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The first time I interviewed Jill Sullivan, we were students at the University of Oregon. I was a junior, working on a story for a student publication about women in the house show scene in Eugene.
A house show, btw, is exactly what it sounds like: a concert in a living room, backyard, a dusty attic with a very precarious floor situation…pretty much anywhere that a college student can manage to set up some iteration of a stage and, more importantly, has room for people to mosh.
At the time, it was very freshly 2020, aka pre-pandemic, and Sullivan was a senior. She’d been playing the ukulele since freshman year—”I tried guitar and was like…that’s too fuckin’ hard”—and began writing music her junior year after going through her first big breakup. “Sooo cliché,” she says.
During her time at UO, Sullivan became very involved with the music scene. She set a goal for herself to play one house show before she graduated…and that’s exactly what she did. Sullivan recruited a few friends to play alongside her and, in February 2020, she played her first house show under the moniker “Chipped Nail Polish.”
“None of us were the greatest musicians,” Sullivan says. “My friend learned bass in like two weeks in order to play the house show.”
Since then, the now Portland-based Chipped Nail Polish has surpassed 11,000 streams on Spotify, has two EPs—the most recent being Bottom Feeder—and has played several venues across Portland, including the Holocene, Kelly’s Olympian, and Revolution Hall.
Still, Chipped Nail Polish’s roots remain the same. One of the very same friends who was by Sullivan’s side three-plus years ago as she pursued her senior year dream of playing a house show was rocking out front row at Sullivan’s latest gig at Honey Latte Cafe this past Wednesday, where Chipped Nail Polish played with Novacane and Winona Forever.
The indie rock band’s current makeup—a somewhat revolving, although more so in the past than now, cast of Sullivan’s friends in the Portland music scene—consists of Sullivan on lead vocals and ukulele, Keelan Paroissien on lead guitar, Jeff Wiseman on drums, Amélie Diaz on rhythm guitar, and Aidan Case on bass.
A lot of Sullivan’s bandmates are involved in other projects as well, so they’ll book shows on a “no hard feelings if you can’t make it” kind of basis, subbing in other musician friends as needed. On Wednesday night, for example, Katy Oshiek subbed in on bass, because Case was on tour.
On Wednesday night, Chipped Nail Polish opened with one of their most popular songs, and definitely my favorite: “Rut.” With a vibe that is simultaneously vulnerable and upbeat, “Rut” is the perfect example of Sullivan’s songwriting style. She refers to Chipped Nail Polish’s sound as “crying in a mosh pit”—i.e., happy-sounding music that is secretly sad.
“You’ll be bopping along to the song and then listen to the lyrics and be like, oh…this is not a happy song,” Sullivan say, “but at least I’m dancing!”
I don’t know if it was the fact that there were several UO alumni I recognized in the audience (or that, like some house show venues, the cafe-during-the-day, indie-music-venue-at-night Honey Latte Cafe doesn’t actually have a stage), but Wednesday night’s performance transported me right back to the DIY music scene in Eugene.
Because of the lack of a stage, and also because she stands at about 5 feet 4 inches tall, I mainly caught glimpses of the ukulele-wielding, pink-jumpsuit-wearing Sullivan as she was jumping around during “Shakin’ in Yer Boots” and “Busy.” The instrumentals, although amazing, did overpower Sullivan’s vocals at times, which I’m guessing was an issue with the venue’s audio setup.
Just when you started to get a bit bummed that you couldn’t quite hear your favorite verse, the audience was once again reminded of Sullivan’s bubbly, adorable, slightly-awkward-but-like-in-a-relatable-way personality between songs.
“Anyone have any jokes?” she asked as an audio issue was dealt with. “I need to get good at that…”
The band’s cover of “Linger” by The Cranberries, may have been my favorite part of the show. That, or the audience call and response to the “Sorry to bother you” lyric during “B.” Or the guitar riffs during “Say Something.” Or when the couple in front of me started doing a cute little dance during “Shakin’ in Yer Boots.” Or the incredible merch I got. Or perhaps just the love and support you could feel from the audience. I don’t know…I can’t pick.
“Whenever I talk about Chipped Nail Polish and why I keep making music, it’s so tied to friendship and community, and being able to make art with my friends,” Sullivan says. “Being able to express myself on an individual level and being able to perform and be in community is the coolest thing ever, and that’s why I’m gonna keep doing it.”
So if you’re into fem bedroom pop punk with sad lyrics (think Phoebe Bridgers) and moshing to aggressive ukulele playing…you should definitely check out Chipped Nail Polish.
SEE IT: Chipped Nail Polish, Golden Boy, and Desolation Horse play Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 503-231-9663, dougfirlounge.com. 9 pm Thursday, July 20. $15. 21+.