“Crying in a mosh pit” — the apt description of Portland’s Chipped Nail Polish coming from frontwoman Jill Sullivan herself.
Surf punk and bedroom pop influences weave through Chipped Nail Polish’s sound, reminiscent of artists like Beach Bunny and Chloe Moriondo. Their songs navigate change, personal growth, and relationships through a mid-20s coming-of-age lens, and Sullivan is ready to share it with the world with the release of an EP entitled Bottom Feeder this month.
Born out of the booming DIY scene at the University of Oregon, Sullivan started Chipped Nail Polish “with an electric ukulele and a bad manicure” amongst a growing group of other like-minded and passionate creatives. A debut EP entitled B came out of this college experience, but so did a growing community and network of friends and musicians that have brought the project to where it is today.
“I’ve written every Chipped Nail Polish song, but they would be nothing more than voice memos if it weren't for my community. The friendships I developed in the UO scene are so vital to my art. It's where I met my good friend Justin (Yu) Kiatvongcharoen, who is now the main producer, co-writer, and mix engineer for all of my music. UO is also how I created a network of musicians who later on started playing in my live band. Everyone was so supportive of me when I told them I wanted to start making music.“
Sullivan’s love of performing and music first came from competitive dance and later led to passionate involvement in the behind-the-scenes aspect of her college music scene. Booking shows, stage managing, and working festivals kept her connected before starting a band during her senior year at UO. “From that moment on, it was hard to go back to being behind the scenes only. I realized how much I missed performing; it felt so natural to be on stage again,” she explains.
The full band, comprised of Sullivan’s friends from the Oregon music scene, is now based in Portland and is ringing in a new era for Chipped Nail Polish with the release of their second EP, Bottom Feeder, on January 27th.
The first single, “Rut,” has already made its debut with an accompanying music video and it definitely stands out as one of my favorites on the 5-track release. “Rut” truly encapsulates the experience of navigating change in your early 20s. It rings heavy with nostalgia coupled with the uncertainty cast across life by a global pandemic — it's that feeling of having really big dreams but feeling like time is just flying by and you can’t really do anything about it.
“I wrote this song pretty soon after I graduated from UO (March of 2020 which felt like the beginning of the end). I was planning on traveling and moving across the country. Like so many other twenty somethings, I ended up back at my parents house for a few months in Southern California. I love them, and they love me, but it was really hard. Everything I had been excited for felt so far away. That summer I took a lot of solo trips to the beach and wrote a bunch of music.”
As an avid pop-punk fan, the closing track “Say Something” was also a standout of mine, and Sullivan described it as her favorite song to work through in the writing process.
“The way it turned out really surprised me. We worked the hardest and disagreed the most on this song. I had written a two and a half minute version that I was hearing as another surf-punk, moshy tune, but Justin heard something that I didn’t. I was skeptical of the “far out,” intense, emotional, five minute journey that he was proposing, but it eventually reached a point where I couldn’t unhear his version. It revealed another layer of the songs’ meaning. It was a labor of love that was most definitely worth it.”
While B was written to process the grief of a breakup, Bottom Feeder reflects Sullivan’s growth as a person and a musician as she navigates a new world of adulting. As she explains, “I think my lyrics in Bottom Feeder are more complex, the chord progressions are more dynamic, and I’m a better singer (I took voice lessons!).”
Portland locals can catch Chipped Nail Polish celebrating the EP release on February 3rd at Alberta Abbey. The Bottom Feeder Fest will include support from Gondos, Candy Picnic, Worry Wart, and Katy & the Null Sets, as well as a variety of local vendors, artists, and artisans.
Check out “Rut” while you wait for the release of Bottom Feeder, follow the band on Instagram to stay up to date, and grab tickets for the upcoming show here!
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