Martin Phillipps Quotes

I was born on the 2nd of July, 1963, in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington. My family shifted up to Auckland in early 1966 and lived there until my father was given his first posting as minister for the Methodist church in the very small town of Milton. It was during this time in the late sixties that I can truthfully say I first fell in love with music. I know for sure that I heard The Monkees on the radio. Then, in 1970 my father got a job as University Chaplain for the University Of Otago and we shifted there. Its close proximity to the wondrous Otago Peninsula and all the beautiful beaches, the wild wind-swept spots, the quiet native bush areas, the tall barren mountains that surround the city and its harbour were bound to influence and inspire anyone with an artistic temperament and I certainly had that. In fact, life at school especially was a torment for me because I was the typical shy, sensitive arty type who didn't enjoy sports very much and avoided them as much as possible –which was almost impossible in 1970s New Zealand, where in Winter the boys' recreational choices were either soccer or rugby. Anyway, the growth of the popularity of The Chills in the mid 1980's meant a shift to Auckland to be based where most of the country's music industry was and then further growth sent us to London in 1987 to live in cold, draughty squats and tour Europe in winter. I also lived for a few months in Los Angeles during the recording of Soft Bomb, and I eventually came to understand and enjoy that crazy city.
Martin Phillipps

My song-writing involves a process of piecing together bits and pieces of lyrics and music to create odd but pleasing combinations. I always have a notebook handy and I write down any ideas I come up with for a large range of topics; song lyrics, visual ideas, short stories, poetry/prose, band names, designs for t-shirts, and I try to always have a recording device with me too. It was a Dictaphone cassette recorder for a long time but I am now using a digital mini-disc recorder which means I can actually take a raw sound or idea right through to the finished album stage. Initially, after I have gathered enough new ideas, I will start the process of matching up words with music. Sometimes I will get melody ideas and lyrics at the same time as the musical idea (usually on acoustic guitar or 12-string though sometimes electric guitar or on my parents' piano) and in those cases I now try to find at least one other part for what has already become a "song-seed". That way there is more of the actual moment captured for later on when I come back to it and begin the more traditional process of working the parts into a proper song. At the very least I usually give a rough instrumental idea a title because it is amazing how often when you look back at it you can see all sorts of connections with things going on in your life at that time or in world events which may have troubled or inspired you.
Martin Phillipps