Phish not mainstream May 1, 1992 - The Plain Dealer by Jane Scott Phish, booked at the Agora Thursday night, doesn't think it will go mainstream soon. "I'm afraid we're a bit weird for some people," said keyboard player Page McConnell. "And I don't see us changing. The music industry would have to change. Besides, we have fun and love what we do." Drummer Jon Fishman has fun playing the vacuum cleaner. "How he gets the tones he does I don't know," McConnell added, calling from a pay phone in Glendive, Mont. "Jon holds the tube of the vacuum up near his mouth and lets the air manipulate his lips. He gets some pretty good sounds, though. He uses an Electrolux." Some of the sounds have been Syd Barrett songs, ones such as "Bike," "Honey Love Ya" and "Terrapin" from Barrett's solo albums after he left Pink Floyd. "But one time Jon did a good Neil Diamond song, `Cracklin' Rosie,' " added McConnell. Fishman has been known to wear a wig and an orange dress with doughnut designs when he "vacuums." As for guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon, they even enter the stage on a slightly weird note. They're carried in on trampolines. "Each has a little round trampoline and jumps and down now and then," said McConnell. "They've fallen off the `tramps' at times, but they've never gotten hurt." What they do has sold out concerts in small halls throughout the country and brought them an Elektra Record contract. But it's not just the gimmicks that set Phish apart. It's also the unusual range of songs. For instance, the first track on their current "Phish . . . A Picture of Nectar" album is a loud jamming rocker, "Llama." Then comes "Eliza," a tightly structured 1 1/2-minute ballad with a waltz feel to it. Two songs later is a straight-ahead country song, "Poor Heart." "And then comes a jazz instrumental I wrote, `Magilla,' " McConnell said. "And there's `Tweezer,' with seven minutes of silly lyrics (`Look who's in the freezer, Uncle Ebeneezer'). But the crowd loves it." Other songs ring with calypso and reggae beats. The single, a rousing rocker,"Chalk Dust Torture," leaves intepretation up to the listener. Guitarist Anastasio writes most of the lyrics. McConnell said he never did find out what that song is all about. However, there's evidence that the band is going to going to be more focused in the future, he said. "Our new material is more about one subject. We don't have a title for it yet but expect the record will be out by the first of the year." Fans can expect a barbershop quartet song Thursday if Peabody's the Agora quiets down enough. Naturally Phish can't perform such a song in an ordinary bar setting, McConnell said. Phish started in campus bars, back at the University of Vermont in Burlington. Anastasio, Gordon, Fishman and a former guitarist, Jeff Holtsworth, were students there. McConnell, son of a pediatrician, met Phish when he booked bands for a springfest at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt. "I loved the way they improvised, right on stage. I could hear spaces in their songs where a keyboard would fit in," he said. First he hooked two of the Phish - Gordon and Anastasio. Today the Phish - loosely named after drummer Fishman - not only has 14,000 fans on its newsletter list, but also a Phish hot line (617-923-4939 ) and a Phish Net, a computerized system whereby fans can communicate with each other. "We're playing in a lot of smaller markets now, we're writing our own material and enjoying our life. We're not pushing to play arenas," said McConnell. A minority opinion comes from former guitarist Holtsworth, who doesn't attend Phish concerts. He joined Jimmy Swaggart's church and considers Phish music sinful, McConnell said. Copyright © 1992 The Plain Dealer