Phish and the Grateful Dead are not the same band. It must be said they were and remain one of my favorite bands. In fact, the Dead are one of the most important American bands, if not the most important. To me, the Dead are a genuine link to traditional American music. They moved music history forward. Jerry Garcia was as important a figure in this country’s music history as Bill Monroe or Elvis. Phish has learned a lot from them. They are an influence. But, that said, we are also very different. The most important lesson we learned from the Dead was how to be a live band.

My three all-time-favorite guitarists are Jerry [Garcia], [Jimi] Hendrix, and [Frank] Zappa. They are all totally unique from one another, yet oddly similar. They were all striving for this depth where a solo would take you on a journey. But the journey was their own vibe: Zappa was sarcastic, Hendrix was bluesey, Jerry was downhome. I guess I have a suburban vibe. But I still want to get to the places that they got to.

I'm the overbearing leader type, although I sometimes shy away from that. If Page is the father, I guess I'm the mother.

Listening has been at the heart of the Phish aesthetic, almost from the start. Part of what differentiates the band's following from the Dead-heads to whom they are regularly (and unjustly) compared is the intelligence and intensity of their listening habits. Not only are Phish-heads voracious music fans likely to know anything from Count Basie to P-Funk to the latest house records, but they're uttery discerning, actually following the music instead of simply bobbing along in a state of mood-altered bliss.

There are two ways to create original music: You can lock yourself in a closet and not listen to anything, and whatever comes out will be something that sounds like nothing else; or you can immerse yourself in every traditional way of making music, and then what comes out of you is your own personal, unique blend of the best.

"We're increasing our visibility right now, or it's increasing itself a little bit. Things are just surfacing in the public perception a bit for us, and it's been nice. It's not out of control or anything. We're still not pop stars . Our career, it's still gradual." -- Mike Gordon, jamtv.com interview, 10/30/98

We spent a year inside your head.

We spent a year inside your head.

The Phish sound is closely related to the rambling mind of maestro lead guitarist/vocalist Trey Anastasio, who has the ability to play any distinct guitar style he chooses. At the turn of a Fishman time change, Anastasio switches gears from obscenely fast classical scales to straight-up bluegrass fingerpicking, from gentle, liquid rock ballad lines to throw-down funk.

How our albums are going to turn out is never conscious for us. But we do sort of go in with certain goals in mind, and whatever comes out, comes out. And the goals this time were, first of all, to make a shorter album than A Live One — which was real long — and try to make an album that was vinyl length, the length of a record, because we thought that sort of matches people’s attention spans better. And then, another goal was just to really experiment a lot without bringing in a lot of influences — no guest musicians, no record company people walking around the studio. And just to really experiment.

Given their sense of community, their ambition and their challenging, generous performances, Phish have become the most important band of the Nineties.

In April 1998, Good Citizen posted the first half of a two-part interview with Trey.

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To me, historically, there's always been so much art going around on big periods of change like this. At the end of the 19th century, there was so much important art and literature. So I'm looking forward to it, and we've been throwing ideas around to do something. Who knows, maybe we'll play the space shuttle or have concerts in four different time zones. I want to do a 30-hour show. People need to be able to cut loose for many days.

…usually, if we’ve stopped playing a song, it’s for a good reason: It just didn’t feel comfortable. People just don’t realize how sensitive we are to what we’re playing, and how it feels, and that if we can’t relate to the lyrics that we’re singing, that’s a bad feeling. People don’t realize that. If the song represents a part of our lives that was from 10 years ago, then it might feel wrong.

Jamming is definitely the most important thing for me ... all I really care about is going on these musical journeys.