The Phish Archive: ON A MISSION "We were the only act in there that wasn't huge. We didn't sell that many records but they put us in there with Madonna. We were voted one of the best albums by "CD Review" so, who's to say? 'One man's trash is another man's treasure.' Maybe that will be the title of our next album." - Trey Anastasio, October 1991 Another Phish Site? Not exactly. A site about Phish, yes, but the focus is not breaking news, setlists, or band bio's. We're lucky enough to have plenty of fantastic sites that provide information such as that. One word -- "Phishtory". Ok, two words -- "Media & Phishtory." Huh? I first began this project six years ago, as a means of sanity, to get through a high-school English class. I was given an assignment -- write a 15 page paper on any topic of my choosing. At that time, there were probably only two topics on this planet that would be able to hold my interest for that long, The Simpsons or Phish, I decided to focused entirely on one of them. The topic ended up being Phish. In doing my initial research, I was faced with the daunting task of locating specific articles and interviews about the band, to help argue my points. I spent hours and hours wading through hundreds of web sites (coming across way too many broken and missing links), through my own personal filing cabinets, attempting to locate specific Phish interviews and articles. It was then that I decided that I was going to embark on a project that would house all of the Phish articles, interviews, and reviews known to man in one site, for easy searching and maneuvering. Being an archivist by nature, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore my passion. Yes, this site excites the hell out of me, and I am not afraid to admit it (embarassed, maybe, afraid? Never!) I have been archiving every single printed Phish related article I've come across since that time, and have dug deep into the archives of Phishtory to locate lost pieces. So far, I have been able to archive over one thousand articles. It's a HUGE database. The Phish Archive is currently the LARGEST Archive of Phish Articles, Transcripts, Interviews, and Reviews available online. Many phan sites have links from old articles and interviews, but because newspapers and magazine sites are constantly changing the locations of the pieces, about 90% of the links are no longer active. On this site, all articles were individually archived, so they are always available for viewing. If a link to a specific article is still current and working, the site will, of course, link directly to it. There are interviews, articles, show reviews (published reviews only; the Phish.Net has a spectacular collection of fan-written reviews), reviews for every album released (Phish and member side-projects), book reviews (The Phish Book, Companion, etc), TV Transcripts from interviews, Radio Transcripts, and permissions to use them for educational purposes. The articles range from 1987 to the current month. The content includes features on the entire band, specific members, and right down to features about the crew, and Dionysian employees. The Phish Archive is a strictly non-commercial, fan created and operated site for educational purposes. In getting this site launched, I have obtained an official Legal Licensing agreement from Phish, Inc., through the help of only Kevin Shapiro. Dionysian Guru Jason Colton has also played an essential role in keeping this site afloat through his support alone. Not many fans are able to say that they've experience direct involvement and support from a band's management - and I'm honored to be able to be a part of a community that is able to. The official Phish Website can be found at www.phish.com. This site complies with Phish's Fan Site Statement of Compliance If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or just feel like saying 'hey', please don't hesitate to get in touch. I'd love to hear what you have to say. Also, please be sure to check out the Archives Thank You page, as this really is a community effort. Lastly, this site was created out of eons of love and respect for four men on this planet, who share their talent and creativity with us every day. Turky, (I actually meant to type Truly, but for some reason typed this. Nevertheless, I am leaving it). - JM ("FH")