"pretty soon" Mike hints at phish reunion

[misterh]

http://www.wnew.com/2008/07/mike-gordon-fan.html

this is cool.

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my favourite line was "no specific plan"

[Basher]

Very good interview with Mike here.

A snippet:

Yeah, do you see any sort of interesting or cosmic timing in how you’re beginning this new chapter you’re really excited about at the exact same time this previous Phish chapter suddenly seems unfinished?

MG: It’s weird. I was talking about that today with Trey, actually. Timing determines so much, especially in the music business. The guy on the plane next to me was in crane manufacturing. Not that there wouldn’t be some unexpected changes in his business but we both talked about how the music business is so unpredictable in how things are going to unfold and relationships. So, it is funny timing. Because it feels like my year and a half of work is culminating now and I'd almost prefer it if people weren’t asking about Phish or talking about Phish at all.

On the other hand, when I get together with Trey and my other Phish band mates there is such a good energy that I feel very inspired for that as well. So I’ve come to terms with the fact that both things can co-exist in my life. Trey’s proved that over the years by having many different solo projects and collaborations while playing with Phish and writing most of Phish’s material. So it can be done. I’m just hoping that there’s room, and not just in the schedule, but artistic energy for all of these projects.

Have you guys talked about ways you would keep it fresh?

MG: We haven’t done a lot of talking yet. We’re just starting. But I think it will just unfold by itself because the band has put change and evolution on a pedestal the whole time. And if we just came back and did what we had done before and it was completely based on the past I’m sure it wouldn’t last more than a month, because of our desires. We get bored and like to be stimulated by new songs and new ways of playing. And when we’re happy by feeling fresh that makes the fans happy. So I think that will unfold like that anyway. When Phish band members get together we just start brainstorming; it’s always been like that. So it’s not going to be too tricky, it’s just going to happen.

Speaking of fan reaction, there was the famous phrase “Mike Says No†that became popular after the band broke up, and it has a dual meaning, one of which has to do with fan requests for Fluffhead at the IT festival, and Trey announcing that you vetoed the request during an onstage conference.

MG: That was wrong. He actually said 'Mike doesn’t want to do it' to take the blame off himself. What happened was, we all had trouble relearning it because we were just busy with other stuff. And that was the hardest song to relearn – it would take a couple days of rehearsing it. It’s not that the music is that sophisticated necessarily but that song has a lot of sections that don’t fall together in a predictable way. For us it was more than just a couple hours of sitting down and trying to learn it, it was like a day or two of learning it. And none of us wanted to do it at the time because it our hearts just weren't in it. And what happened was we tried to relearn it anyway for that tour, and we were maybe halfway toward relearning. So I think what happened was that Trey came up to me onstage and said, “So, should we try Fluffhead?†And I probably said, “I don’t know. I could go either way.†And then he probably went to the microphone and said, “Mike doesn’t want to play it.†[Laughs] So it was a little twisted.