Heavenly hits at Opera House this month

Martin Phillipps of the Chills is looking forward to playing at the Opera House this month.

Martin Phillipps has never played the Royal Wanganui Opera House and it has been 25 years since the Chills' front man played in the river city.

"I have heard great things about the venue from other musicians and I'm really looking forward to playing there," he says.

Phillipps was a lad of 18 when the Dunedin Double EP was released by Flying Nun Records in 1982.

The release introduced the "Dunedin Sound" to the world and shone a spotlight on the pool of remarkable young talent in the city at that time.

Phillipps reckons he might have had an inkling back then that it was the start of something significant and lasting.

"I felt like we were on to something special," he says.

"I could feel it in myself, and I could see it in the eyes of a couple of the other people involved."

A number of those other people have continued to play and write music with success, but Phillipps is probably the one who has stayed truest to form.

His distinctive guitar and keyboard riffs are immediately recognisable in songs on the long-awaited Silver Bullets album, released in 2015.

"The Chills still have a unique sound on an international scale, and I am proud of that," says Phillipps.

Now back in Dunedin after living in cities like London and Los Angeles, Phillipps says he is looking forward to the national tour, which kicks off in Wellington on April 26.

The Chills' line-up changes over the past three decades have not been as frequent as people perceive, he says.

Although there have been almost 30 Chills members since the band formed in 1980, the current line-up of Phillips, drummer Todd Knudson, keyboard players Erica Scally and Oli Wilson with bass player James Dickson, has been together for a while.

"Todd has been in the Chills for about 17 years and Oli, who is the newest member, has been in the band since 2009," says Phillipps.

■ The Chills will play at the Royal Wanganui Opera House on April 29 along with support acts Anthonie Tonner and Whanganui's own new band The People.