Netting answers from Anastasio August 8, 2004 - Boston Globe By Steve Morse Phish singer-guitarist Trey Anastasio shares his thoughts on the band's long run, impending breakup, and climactic farewell at the Coventry festival in Vermont. Q. How do you feel about the breakup? A. It doesn't feel like quitting or leaving. It feels like forward motion. . . . And it has made us inject a real urgency into these last shows. Q. How hard is it to sum up what's going on? Phish has been an amazing oasis of learning. I learned so much from these guys. The whole thing was incredible and went by so fast, but this is the inevitable conclusion. We can't become a big corporation that plods around the country. It would be easy to keep playing arena shows and take the money. Q. Is Phish going to regroup later and do more farewell shows than Cher? No, we're not going to do that. The Police didn't do that, and neither did the Clash. I'm not the kind of person who looks backward. Life is too short. . . . What I'd really like is more flexibility. I'd like to just be able to roll where the rolling takes me. And that's the problem right there [with the Phish situation]. When you have a lot of people in a giant organization, that puts the clamps on creativity. . . . Plus, it's not human to stay in one place. When you're 40, you're probably in a different place than you were at 18. Q. Did you propose the breakup? A. I pretty much proposed it, yeah. And then everybody had their own thoughts. I called a meeting and sat everyone down at a table and said something like "I don't think I can do this anymore." That was about a week or two before I put [a posting announcing the breakup] on the Internet. But the problem was that people started talking and then everybody who works for us went, "Am I out of a job here?" And we didn't think it was fair for Phish fans to be hearing this and not be sure. Q. So you felt you had to do something? A. That's always been my role in Phish. . . . I have always, since the beginning, decided what song we were going to play next, and what stage, and what time band practice was going to be. A lot of stuff like that. It's always been my role. So it wasn't that surprising. And [Phish keyboardist] Page [McConnell] said something like, "You always made the right decision, right from the beginning. I appreciate that -- and I was also thinking the same thing [about the breakup]. I'm glad you're the one to say it." Or something like that. Q. Have you seen the Metallica documentary "Some Kind of Monster"? They hire a therapist for $40,000 a month. A. That could be my new job -- a Metallica therapist! Tell them, having been in a band, I could really give them some advice. And I'll take the $40,000 a month, because I'm unemployed now. Q. Phish never thought of group therapy? A. No, not at all. And I have to tell you that it's very important for me to let people know how much I have appreciated Phish, and how lucky I've been. We had the greatest situation that you could possibly imagine as a musician. It just was unheard of. And we had the best audience. . . . But why is it that some people can't move on with their lives and embrace change? I don't know, but I think it has something to do with the level to which rock stars don't have a care in the world, and you can float around with everything figured out for you. And you can just fall into this mindset where all the decisions are made for you, and on you go. And that just seems like the last thing I would want in my life. Q. How much was this decision motivated by your having two young daughters? A. Of course it has everything to do with the kids. For that reason, though, it's not like the kids don't want me playing music or that I should suddenly not have a life. I do want to have a life. . . . I want to have an ever-changing, risky, scary life where I always feel like I'm a student. And I want to wake up in the morning and feel vibrant. And by being vibrant and healthy, you're giving your kids the greatest example you could possibly give them. Q. So you'll play more with your solo band? A. Oh yeah. Q. And you might do some [studio] sessions and just keep your options open? A. I might just end up in the where-are-they-now bin, for all I know. I don't know what's going to happen. I might be trying to get in backstage at Page's concert at Madison Square Garden and they'll say, "Who are you?" And, of course, I could completely lose my mind. I could wake up the day after Coventry and say, "I must be the biggest idiot who has ever walked the planet." And I'll be calling those guys and begging them to get back together. "What I have done?" Hey, the thought has crossed my mind. Article Copyright © 2004 Boston Globe