Creative, mellow Phish appear far from ‘Dead’
Unpredictable band brings unique style to Santa Monica
By Gaby Mora
Daily Bruin Staff
Trying to describe a Phish concert is as futile as trying to
label the type of music the band plays.
Explaining the gap between concert and album sales is even
harder.
In 1992, lead singer and guitarist Trey Anastasio sat backstage
at the Palace before yet another sold-out show, puzzling over why
their fourth album, Rift (Elektra), wasn’t selling as well as they
had hoped.
But with a fifth album out, Hoist (Elektra), and another
national tour bringing them to the Santa Monica Civic on Saturday,
drummer Jon Fishman says the band’s focus now is on having a good
time while pleasing its devout listeners.
"I would love it if we had an album that sells like crazy,"
admits Fishman. "I figure, we either made one that no one knows
about yet, or we’re gonna make one someday. But as we get older
none of us are as concerned with sales anymore. We just don’t worry
about it."
From his kickback, humorous manner, it’s hard to imagine Fishman
worrying about much. Rounded out by keyboard player Page McConnell
and bassist Mike Gordon, the Vermont-based foursome self-released
their first album, Junta in 1988, and has since continued as a band
that is all about just relaxing and enjoying life. With a blend of
music that moves in and out of almost every imaginable style
(sometimes in the same song), Phish is unpredictable, but coherent
enough to pull off even the most far-fetched ideas.
Integrating everything from a vacuum cleaner to trampolines on
stage, the group is as creative with its visual effects as it is
with its music. Though its sound is rooted in lengthy
instrumentals, the band’s amusing lyrics range from a fast and
crazy repetition of "laugh and laugh and fall apart," to the
charming story of a weasel "racing with the wind" and "flirting
with death" as he searches for inner freedom.
Like the characters in some of its songs, Fishman explains how
the group struggled to create its own identity amidst media reports
that insisted Phish was the next Grateful Dead.
"Its become like part of our metabolism," laughs Fishman. "When
we were a younger band it used to be a bigger deal. When you’re
searching for your own identity, you want to be known as who you
are, but you can’t control peoples’ response. You just hope they
come out and listen to your music and have an open mind before
making any judgement."
Though Phish doesn’t subscribe to any particular cause or
message, devoted fans have created an aura around the group that is
short of idolization. Fishman says it took it a long time to gain
any kind of crowd in Los Angeles, but at UCLA the group has a
substantial following.
Second-year student Phil Hong attended the Wiltern show last
year, and describes the experience as comparable to, "that moment
when you feel it can’t go any further, and it does."
Dave Reilly, a fourth-year student, had his "Phish experience"
in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and says, "It was really mystical and it
felt like the whole audience was one big fishbowl. It could have
been due to all the drugs we were on, but I doubt it."
Nicole Avnet, a fourth-year student who is traveling north to
see Phish for the eighth or so time, sums it up best when she
explains: "Their music just takes on a completely different quality
when you see them live  the way they jam and everything is
improvised, and they have such a wide variety of music. I think
people just really like that spontaneity."
As for the Grateful Dead comparisons, Avnet says, "The parallel
that I draw is not so much in their music, but people like the
security of having a place they can go and they know that the
people there are similar and there’s always good vibes."
Despite the obvious adoration, there is a fine balance that
allows band members to wander into the parking lot after a show and
join a drum circle, or share a joint without being harassed. The
audience is a part of every live show, and Fishman acknowledges its
contributions. But he also explains the difficulty of trying to
please everyone.
"If you’re really trying to make something that makes everyone
feel good, its like, how do you do that," he asks. "While you want
something that you can guarantee, something that makes everyone
feel good, you’re the first person that you have start with. You
either do that, or you become a total failure and fall into that
‘we’re trying to please everybody trap,’ and you can drive yourself
nuts."
The band decided not to play its new songs before recording
them, in an effort to keep the material fresh, both for the
audience and for themselves. While Fishman admits that this
approach may hinder it from recording a version of a song that
works best with listeners, he also says that it saves their own
creative sanity.
"It’s important for us to have new material on stage," he says.
"When we can still get excited about performing something they
haven’t heard yet, the energy actually makes even the old stuff
sound better. And in some way, we achieve a better energy on the
album if we’re playing brand new stuff."
Only three songs on Hoist were performed on stage before being
recorded ("Lifeboy," "Sample in a Jar" and "Axilla"), and even
those are completely revamped on the album. With the help of
producer Paul Fox (10,000 Maniacs, the Sugarcubes , XTC), Phish
created a more marketable sound, but even still, the group gets
little radio play, and its first video, "Down With Disease," was
shunned by MTV.
Studios and videos, however, were never Phish’s best medium
anyway.
"When we play live, there’s more of an anything-goes feel,"
Fishman says. "Whereas on the album its like listening to a
painting, or something etched in stone. The album will be the same
every time, but a song played live might be just like the album, or
it might be totally different."
MUSIC: Phish at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Saturday,
Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20. For more info call (310)
393-9961.