This remnant will be replaced soon. The FAQ is back, with a new design! What is Phish? In Brief: Phish is a Burlington, VT-based quartet (guitar, bass, keys, drums) known for intensive composition (in over 200 original tunes) and extensive improvisation (also including some 250 or more cover songs, and through over 1000 live performances). The band has been around since October 1983, having met in college in Vermont, and has attracted a cultish following of phans. Genre? New! Their style is eclectic, with originals covering every base -- fusion-funk-blues-and-classical-inspired psychedelic rock, swing and jazz (from covers such as "The 'A' Train" to originals such as "Magilla"), rock (from covers such as "Highway to Hell" to originals like "Lucy with a Lumpy Face"), bluegrass (from traditionals such as "Paul and Silas" to originals such as "Poor Heart", to the 10-31-94 cover of "Don't Pass Me By"), showtunes (including "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", both with the Dave Matthews Band and with Page on the theremin), odd 1980s pop (like "Melt the Guns"), crooners (from the original "Lawnboy" to the 12/31/97 cover of Sinatra's "New York, New York"), punk ("Anarchy"), hardcore ("BBFCFM", or listen to the 5/8/89 "I Didn't Know"), heavy-metal (e.g. 2-21-97 Wilson), reggae ("Makisupa Policeman", "Yamar", and the 4-16-92 NICU or 11-19-92 "Lengthwise"), fugues, and more -- and boldly crossing the lines between them, creating a new genre: Phish! Live performances are known for quick song shifts, extended jams, beautiful solos, fabulous orchestration, eye-popping improvisation, & surprise fun galore for all. Well, the funny thing about styles is that we used to dabble in a lot of different bags. I think as we matured a bit, there was an effort to try to be a rock band and not be something we're not. We wanted to get better at one thing rather than trying to do a million different things, like jazz, or bluegrass, or other things we have tackled. - Mike, in Billboard, 12/21/02 Who's Who? If you're trying to figure out which is which (e.g. in a photo), think about Jim Henson's (may he rest in peace) Muppets: Trey has been likened to Kermit (though oft with facial hair), Page to Fozzie (go figger), Jon to Animal (for hair, drums, voice, etc), and Mike to Sam the Eagle (various reasons, none clear.) There have even been (unauthorized, uncondoned; potentially illegal) t-shirts with their four faces presented as those four Muppets. Others, too? There have been irregular additions of horn players (individually, as a trio, and in larger groups) as well as the Dude of Life, Tom Marshall, Sofi Dillof (now Sofi D. McConnell), relatives (esp. parents & grandparents) of the band, and other guests. (See also HPB and the stories File.) Additionally, Phish has appeared on gig billings with other acts on a number of occasions, and the individual members of Phish have appeared as guests with other acts. Moreover, the band members have a number of side projects, both musical and nonmusical. See also: interviews, history. And, if you've time to spend, Shawn McKenzie presented a talk, "Something Phishy in Popular Music", at the 5th annual meeting of the Far West and American Popular Culture associations on 1/23/93 in Las Vegas Nevada that may be helpful. "Phish offers something rare in pop: a long, complex, and completely different show every night. Musically competent without fetishizing technique, Phish embraces a broad spectrum of rock, jazz, bluegrass, twentieth century compositional techniques, blissful extended jams, African groove experiments, psychedelic game playing, and absolutely Dionysian moments of free-form guitar ecstasy." -- Richard Gehr, Village Voice, 5/16/95 This page last updated January 26, 2007. All contents © 1992-2007 Ellis Godard. All rights reserved.