July

• Dear Trey:

  I was just sitting in my room reading a SURFER magazine. It was an old issue on California, and I saw a hot surf spot called the Wedge. I also remember you being in California and doing some surfing. Is the song The Wedge about this beach in Cali?

  Just wonderin', George D.
  George::

  While recording Hoist in L.A., some friends brought me to the Wedge for a morning of winter surfing. The Wedge is notorious for "closing out," and on this particular day the waves were doing just that: crashing dangerously over in one giant wall of water as opposed to an angled curl to the left or right. As I paddled out, a particularly big set came in and I was hit square on the back by a wave that the locals later described as a six to seven footer. I can honestly say that I thought I was a dead man. The force of the wave held me under for what seemed like an eternity...tumbling around in the washing machine...no idea which way was up. Everytime I thought I was about to come up for a breath, it would flip me over and smash me back to the bottom. My lungs were burning...screaming for air. Nothing in my life has compared to that feeling, an insignificant speck in that huge powerful Pacific Ocean that could crush me like a bug at any second if she wanted to.
  
  When I got to the shore, I fell to my knees and kissed the sand, grateful to be alive. In my head, a song began to take form. Unfortunately that song was "Rio" by Duran Duran. It was then that I lost my lunch. The answer to your question is no.
  
  - Trey
• Hi guys:

  I have a question regarding the upcoming live album. How do you choose which versions of songs to release? What qualities do you look for? Did you listen to tapes or just memories of how the song felt as you played it? I would greatly appreciate a response.

  Take care,Ivan Troy
  Dear Ivan::

  During the fall tour, each band member kept a journal of thoughts. Most of the journals, I might add, were black and hard-bound, though I often spoke into a Voice Organizer. If we liked certain sets, songs, or jams in particular, we wrote notes to remember. Rather than looking for specific songs or qualities, we just notated feelings about our experiences ["I felt blue inside. My heart cried while my jowls screamed with laughter"]. In January, we compared notes, and when there was some consensus, we told "Shelly", and she made tapes for each of us (she did a great job).
  
  For two months, we listened to hundreds of hours of music. We listened in cars, at home and in the woods with a Walkman. One time, as an experiment, I listened to a tape while lying on the iced meniscus of a small stream, in case the anticipation of breakage would affect the sound of the music. It was an interesting process for all of us. We found that our favorite music on tape was somewhat different from our favorite memories. For example, we may have had fond memories of Spartansburg or "Nashville Bowie and The Horse from East Lansing," but our ears perked up to crap from Bangor and Santa Monica. Though we made an effort to have more unreleased than recently released material, song selection was less important than how the selections moved us. Often we agreed, and sometimes we had to fight it out and convince each other to relisten until the votes were unanimous. I said, "The other version is more lively," and Trey said, "Yeah, but I like this one because we were tired and mad at the time, and it sounds darker." One time, I thought a song sounded like pig bile while Fish was swimming in heaven. Rather than pull him into my pig bile, I dared climb up to his heaven. That was Hood. When we had it down to 3 1/2 cassettes, the four of us drove through Vermont farmland listening. We saw a square house at lakeside, we shared stuffed mushroom caps at a restaurant, and drove on saying, "Yes, Oh no," or "This song makes me want to punch." Finally, we asked people on the Phish.net to vote on their first choices, and we ended up using one or two of them. Lo and behold, it was time for "Jason" to send us 3,247 tour photos for inspection. They would be arranged by "Carol" into a 48 page CD booklet, and shoved into an environmentally appropriate cluster. We saw Marshall with a birthday hat, Fishman in an acrobat act, Gactin by has rack, and Bonnie yacking with tact. What title would front this mess? Tweezer Alive? Spontaneous Wu? Maggie's Revenge [band suspended with Hoist horse below]? The Glory of Rock Part II? Bonnie?
  
  Mike
• Dear Phish:

  Was the studio version of "Antelope" on Lawn Boy recorded in one take or were there overdubs? There is money riding on this one, but not much. About $.25

  Thanks, Insane Wayne Lane
  Insane::

  The music was all one take. The vocals and some sound effects in the beginning were overdubbed.
  
  - Trey
• Dear Phish:

  What are you saying in "You Enjoy Myself?" It sounds like "Won't you fisces drive me to felexic."

  Kyle
  Dear Kyle::

  That's an interesting question - no one's thought to ask that before. What we actually say is, "Wachusett Fiji is sun-hives to floor antsy."
  
  - Mike