Say "Go Phish" March 9, 1992 - Burlington Times by Steve Rosenfeld So just how did phish, that quirky, energetic, jam happy band comprised of four former university of vermont and goddard college students, do all those things--build a huge underground national following, get a major record contract they didn't seek, quickly sell out a show (this thursday night) at the flynn theatre-- that have eluded so many other vermont bands for so long? "It's not that we didn't want it," explains bassist mike gordon. he's talking about elektra record's new release of phish's first compact disc, a picture of nectar, named in honor of burlington's nectar rorris and his now immortalized music hall. "but it wasn't something we planned." Not since kilimanjaro released their highly acclaimed jazz albums in the e arly 1980's has a burlington band struck such a high profile outside the green mountain state. Already, a picture of nectar is in its second pressing, selling out a 35,000 cd first run and breaking into the top 10 charts in boston. including thursdays flynn show, the band has just begun an 11 week national tour. they'll be back in burlington this summer to make their second album and then plan to go to europe. Phish's success is a result of many factors, including no shortage of talent, focus, and drive. but their spirit and sound--phish establishes rock, blues, and jazz-like grooves, breaking into orchestrated progressions and bridges, and then moving into extended solos where the goal is crashing from one crescendo to the next -- come from playing in and around burlington, and studying with a handful of central vermont's best musicians, composers, and teachers, according to trey anastasio, phish's composer, guitarist, and lead vocalist. "The interesting thing about it is we've found all these people in burlington and in the outskirts of burlington, this community of musicians," he says, crediting jazz composer ernie stiles, the university of vermont's jane ambrose, goddard college's lois harris, the sneakers jazz band, gordon stone, and others for encouraging phish not only to delve into studying music but also to write their own. "Having traveled around a lot, people ask us, younger bands, how do you start to play this weird kind of music," anastasio says. "that's the thing about nectar's and why we named the album after him. we'd go to nectar's and play three nights in a row. our earliest experience on stage was taking chances. one night we did a musical at nectar's. it was a project from goddard. "had we not come from burlington we wouldn't have made it as a band," he continues. "there would have been pressure to play other kinds of music, to do certain kinds of gigs. also, in burlington there are all these musical influences. there are so many good players." FOUR GUYS, A FEW TRAMPOLINES, AND A DREAM Phish was birthed at UVM. anastasio and drummer jon fishman heard each other playing through dormitory walls and soon teamed up. at that time there was another guitar player, who has since renounced music for true religion. gordon arrived in response to a poster looking for a bass player. and page mCconnell, the hammond organ player, pianist, and goddard college student, rounded out the sound. At first the band played "obscure covers," gordon says, citing odd songs by groups such as the bandleader herb alpert, blues man elmore james and the electric penguin cafe orchestra. they also played a few songs written by anastasio and some high school friends. one of those friends, tom marshall, continues to write most of phish's lyrics; quirky, non-referential, tone poems reminiscent of '60s beat generation stream-of-consciousness utterings. After playing their first gig at nectar's eight and a half years ago, the band began a steady climb, playing in vermont bars and clubs and branching out across new england. because phish members had some family money, they were able to practice daily and study music with vermont composers, musicians and vocal coaches. when everyone had finished school they decided to become a touring band. By then phish had become known for their unpredictable and outrageous live shows. in the early days, it wasn't uncommon for the drummer, jon fishman, to appear naked onstage, perform a few acrobatic moves, and then resume his playing. those antics have grown: fishman often wears weird costumes, and anastasio and gordon sometimes jump on trampolines as they solo. over the years the band has allowed itself to develop the entertainment side of their shows, though the musical side has always come first. "The growth of the band has been incredibly gradual," gorgon says. "it's not as if we suddenly emerged from vermont. years ago, we didn't have a gig at nectar's. then we played in a couple of different bars in burlington. and then colleges, UVM, goddard, johnson state. what happened then is we had a friend who helped us get gigs in southern new hampshire and northhampton. "We met a friend of a friend who started booking gigs while he was in school. they had no experience. but they started to do these great managerial maneuvers. they got us a gig at the paradise theatre in boston. they were spreading the word. we tried to do it ourselves but couldn't. we weren't music business people." The paradise show was the start of a turning point. phish booked the hall for themselves--instead of having a promoter do it for them. they then brought ina bus load of fans from vermont, and family members from elsewhere, and created attention and momentum for themselves at their third boston gig. "It's similiar to what the guy did who managed U2," gordon says. "we thought we would lose money. when we got there everyone was joking, 'have you heard these guys before?' that was 1988." The band's first "national" tour involved going to telluride, colorado, to play two nights. but the band tapped into the underground-yet-widespread community of alternative types--the late 20th century's hippies, including grateful dead fans--who began to loyally follow the band. as in boston, the first time the band played san francisco, they packed the DNA club. the band's manager, john paluska, made sure the right people were at that gig. the next time they returned they were booked at the great american music hall--a solid san fransisco venue. today, the band keeps in touch with its fans through a mailing list of more than 10,000 names. Phish was noticed by the record companies when music industry reports of ticket sales started publishing the reciepts from their shows, gordon says. "sue drew, the artist and recording person from elektra started to come and see us play in early 1991. then we started getting listed. they didn't know who we were." At first, phish members weren't sure if they should sign a record contract "all these people had warned us that major labels would take away all our money and integrity and everything," he says. "it hasn't been like that at all. they are great people at elektra. they don't care about money. they care about music too." The immediate benefits of signing have been plugging into a big distribution network for a picture of nectar, getting airplay, and working with other talented people, gordon said. elektra plans to release two of phish's self-released tapes later this year. looking ahead, the band plans to record its second album at burlington's white crow studio this summer. unlike their first album, which was pretty much self produced, gordon and anastasio hope elektra will bring in a well known producer. "like peter gabriel--but we won't get him," gordon says. "i like old genesis," anastasio adds.