Phish, le petit poisson qui se transforme peu à peu en dinosaure, à découvrir d'urgence...

Interview de Page McConnell / Rencontre avec Trey Anastasio, Londres, le 12 Juillet 1996, à 2h du matin (!)

(cette interview a eu lieu spontanément à 2:00, après le concert de Londres au Sheppherd's Bush Empire, alors que le groupe allait monter tranquillement dans le bus)

(Page) You're filming?
Yes.
OK.
Well... Since exactly how long you guys got together? I mean, you're playing since 84...? Your first gig...
83 was the first show. In the fall of 83, upstairs at Nectar's, but that was before I joined the band. Ijoined the band in 85. Hum... and they started with two guitar players. What happened to the second guitar player? He found God! [laughs] He became a born again christian and he thinks that we play the devil's music. [laughs, louder]
How did you start music?
I started playing piano when I was 4 years old. I started taking lessons and I just always knew that this is what I wanted to do and then in bands in high school... Then I ended up in this school in Vermont and Phish had already been together for 2 years and they came and played at my school and... I thought that I should join the band. So, I moved in to where they were living and... squeezeled my way in there, much to their chagrin, because there wasn't enthousiasm in there, excepted that it was a good idea for me to join the band, but I was here to convince them.
Did the magic happen right way?
I thought so. I mean a little bit. Yeah, I really do. I thought even... I mean it sounds strange but even before they played I kinda thought that I would like to spend a lot... just from meeting people I could get along with and then they played and I really enjoyed the music , and they were really into improvising and jamming... Hum...It worked out quite well because within a year the other guitar player left and then it was the 4 of us from then on. For one year, it was a 5-piece band.
I heard Mike Gordon saying that he's got his bedroom's influence from Phil Lesh?
Hum hum. Absolutely.
And this... I don't know, I heard Trey saying something about...
No, no. Noone denies the influence. The Grateful Dead is a very important band for us and for a lot of other bands. It's not that we deny their influence. But if there's a constant comparison all the time, I think that you're probably feeling... He was probably feeling frustration but you know, we've really all been to a lot of Dead shows and have all been influenced by the Dead, but lots of other bands also.
Do you feel this... bad?
No, but it is important because it is something that we had to cover, not so much the influence but the fact that we were always compared to thepm. And still today I do interviews, I do especially in here, we're doing a lot of press, because we're trying to get people interested. And not a single interview goes by where someone doesn't ask you about the Grateful Dead. But it's OK. Hey, it's understanable butwhen we were younger, I think it used to get us, you know... HEY! Now I understand, it makes sense and I respect them. We all respect them.
I listened to Mike, he said that you're practicing your jamming?
Yeah.
How much are you practicing?
We practice a good bit. Not so much for this tour, because we've been in the studio working on the new album since February. But usually before we go on tour, we spend anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months alone in bar in Vermont, practicing, and then we do different listening exercises. That's probably what he was talking about. Suppose the 4 of us are the band and I start to play a phrase, then you hear what I'm playing and you start to play a phrase that goes along with. And everybody box in together and there's this litlle pattern whatever it is. And then we all aknowledge that we're all listening to each other, and we've all achieved the pattern, we say "Hey!". And that signifies the next person starts. And now you. It's your pattern. We're all focusing on you and then we say "Hey!" again, it just keeps going around and we call that the "Hey!" exercise. It's one of the things we do. I mean that's avery simple exercise, but we practice listening to each other, trying different kinds of music, different kinds of groups, trying to offer suggestions to each other.
What about your old guitar player?
I didn't offend him. He wanted something else. It wasn't enough for him, he had a different idea of what he wanted to do so...
Can I ask one more question?
Yes, please.
What's your musical background, is it similar?
The 4 of us? yes and no.
I mean... Jazz?
The jazz? we all... the thing is maybe I sort of brought the jazz element to the band but we all listen to jazz. Now maybe Mike brought the bluegrass element to the band but we all listen to bluegrass. So, you know, we all played in bands in high school. We all had our own high school bands, we all had this idea pal, it was gonna be, you know, we've got a band. So we've got similar background, we appreciate each other. And that will conclude our interview. Cos I got to get on the bus. Thank you. Beautiful time to you. I hope you guys can come to the show tomorrow.
Thank you very much. [Page shakes hands and gets on the bus. We're introduced briefly to Trey by a (recent and) mutual friend]
(Trey) So... I'm glad you guys came. Are you going to Amsterdam or..?
Yes. We'll try to get in.
Good. Oh! you know, I think we have a guest list there. I can try to get you in. You got a pen?
Sure. [We write our names on a piece of paper and hand it to him, it's 2:30 A.M. in London, the Amsterdam show is at 20:00]
OK. It might be under one of your names. Alright guys. See you tomorrow in Amsterdam.

Bien sûr nous y étions. Le concert fut excellent. Merci Trey, tu as mis un nom sur le mot miracle ce jour-là.

• Phish - un peu d'histoire... : Biographie
• Musicalement : C'est quoi Phish?
• Le reste de la discographie Phish:
Phish : "The White tape" (1984-86)
Phish : "Junta" (1988)
Phish : "Livephish vol.09 - 8.26.89" (Live, 3 CDs)
Phish : "Lawn boy" (1991)
Phish : "A picture of Nectar" (1992)
Phish : "Rift" (1993)
Phish : "Livephish vol.07 - 8.14.93" (Live, 3 CDs)
The Dude of Life and Phish : "Crimes of the mind" (1994)
Phish : "Hoist" (1994)
Phish : "Livephish vol.10 - 6.22.94" (live, 3 CDs)
Phish : "Livephish vol.02 - 7.16.94" (Live, 3 CDs)
Phish : "A live one" (1995, double live album compilation)
Phish : "Stash" (1995, compilation pour l'Europe)
Phish : "Livephish vol.01 - 12.14.95" (Live, 2 CDs)
Phish : "Billy breathes" (1996)
Surrender To The Air : "Surrender To The Air" (1996)
Phish : "Livephish vol.12 - 8.13.96" (3 CD)
Phish : "Slip, stich and pass" (Live, 1 CD)
Phish : "Livephish vol.11 - 11.17.97" (Live, 3 CDs)
Phish : "The story of the ghost" (1998)
Trey Anastasio : "One man's trash" (1998)
Phish : "Livephish vol.06 - 11.27.98" (Live, 3 CDs)
Phish : "The Siket disc" (1999)
Phish : "Livephish vol.08 - 7.10.99" (Live, 2 CDs)
Phish : "Hampton comes alive" (Live, 6 CDs)
Jazz Mandolin Project : "Tour de flux" (1999)"
Phish : "Farmhouse" (2000)
Phish : "Livephish vol.04 - 6.14.00" (Live, 3 CDs)
Phish : "Livephish vol.05 - 7.8.00" (Live, 3 CDs)
Phish : "Livephish vol.03 - 9.14.00" (Live, 3 CDs)
Trey Anastasio & Tom Marshall : "Trampled by lambs and pecked by the dove" (2001)
Various Artists : "Sharin' in the groove - Celebrating the music of Phish" (2001)
Oysterhead : "The grand pecking order" (2001)
Trey Anastasio : "Trey Anastasio" (2002)
Vida Blue : "Vida blue" (2002)
• Phish inutile : quelques scans de CDs promos
• Phish Interview : Page McConnell + Trey Anastasio - Londres (1996)
• Nos tournées européennes de Phish et des scans de backstage passes!
• Phish - Liste de nos lives - bootlegs :
"Live at Zeleste, Barcelona, 09/07/98"
The List