Phish Returning To Madison October 19, 1995 - Wisconsin State Journal By Natasha Kassulke Phish bassist Mike Gordon loves running. He says it's the direction, not the speed, that makes it worthwhile. ''Running is a model for what could happen any night at a concert,'' Gordon says from his Dallas hotel room. ''I see a bush and I think that I'll jump over it and take a different path. Then I pick up running on the other side and it's liberating.'' Like running, concerts free him from the usual constraints of music. Phish shows have become a playground experience for the band and fans. Gordon and lead singer-guitarist Trey Anastasio used to perform trampoline stunts while playing. Drummer Jon Fishman has been known to play a vacuum cleaner solo while wearing goggles and house dresses -- and sometimes nothing at all. Their latest toy is a chess set, and the band plays a match against Phishheads at each concert. The music is just as unique as the show. It's a fusion of rock, jazz, funk, bluegrass and vacuum cleaner noises. Their music has been inspired by Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Santana and drummer Jon Fishman's mother (who once tried to vacuum the profanities out of her son's mouth). The idiosyncratic sound is selling. In fact, Phish's popularity has mushroomed to the point that they have been called the new Grateful Dead. ''We were inspired by the Dead and it would be silly not to admit that,'' Gordon says. ''We all went to Grateful Dead concerts.'' Gordon also says the band is flattered by the comparisons to the Dead and sees similarities between the two in their philosophies and improvisational jamming. ''We're not going to ever replace the Grateful Dead,'' Gordon says. ''But like the Grateful Dead, we love to jam, and jamming is the ideal meditation for me.'' Gordon adds that he was saddened by Jerry Garcia's death and wishes that they could have met. ''But we are on our own path,'' he says. ''We could never continue Jerry's legacy. He was unique, and what he did was truly American. It was a melting pot of traditional American music.'' Unlike the Dead, Phish has remained a mostly faceless band. Phish formed on Oct. 30, 1983, at the University of Vermont, where most of the present members were in college. Gordon says the name ''Fish'' came to the band while sitting around in a dorm room. It was changed to Phish as a marketing gimmick. Phish then played in bars and concert halls for five years before releasing its first album, ''Junta,'' in 1988. This year the band released a live CD package, ''A Live One,'' which includes more than 125 minutes of music and a booklet of concert photos. In 1994 they produced their first -- and only -- MTV video for ''Down with Disease'' (from ''Hoist'' 1994). But fans were afraid the video would make Phish a sellout to MTV. ''That video pushed us away from MTV,'' Gordon says. ''It didn't get played much, and we decided that we didn't want to do any more videos.'' Now Gordon is looking forward to coming back to Madison. It reminds him a lot of home. ''Madison has lakes, hippies, progressive thinkers and fun,'' he says. ''I've tried out flotation tanks there and we've made a lot of friends in Madison.'' Gordon still hears from Elody Samuelson, a bartender at the Anchor Inn, who was one of the first to interview the band in Madison years ago. Jason Colton, a member of Phish's management staff, was a student at UW-Madison and helped bring Phish to the Memorial Union and Barrymore Theatre before being recruited to the crew. And that's how the Phish phenomenon happened. It was slow at first and then built up steam around the world, with Phish plucking fans from their day jobs. Their first fan -- the only one to show at their first show 12 years ago -- monitors the band's electronic contact. Phish can be reached on the Internet at info@phishnet. Last year Phishnet boasted more than 40,000 subscribers. More than 80,000 people subscribe to the band's newsletter. ''We love to share our spirit with the audience,'' Gordon says. ''We treat them like peers, and the experiences we share are more adventure than entertainment.'' *********** Phish, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dane County Coliseum; $ 19 plus service charges. 255-4646.