The founder and lead singer of the Eugene-based, all-women band Chipped Nail Polish is Jill Sullivan. Sullivan, a winter 2020 University of Oregon (UO) graduate, says she formed the band with the intention of combining her skills as an advertising major with her passion for music. “The band has kind of just been a really fun passion project of mine and I want it to be the best that it can be,” she says.
Beyond Chipped Nail Polish, Sullivan has dedicated herself to the music industry by spending the last four years as a member of the UO Music and Concerts Team. Her time with the student group has meant booking and organizing concerts, hosting guest speakers embedded in the industry and gathering student musicians from the Eugene, Oregon, area. The end result of this involvement takes the form of connections and experience, which Sullivan says she hopes to use in the music industry now that she has graduated from the UO. She says, “That’s where my music love has been and that’s where I’m trying to move towards professionally.”
Sullivan put together an all-women, indie/alternative band and she says Chipped Nail Polish is the only one of its kind in Eugene. “We are the only all-female, all-girl band in Eugene that is currently playing shows,” Sullivan says. There are other bands in Eugene with prominent women members, such as Common Koi’s bassist Kira Elbaugh, Ponderosa’s guitarist and vocalist Molly Rose and Laundry’s lead guitarist and vocalist Kiki Paroissien, but with Chipped Nail Polish it has been nothing but women-led since its creation.
This was Sullivan’s vision from the beginning. “When I was putting together the band I really wanted it to be as female fronted as possible,” she says. “I think that is definitely a highlight of the band and that does make us unique when we all play together.” Even as Sullivan looks for work outside of Eugene and her fellow UO student band members do the same, Sullivan says she wants Chipped Nail Polish to continue to be led by women. She says, “It’s something that’s super important to me. If I move and me, Grace, Allison and Frankie can’t all play together, I really want to do my best to work with as many female-identifying people as possible.”
