Phish Phace April 01, 1992 - Musician Magazine by Mac Randall You may have heard wild rumors about Phish. Some are true; guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon really do bounce on trampolines while playing live, and drummer Jonathan Fishman actually does a vacuum cleaner solo. But if you heard they were a Deadhead band, you heard wrong. Sure, the Vermont quartet's drawn a faithful tie-deyed crowd ever since its formation in 1983, but its music can't be pigeonholed. It's an eclectic mix of styles served up with chops galore and a dollop of goofy humor. Phish (named after Fishman; "the 'ph' sounded like an airplane taking off," says Anastasio) was your average two-guitar college rock band until the second guitarist got religion and left. The group picked up keyboardist Page McConnell and, over six years and two albums, gathered a big cult following. Last year, they signed with Elektra. Their major-label debut, A Picture of Nectar, shows off their funky side and dabbles in jazz -- McConnell's "Magilla" sounds like a lost number from the Monk book. Though Phish jams a lot, much of its material is thoroughly composed. Anastasio, a former music major, often charts out his tunes before presenting them to the others. "I'm a pencil-and-paper guy; pencil's important 'cause you've gotta erase a lot," he explains. This ambitious, resolutely non-commercial music found listeners despite the odds, and the majors came running: an encouraging story. But why the trampolines? "I was actually the one who bought them," admits McConnell, "though I don't bounce onstage. It's a great visual thing, and the audience gets involved. We do it in two songs; the crowd knows they're the trampoline songs." Is "Bouncing Around the Room" one of them? "No," McConnell chuckles. Leave it to these guys not to do the obvious.