places. Well you just placed it in London and
somewhere in New York we're talking about it as well.
But it's also on the boiler at the moment in
terms of what can travel. Obviously, there's so much stuff
we could actually travel some form or the exhibition, so
that's been looked at it and one of the good
things is the documentary may well come out eventually on
(03:53):
DVD with extra features. And there was some lovely footage
shot of the exhibition for people who didn't get to
see it.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I mean, I couldn't believe just how casually at one
stage in the movie you just open a covered or
and there's the leather jacket. I mean, God, what kind
of insurance do you have to have on such an
iconic piece of memorabilia. I mean, that's going to be
one of New Zealand's most iconic pieces of music memorabilia.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Surely, Yeah, I get tend to ensure with karma insurance
more than I do with sextual physical money. Is things
just kind of it's hard to put an actual value
on these things that the irreplaceable obviously, so most of
it could never be replaced.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
When you watched the movie, Bag, how did you feel
seeing like the raw emotion of some of your former bandmates,
I mean the hurt that some of them still seemed
to carry with them after so many years of how
their relationship with you and the band ended for them.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
How was that seeing that I was unaware of some
of the miskcommunication, some of the pain that was still
the exit apologize for any of that. At the end
of the day, we were young and we weren't communicating well.
But there were people around us who perhaps have been
in the industry longer, who could have said, you guys
just need to sit down a room and actually talk
with each other, you know, just a wee bit of
(05:02):
advice for that now and again actually could have really
say kind of stuff. It's been opening of old wounds
all round, but at the same time it's been a
great healing process and I've caught up with some being
in the saving things for years. And despite the movie,
the weird thing is we just fall into betting friends
again and talking about the wonderful time as we had.
So that's one of the best.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Things with the movie for me, because of course you
had the big premiere. Indoneda and Dneda plays such a
massive role in this movie. I mean, it's portrayed as
having a real impact on the lives of those who
live there, and I think it's even Neil Finn in
the film who says, you know, you're so isolated, indoneda
that you almost feel like you can make whatever music
you want because who's listening. Was that a feeling that
you shared back in the day.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I think so. Yeah. Some people who have complained about
that comment thing we're not dead isolated. I think that
Neil talking about the situation back then, not so much
now when everyone's in touch with each other around the world.
But our contact with the rest of the rock and
roll world was Sunday Night, whereby with pictures, people getting
three months old British weekly music papers, sharing records and
(06:01):
that kind of thing. Sometimes the crowpile through the media
of a band was much better than they actually were
a live So it took us going overseas to actually
see some of these things being to realize that what
had happened here was actually equity of the caliber.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
It's funny, isn't because you have this earning and probably
every band in New Zealand has this yearning just to
get overseas, and it feels like America broke the band.
Would that be a fair statement asn't broke up the band?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I mean not really, because it was the withdrawal of
Greek and Company support that just sort of clapped stuff
in the middle of the American tour because it's very
hard work and to get fans saying when are you
playing in outtown and having to tell them we actually
played the two weeks ago, and you know, the publicity
was so bad even fans weren't aware of it, and
just very disheartening.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Wow, you're such an interesting guy. I mean, I've always
been such a fan of yours, but now I feel like,
having seen this movie, I'm a super fan. Like, I mean,
You're going to open yourself up to a whole new
world of fans after this movie. It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Well thank you, it seems to be. What's happening is
the movie didn't discover kind of the health issues, but
also the rise and interesting in the chills again, which
has been really very timely, and somehow I sort of
connecting with people, not just old fans, but a whole
bunch of new ones are discovering as there are a
lot of younger bands out of name droppingness as an
influence and that's sort of spreading. So it's good times
(07:17):
and we're beck functioning as a stand again, which is great.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
That is such a pleasure to talk to you. Thank
you so much for making the time to talk to us.
And yeah, get that exhibition, get it on the road
and get it, you know, around the country, because there's
going to be a lot of interest in that right now.
You know, people are just vibing on you, guys. Thank
you so much for taking the time to talk to us.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Thank you, It's been fun. Cool. Now are you Esh's partner,
is it right?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yes, I'm his wife, you know, Ashley?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Oh yeah, hi, Hi, I haven't seen it all ages
and now actually right say hi.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Oh that gives me a little flutters I will tell
him that'll maker's day.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
All right, lovely talking to you.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
How we talk a game.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Soon Yer gold a sides podcast the stories behind Just
Great Rock. If you enjoyed this podcast, click to share
with fambly or free for Just Great Rock. Listen to
gold FM anytime anywhere on iHeartRadio.
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