i wrote a paper on phish.

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

it was free topic choice, so i did it on phish just for shits and giggles.

Phishheads

The Empowering Nature of Subcultures

For almost twenty years an American rock band known as Phish was a touring phenomenon. Fuelled by a rabid fan ready to follow them anywhere, the music of this band attracted young music lovers the world over. Travelling from city to city, the followers of the band forged their own subculture. Complete with organizations, trends, fads, and a common language, Phish fans shared more than just a common appreciation for music; they shared a lifestyle. However, Phish culture was not singular in nature. Nor was it cut off from the American culture of which it was apart of. The following that this band created drew directly from American culture through horizontal intertextuality. Incorporating and morphing the American culture and media from which they sprung, “Phisheads†empowered themselves with various communication mediums to thrive and expand.

No matter how prolific this subculture might be, much like Bahktin’s idea of the Carnivalesque, members of this subculture live the majority of their lives outside it. Although Phish fandom may be a lifestyle, it is still a leisure activity. Its isolation from, but simultaneous incorporation of, popular culture is why Phish is a perfect candidate for examining Silverstone’s “mechanisms of engagementâ€. By examining Silverstone’s idea of play and performance, we will gain an understanding of the impact this subculture has on its members.

Much like Bakhtin notion of the “Carnivalesqueâ€, Phish’s essence required there be no separation between performer and participants (Bakhtin, 250). The concert experience was unlike any other. The gathering would draw tens of thousands of people from all over America. Since everyone was from difference places, they were able to enter with a clean slate. Furthermore, the concert itself was unlike any other touring act at the time. Each show would be a continuation of the other. Rabid fans would keep tabs on performances, sell goods outside shows, and follow the band on full summer tours. The group’s tours, concerts and festivals created the kind of environment described by Bakhtin. People would “live in it†(Bakhtin, 251). Silverstone’s concept of “play†applies, but is enhanced drastically. Unlike a sport or game, the Phish touring lifestyle required an entirely different shift in lifestyle for a substantial amount of time. Therefore, it would call for an altogether new performance. Similarly, Bakhtin refers to this altering of performance as a “new mode of interrelationship between individuals (Bakhtin, 251).

Although living within the Phish lifestyle requires that people alter their everyday performance, this performance is limited. Silverstone writes that everyones performance is entrenched with boundaries that shape their day to day engagements (Silverstone, 70). Within Phish culture, these everyday performative boundaries still remain, but are allowed to be pushed to their limit. The kind of environment created at concerts is very attune with escapism. Fans are encouraged to push their limits and briefly escape from their performative boundaries. A kind of group consciousness is achieved where people’s societal reservations are shed. The widespread use of psychedelic drugs only enhanced this process. Brief escape however, does not necessarily mean a change of performance all together. It is for this reason that even the most inclusive, all encompassing kind of games do not posses the power to break performative boundaries. Bahktin’s Carnival is this kind of all encompassing experience, much like the Phish touring lifestyle. He too stipulates that persons within the Carnival are allowed to alter their day to day experience, but never enter the realm of taboo (Bahtin, 251).

For an example, we turn to the phenomenon of drug use occurring at Phish gatherings. An individual who’s boundaries allow them to experiment with drugs will no doubt partake in this kind of activity while on tour with Phish. However, if a person’s boundaries do not allow for drug use, this will remain the case. Even in an environment where drug use is widespread, and widely encouraged, the individual will still stick with their own boundary. However, because Phish culture is an all encompassing game where the nature of the game is to shed the boundaries of one’s performance, an interesting phenomenon does occur. An individual who normally would not partake in any kind of drug use, might in fact indulge while inside the world of the game. This break of boundary however, is still within the nature of their own performance. All this boundary simply required was the proper environment until it was pushed to limit of breakage. The same kind of breakage can be seen in other lifestyle altering experiences; University, for example. Furthermore, any kind of break would, in turn, become the performance itself. Bakhtin writes “the laws, prohibition and restriction that determine the structure and order of the ordinary are suspended†(Bakhtin, 251). Phish allows for this phenomenon to occur; it is the ultimate game, it is the Carnivalesque. Only in this kind of world, a world Bahktin refers to as “a world turned inside outâ€, can performance be stretched to the limit and be shaped into something new.

This ability to inspire the change of performance is what makes subcultures like Phish such a powerful culture force. In his study of popular culture, MacCabe writes cultural products are most effective when they break the national grid (MacCabe, 9). He backs this theory giving reference to Motown, The Beatles, Joyce’s Ulysses. All of which have all had their own sphere of cultural proliferation. Here, MacCabe suggests that in the study of popular culture, we must look at the “fault-lines opened up by these cultural products†(MacCabe, 9). Phish is a subculture that has clearly broken the national grid. Bringing about people from all walks of life, Phish has not only brought them to one cultural core, but has also implemented various communication mediums to keep them together. Internet message forums truly brought Phish culture to the fore. By staying in touch through various interest groups, then Phish lifestyle no longer became a summer excursion. Daily, members of the community are able to keep in touch, swap ideas, and motivate new trends. If influence is gained by breaking the national grid, then the internet has provided the hardware for doing just that. The Phish community is a prime example of the internet’s ability to empower subcultures to grow and thrive on a national level. At a Phish concert, everyone in attendance is a Phishhead. With the internet, these Phisheads always have a place to remain Phisheads.

This ability to escape the popular culture of one’s existence into the realm of subculture is extremely empowering. Adorno theorized that the culture industry had effectively integrated itself with society and created mass consumption to organize “free†time (Bernstein, 4). In this instance, Adonro is presenting popular culture as a negative. Capitalist ideals are fused with mass entertainment within society to create an ever consuming culture. From this point of view, Silverstone’s concept of play is no longer about personal growth or escaping boundaries. It is merely about consumption. As Berstein writes, it provides “easy amusement from the relief from labourâ€. This would once again support the notion that our performance is not altered by our play. However, the play of Phish culture is an inherently different kind of game. It is the all encompassing game of Bakhtin’s “carnival†and therefore has a much deeper power over its participants. The power of subcultures like Phish is they require a different kind of performance. A performance that differentiates itself from Adorno’s culture industry. It is for this reason that subcultures are a significant in their ability to alter one’s existence.

Kramer too makes direct reference to musical gatherings and their ability to transcend mass culture. He writes: “These enormous gatherings seemed to create small cities with civic as well as commercial cultures†(Kramer, 149). According to him, mass gatherings of people from various walks of life demanded a new understanding of “public†to develop. Phish culture is not merely a gathering of music fans. Kramer theorizes that it is an associational life in which participants are able to explore the complexities of civil society (Kramer, 150). In this light, Phish culture is able to present a new kind of civic society. Empowered with the ability to tour anywhere in North America and draw tens of thousands of people, this rock band brings this notion of a new public on a national scale. Kramer writes:

“As both direct and mediated experience, the festivals suggested that individuals and groups might actively engage in the making of their social worlds, rather than be dominated by authoritative forces such as the state…â€

Participants in the Phish community engaged in such experiences. They forged their own society and created an alternative lifestyle. The environment that grows around a venue where Phish is playing on a given night is fuelled by the love of music. However, it culminates with cultural togetherness. It is only in these kinds of environments, these kinds of subcultures, that we are able to escape the roles entailed for us in our mass consumption cultures. Only then can we forge and shape our own performance.

[Velvet]

I haven't read it, but something that long isn't a 'paper', it's a page.

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

2500 words yo.

[Velvet]

I'm assuming "yo" in this case means, "minus 1,000."

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

stupid wordcount.... robbing me of my glory!!!!!

[Jay Funk Dawg]

I bet it's double spaced with a large font with triple space gaps between the paragraph sections and it would take at least 4 pages. lol!

[Jay Funk Dawg]

Bahktin’s idea of the Carnivalesque - got lost right there... who's this guy?

[Cully]

wow. what a waste of words.

Seriously though,

what a waste of words.

[Booche]

If Ricky can get his grade 10...........

[phishtaper]

i think it's an interesting paper, and without knowing the theories here, it looks as if you've made a soild attempt to apply them to the topic.

what's the course?

[Guest Low Roller]

Bullshit 101

[allison]

Fuelled by a rabid fan ready to follow them anywhere

Really this typo in the beginning made it worth while for me.Phish being chased in to success by ONE heroic, rabid , itinerant fan = the best comic book ever.

[NewRider]

Fuelled by a rabid fan ready to follow them anywhere,

[allison]

BWhahahhahhaha.

I love you New Rider.

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

Mediated Culture is the course.

and its an A paper.

bup bup bup.

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

and i'd love to see half the people in here even make an attempt in understanding what people like Silverstone, Bahtin or Adorno are talking about.

let alone combine the writings of 5 convoluted asshole intellectuals into a 6 page paper about phish in a two hour exam.

[Velvet]

I'll give you this: It reads like it's a lot longer.

[DevO]

lol

I wrote at least 3 or 4 papers on Phish related topics in my undergrad years.. So easy for any undergraduate Phishhead doing social sciences!

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

your white hatred is like a summer breeze across my black chest.

[ForbinHood]

and i'd love to see half the people in here even make an attempt in understanding what people like Silverstone, Bahtin or Adorno are talking about.

Why would anyone here even want to try?

[fluffhead77]

the content isn't too bad but your style and flow is abhorrent.

This wasn't the finished "A" paper you handed in was it? Are you sleeping with the TA?

Edited April 10, 2008 by Guest

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

definitely finished. definitely A.

it was an exam... so only one draft.

half the people in here are alcoholics from places like Brantford...thats all i have to say about that.

[phishtaper]

wow. what a load of hardasses here. it was a 2-hr undergrad course exam, not a fucking 6 month PhD comprehensive exam. of course there are typos and grammar issues.

i also would have given it a good grade because it does a good job of relating the theory to the topic. im with you on this dima.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

Brantford Collegiate Institute

Congrats to BCI Boys Ontario High School Futsal Champions!

Go Mustangs

[NewRider]

half the people in here are alcoholics from places like Brantford...thats all i have to say about that.

Two, maybe three tops!