Mike Chunn is best known for his role as bass player and founding member of seminal New Zealand 70’s band Split Enz. Along with school friends Brian (Tim) Finn and Phil Judd, Chunn formed a band that it is widely regarded as the first to really put New Zealand popular music on the map.  

After enduring a very strict Catholic education at Sacred Heart College in Auckland, Chunn fulfilled a burning desire to be in the public eye, when he and his band captivated audiences with their edgy sound, heavy make up and infectious energy.

At the age of 22, Mike Chunn had his first ever panic attack brought on by agoraphobia, which he describes as a mental disorder which made him fearful when away from a place he felt comfortable. Whenever he left his safe haven of Auckland, he was subject to panic attacks so intense that he willed his own death.

His affliction meant he was unable to travel, which meant he had to leave both Split Enz and Citizen Band as he could not commit to touring. ‘A typical situation for me would have been going on a plane … walking on the plane I would be susceptible to a panic attack. My subconscious would be saying “you are going to be in a situation you can’t get out of, you can’t get home”… total terror in the brain of believing you’ll die.’

It took Chunn six years to understand that his panic attacks would come on only when he left Auckland, and it was the writing of the Split Enz boigraphy ‘Stranger than Fiction’ that told his story and gave him the impetus to live a life in which his affliction was managed. It has in fact left him altogether on occasion, and to this day, Chunn takes his medication with him wherever he goes, not because he thinks he’ll need it, but because he sees it as an ‘insurance policy’.

Mike stayed involved in music, heading up the New Zealand operation of the Australasian Performing Rights Association, before most recently setting up and becoming CEO of the Play it Strange foundation, encouraging and developing secondary school songwriting.

Mike has appeared in high profile ad campaigns promoting mental health awareness, and continues to be very active in the media to show people that mental health problems are extremely common place, and that a little understanding goes a long way.

Watch the interview Reflections – Mike Chunn reflects on his experience with agoraphobia.