Martin Phillips, frontman of the Chills, one of many excellent acts signed to the Flying Nun Information roster, died on the weekend on the age of 61.
The singer, songwriter and guitarist handed at his house in Dunedin, on New Zealand’s south island, confirms a press release issued by Flying Nun Information.
Phillips was “an integral half” of the college city’s scene within the Nineteen Eighties, and of Roger Shepherd‘s Flying Nun Information household, whose roster would come with the Clear, the D4, Headless Chickens and Tall Dwarfs, Chris Knox, Straitjacket Matches and the Verlaines.
The late artist was a “single-minded expertise who took all parts of a musical profession significantly,” reads the assertion, which lists off his top-shelf songwriting, efficiency and studio skills.
A separate message posted on the band’s official web page confirms that Phillipps “has died unexpectedly.”
The reason for dying was not disclosed.
The musician was “demanding of perfection in others and himself,” the Flying Nun tribute continues, penning such songs as “Rolling Moon,” “Pink Frost,” “I Love My Leather-based Jacket” and “Heavenly Pop Hit” which loved commercially success and “helped outline one of the best of New Zealand music” throughout that period. “Heavenly Pop Hit” and its guardian album Submarine Bells, nearly launched the band to worldwide success.
After a hiatus, Phillips relaunched the Chills within the mid-2010s, and the group would go on to launch a string of recent albums, supporting the works with home and worldwide excursions.
Their most up-to-date LP, 2021’s Scatterbrain, cracked the highest 10 on the New Zealand Albums Chart.
As information of Phillips’ passing unfold on-line, the music group paid tribute. “Oh my goodness, I’m so terribly sorry, what an exquisite and candy individual and unbelievable artist. A lot love and sympathy to his household and mates,” wrote Nada Surf singer Matthew Caws.
“Martin Phillipps RIP,” wrote Lindy Morrison, drummer with beloved Australian indie group the Go-Betweens.
The Phillipps household requests privateness presently, and funeral preparations will probably be suggested in the end.