The Chills’ Martin Phillipps ‘loved and appreciated’, director says

Martin Phillipps would have been surprised by how loved and appreciated he was, says friend and film director Julia Parnell.

Parnell directed The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps documentary about The Chills front man who died this week at age 61.

“I think he would have expected, with a smile on his face, for people to be talking about the music and his contribution in that way.

“But I think he would have been surprised at the love and care and heartbreak. I think sometimes he did struggle to realise how loved and appreciated he was,” Parnell told Music 101.

“That’s perhaps one of the sad things that I would often encourage him to feel more the sense of how adored he was.”

Parnell, who went on to form a close friendship with the musician, and was struck by what a singular man Phillipps was when she first met him, she said.

“I just instantly felt connected to him, such an unusual, fascinating and complex individual.

“Straightaway, I realised, how could I not want to work with him.”

Martin Phillipps
Photo: Greta van der Star

The film was unflinching about the ups and downs of Phillipps’ life and opens with him getting bad news about his health and battle with hepatitis C.

“Very early in the filming, in the first few days that we started filming the documentary, he was told he only had a few months to live if he didn’t change his lifestyle.

“And that dire prognosis really set the tone for the documentary. So, it made it quite an urgent and deeply personal exploration of his life.”

Despite that bleak prognosis, Phillipps carried on making music and bringing it to audiences all over the world, she said.

“He knew he was not well, he always did and he always felt that sense of needing to get as much done as he possibly could.”

The film allowed him to move on and get on with what was left of his life, she said.

“He’d moved to a place, I think, where he had more clarity and ability to really tap into his creativity. He really stood tall afterwards, and made most of every minute he had left.”

Tours of Australasia, the US and Europe followed as did three new Chills albums, she said.

“I was just so impressed with what he has been able to do in the last few years and will always have that music now, that’s his indomitable spirit.

“And that music will just live on.”

Martin Phillipps earlier in The Chills’ career.
Photo: 1989 Frans Schellekens

The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps can be watched for free until the end of the week here