Phish Returns With Fresh Approach December 21, 2002 - Billboard Magazine by Jonathan Cohen Unusually Off-The-Cuff Studio Set Sparks Band's Reunion After Nearly Two-Year Hiatus The potency of the creative partnership enjoyed by the four members of Phish is well-documented via the group's nine Elektra studio albums and improvisation-heavy live shows. But when the eclectic Vermont combo regrouped in September after a nearly two-year hiatus, the idea of quickly recording a studio album of entirely new material was by no means a certainty. So after working up 22 fresh songs in just shy of two weeks of rehearsal at vocalist/guitarist Trey Anastasio's Vermont studio, the group opted to record the material right then and make a decision about its future at a later date. That later date wound up being only a matter of days. At first, a variety of ideas were considered, including releasing select cuts on the Internet after the new year. But with its members so enthused with the results, Phish selected 12 of its favorites for Round Room, which Elektra released Dec. 10. This off-the-cuff approach stands in marked contrast to the group's usual modus operandi in the studio, which normally involves months of prolonged recording and has often failed to capture Phish's trademark onstage magic. "In a bunch of cases, these are first takes," bassist Mike Gordon admits. "In other cases we may have done a song two or three times, but we didn't really think we were putting these out, so we didn't get too exhaustive." MORE SOUL, MORE JAMMING Round Room is quite unlike any prior Phish studio offering, according to keyboardist Page McConnell. "It's probably the longest single album we have ever made," he says. "Yes, there is more soulfulness, but there is also way more jamming than on any other Phish album. I think it runs the gamut and is kind of like when you see us in concert. We don't just play one long jam after another." The set opens with "Pebbles and Marbles," the first of three songs that push the 10-minute barrier. Elsewhere, the band dabbles in more traditional fare with the jazzy "Anything but Me" and "All of These Dreams." Phish's humor also shines on "Mexican Cousin" and "Mock Song," the latter of which retaining lyrical flubs Gordon made at the microphone during recording. Elektra VP of marketing Dane Venable admits the sudden completion of Round Room presented some logistical issues on the promotion side, but he anticipates the set will serve as an excellent setup for Phish's long-awaited comeback concerts, including a Dec. 31 show at New York's Madison Square Garden. "When is there a normal setup for a Phish album? That's an oxymoron," Venable jokes. The label, in tandem with Phish manager John Paluska, nevertheless managed to score short-notice bookings on Saturday Night Live (Saturday [14]) and Late Show With David Letterman (Thursday [19]), as well as the band's first Rolling Stone cover story. Paluska notes, "These big things make the fairly tight time window seem less of an issue because we got what we wanted." Venable says the fact that Phish remained visible during its hiatus with an ongoing series of live concert releases, as well as various side projects (Oysterhead, Vida Blue, Pork Tornado), bodes well for the new album's fortune. "We're cognizant that we want the core, faithful Phish fan to be back in business with us immediately. They are our bread and butter for sure." Fans got their first taste of Round Room Nov. 23 when "Walls of the Cave" went up for streaming via America Online's "First Listen" initiative. In a separate promotion with Launch and Target, 1 million consumers in Target's database were e-mailed a secure download of album cut "46 Days" and a clip from the Phish Live in Vegas DVD. "This is a whole new area for us," Venable says of dealing with mainstream rack retailers. "Target has increased its order significantly for this run." Independent retail and media outlets, which have traditionally been crucial Phish supporters, were targeted Dec. 11-12 with full-page ads "in about a dozen national alternative weeklies" touting the new album and the Saturday (14) ticket on-sales for the band's February 2003 U.S. tour. That 12-date trek, booked by Chip Hooper at Monterey Peninsula Artists, kicks off Feb. 14 in Los Angeles. Phish's 2000 tour grossed $36 million over 54 shows. A SUMMER TOUR, AND BEYOND Looking ahead, Paluska says Phish plans to be active throughout 2003 but that the group is taking one step at a time. "We're most certainly going to be performing this summer, mostly on the amphitheater circuit all over the country," he says. "There is a possibility of doing one of our big special events [such as the blowout millennium concert in Big Cypress, Fla.]. It is likely we'll tour more in the fall, but we don't have anything definitive. And if anything happens between March 1 and the summer tour, it won't be of any significant duration." For McConnell, it's all about continuing to reconnect with the intuitive interplay he shares with Anastasio, Gordon, and drummer Jon Fishman. "When we hit the record button, turned the lights off, shut our eyes, and all of the sudden were playing again, that was incredibly special," he says. "We caught this album on tape at a time when the material was so fresh we hardly knew it." Article © 2002 Billboard