April

• Phish:

  Question #1: How are your rehearsals conducted? Do you write any of those jams on paper? For example: the jam in "Fluffhead," the beginning to "You Enjoy Myself," and also the jam in "Divided Sky."
  
  Question #2: How much formal training did each band member have in music theory, history, etc.? And how much of this knowledge is actually used when the songs are being written?

  Dasher Egger Towson, MD
  Dasher:

  Let me start by addressing the "formal training" question. What do you call a guy who hangs around with musicians - a drummer - get the picture? No, seriously though, it all started with this one. How do you get a guitarist to turn down his volume? Put a chart in front of him. Well, Fish and I couldn't live with that, so we went to Goddard to be with Page (who got paid a hundred bucks for recruiting us). Imagine our shock and dismay when we realized that Goddard only had one music class - Group dynamics: explaining the nuances of volume. Luckily we had nothing but time, and as I headed out to Middlebury to study composition with Ernie Stires, Fish and Page retreated to the Design Center and Hay Barn to practice. Page worked with Lar Duggan, a pianist from Burlington. Mike was studying Film and Communications at UVM (before going to Goddard I was a music major at UVM).
  
  Band practice has always been a lot of fun. We usually work on new stuff for a while and sometimes spend time doing listening exercises and jamming exercises. We might each play a phrase and take turns imitating it, or we might focus on supporting Page for a set amount of time, etc.
  
  As far as writing things out is concerned, it varies. "Foam", "Split Open and Melt", "Eliza", and "The Asse Festival" are examples of tunes that are totally written out ("Fluffhead", "You Enjoy Myself", and "Divided Sky" all have small written out sections as well as a number of "worked out" sections). I work at the piano and write the bass, piano, guitar, horns, and sometimes drum parts. Often songs have written sections and improvised sections (most of the above mentioned songs have a solo section where we all improvise over set chord changes). The key is variety - we feel that the best method is to have the tools at your fingertips if you need them. If writing something out is the only practical way of expressing an idea, then it should be written out (all four of us are competent readers). One funny thing is that Page always seems to get the hardest parts. Mike and I each wrote some brutal parts for the poor guy over this last vacation ("Mound" by Mike, and "All Things Reconsidered" by myself). He doesn't even flinch, though - amazing.
  
  Really though, we enjoy playing all kinds of music, and we do whatever work needs to be done to be able to get up on stage and have a good time. Writing stuff out is one small piece to the puzzle - listening and learning the ins and outs of various traditions (bluegrass, jazz, Afro-Cuban, etc.) is another. You learn as much as you can from as many sources as possible, some "formal," some "informal." But the goal is always the same, to get up on stage and have a good time with your fellow musicians and audience. -- Trey
• Phish:

  In the song "You Enjoy Myself," are you saying - will this remain a mystery forever?

  Chuck Stevens, Arcata CA
  Chuck:

  What we are saying is "Wasohbf woeh ejwro jeeef je ei Fndsbid." -- Mike
• Phish:

  "Faht" is one of the greatest Phish tunes I've ever heard. Does Jon play guitar?

  Andy from California
  Ah Andy:

  So glad you asked about "Faht". Yes, I did play the guitar. It is my special half size acoustic I got a few years back while hitchhiking through Glennallen, Alaska. It's a beater and I've never been able to master more than three strings at a time. The melody is plucked with my thumb and first two fingers on three strings and let me tell you it's a joy to play. I also played the incredible piano part as well by marking the keys I wanted with red tape. As long as I'm clueing you in to the technical wizardry behind my multi-instrumental accomplishments on "Faht" I should mention that all the sound effects - wind, birds, sea, jungle sounds, screaming monkey, traffic noise, truck and boat horns - were all produced by simply cupping my left hand into my right armpit and moving my hand around in different ways to produce the varying nuances. Normally when one does this they can only produce the sound of flatulation or "Faht". Hence the title, which is meant to be a humorous understatement pertaining to the sound one normally gets when squishing the hand in the armpit. Incidentally, the original title for the song was "Windham Hell," but because the management of Windham Hill Records lacked a sense of humor and I was able to display such a remarkable ability with the old hand in the armpit technique, we found "Faht" to be a suitable alternative. -- Fish
• Phish:

  I heard Fishman was raised by wolves and was taught music by a Martian cleaning lady. Is this true?

  Mike Wright New York
  Well Mike:

  I think you've let your imagination run a little wild. But as always, there's some truth in every rumor. Of course, Jon wasn't raised by wolves, though as a child he always wanted a wolf for a pet. As a boy scout, he earned a merit badge for an essay about wolf migration patterns. His studies at Goddard College under the direction of Charles Woodard were thorough and intensive. His senior thesis, the culmination of four years work, "The Plight of the Silver Wolf," was almost published in both the Audubon Society and the Sierra Club monthly newsletter. Look for his article in the August National Geographic, "The Lone Wolf: Lost Lobos?" -- Page
• Phish:

  Hey. I wanted to say you played great in Portsmouth. Now: why I am writing you is to get some chords to either "Bouncing Around the Room" or "Cavern" for my guitar

  Joey Timko, age 12
  Joey:

  Here are the chords to "Bouncing." A slash means that two chords are played in that measure:
  
  vse 1: G/D A/D G/D A D A G D A C G D A C G/A
  vse 2: G/D A/D G/D A D A G D A C G D A C G C/G/A
  chorus: D A C G D A C G D A C G...
  (all the chords are major chords)
  
  Good luck.
  -Mike
• Phish:

  I was listening to tapes of Amy's Farm... I heard the announcement about how if you lost anything, check at the soundboard... I must not have heard that because I did lose something, my glasses. So if anyone knows if glasses were found...

  Your Friend, Derek
  Derek:

  I'm sorry, but there is no sign of your glasses anywhere. If we find them, God knows, they're yours and we'll send them.
  --Mike