Chills Tour Ardijah Win Rock Award

Rip It Up, Issue 113, 1 December 1986, Page 8

Chills Tour Ardijah Win Rock Award

With Martin Phillipps in the Chills (mark 10) are Wellington drummer Caroline Easther (exSpines, Circus Block Four...), and from Auckland, bassist Justine Harwood (ex-Big Sideways) and keyboardist Andrew Todd. “Andrew’s worked with Justin on various projects and done a lot of studio work,” says Phillipps, “he’s an amazing keyboardist. I’m confident that this is the best Chills so far, it already looks that way to me.” The band’s second visit to the UK and Europe will be a lengthy one — they may not be back until September as they consolidate the inroads made by Kaleidoscope World, which has sold 10,000 copies in Britain alone. Two days after they arrive in London, the Chills play Dingwalls; then it’s off to northern Europe for a month, playing one-nighters in Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Norway and West Germany. When they return to London they’ll enter Point Studios to record an album. “We’ll try and catch up on all the songs we’ve never recorded,” says Phillipps. “We’re looking at releasing a double album back here in New Zealand.” After the recording is completed, the band will tour around Britain for a month. While looking forward to the new countryside, Phillips doesn’t sound so sure about the weather. “We’ll be touring northern Europe in the dead of winter,” he says. “London in autumn last year was colder than Dunedin’s ever been.” CB

“This award is the first major grant that has allowed a Kiwi band to record its own all-original album without comporomise,” said Karyn Hay at the presentation. Along with rock critic Colin Hogg and promoter Doug Hood, Hay was a member of the advisory board who selected Ardijah. “Our choice was based on a band that had a performing and recording history — a promising band who we could assist record their debut album; Ardijah are

such a band,” she said. "Our task was initially near-impossible with over 100 entries, then it became merely difficult after certain priorities were met. But we looked for convincing evidence that the band had the material to fill the first album.” For the advisory board, Hay commented on the autonomy they had been given by the sponsor in selecting the award winners. “We have had a completely free hand in our assessment of the entrants and from our point of view, the whole thing has been conducted with total integrity.” Response to the award was such that it was announced that

it will be repeated again next year. Ardijah finished off the presentation at Auckland’s Tuxedo Rock with a short set.