How did you get into Phish?

Phish General
#1

When I was in the sixth grade, my mother, my sister and I moved into my stepdad’s house. I moved into my step brother’s room where I noticed a cd by a strange band named Phish. I thought it was weird and never listened to it. Fast forward to my eleventh grade year in a new house. For some reason I had packed up that Phish cd and brought it to my new house.

Everyone here knows that one of the biggest things that turns people off of Phish are their long, instrumental jams. I for one was already into Cream, Pink Floyd, and the Allman Brothers Band so I was already used to long jams, so one day i remembered that Phish cd and decided to listen to it. Noticing the 30-minute Tweezer on Disc 2 of that A Live One Cd, I popped in the second disc. When the opening notes of the 12/30/1994 Wilson hit my stoned, seventeen-year-old ears, i was pleasantly surprised. After that wacko, 30-minute Tweezer, and that beautiful Harry Hood, I was hooked. I listened to it again and popped in the Disc One where Stash, You Enjoy Myself, and Chalkdust Torture captured my attention. From that point onward I was a dedicated Phish head. :clap:

#2

Christmas 2003 (I was 14), my sister gave me Picture of Nectar and I immediately loved it - the first time I heard the intro to Llama I knew I loved Phish. :smiley:

Over the next few months I dug into my sister’s collection; Junta, Hoist, Billy Breathes, Round Room, and Story of the Ghost. On August 11, 2004 I saw my first show - it was spectacular. But then I realized that this great band which I had just discovered and fallen in love with had broken up. :angry:

I continued diving deeper into Phish though; I found bt.etree.org, phish.net, and then one magical day - ohkeepa.proboards.com

and the rest, well you can go read old threads around here and figure it out.

#3

…circa 1992. Pot dealer. He sold some damn good nugs. And he filled blank cassette tapes for free…

#4

I was working in a record store at the local mall when Billy Breathes came out. We got a promo copy from the record company to play in the store and I popped it in out of curiosity. It was so much cooler than any of the other promo discs we had that I put it in every day when I went to work. Finally my manager got sick of hearing it and said something like, “Would you just take that fucking cd home with you already?” I was stoked to get it for free, but bummed that I couldn’t listen to it at work any more.

#5

when i was in 6th grade, in 1993, my counselors at boy scout camp listened and wanting to be more like those guys, I listened. regular music was no longer any good, phish had captured my soul.

#6

about a year or so after story of the ghost came out, my friend played me velvet sea and i hated it. he let it play through and moma made me a fan.

#7

My big brother bought me a ticket for Christmas, and I had no idea who they were. I went more out of obligation; just wasn’t interested. I didn’t like what he was into at the time. My face hasn’t been the same since that night.

Actually I couldn’t tell if I’d enjoyed it, my mind was so confused. But I got the newsletter in the mail, and Mike’s Corner made me realize I loved this band. That day I went to the music store & bought my first Phish disc.

I love how every time someone starts a different variation of this conversation I get to tell that story again. It’s a stroll down memory lane. It’s a scroll down memory post. It’s uh, a troll-brown mishmosh road. Um, it’s time for the fourth coffee probably.

#8

My friends were into them in 95’-96’…I gave them a listen in 96’ and never turned back… :thumbup:

#9

My first recollection of knowing who Phish/Trey were was in 2006 when I was 13. I had heavy interest in extended soloing and improv. Phish always seemed very interesting but I just didn’t make the effort to get into them. I even remember previewing some songs on iTunes. About a year later, I became a Zappa nut. Then another year later I was listening to a lot of Claypool/Primus. Then, I found out about Oysterhead. I had already heard of them because they were a band that I thought was really weird. My friend’s dad played TGPO in the car every once in a while. I saw their lineup… Claypool, Copeland, and TREY? Damn. This must be good! I listened and loved it.
Then, a few months later, I realized I GOTTA CHECK PHISH OUT! I rented A Live One and LP11 from my library in April 2008. I remember I liked A Live One. I knew Bouncing had that “hit” feel to it (I was already into the Dead, you know what I mean), but I still liked it anyway. Stash was then the standout for me. I love the “Woah-oh” part. Gumbo I loved too. The horns had me so confused, “Are Phish playing the horns?”

Now, I can easily say the funk of LP11 got me hooked on Phish. Here were these four white guys play some serious funk shit! I’ll always love that Tweezer. Reba really cought my ear as well. Then I checked out HCA about one month later, bought Billy Breathes, Walnut Creek, etc., etc.

PS - this thread never gets old.

#10

Heh. Yeah. I swear I’ve posted in like ten of these but the stories are great.

For me, it was simple. My brother already had a few of their albums and decided to play A Live One while I was in the room. The first song was Bouncing which was sweet and then the Stash that followed blew me away. I was hooked right there. Live One is still one of my favorite live albums.

#11

I had this “crazy stoner friend” who I worked with at a summer camp who was big into Phish. I never really got it, but one day I found his copy of Billy Breathes and thought it was terrible.

Three years later, I was a freshman in college and had an upperclassman friend with a good weed connection and a nice car. We would cruise around on the roads of upstate NY listening to a lot of Flecktones, a lot of Dave Matthews (I know, I know) and a little bit of Phish. The only Phish he had was Slip Stich & Pass and Hoist. I didn’t much care for Hoist (still don’t really), but SS&P grabbed me, especially Weigh believe it or not. I started listening to every note of Phish I could get my ears on. It was also right around this time that they announced NYE 2002 at MSG. Being a total newb, I got shut out in the lottery and never tried any other method of getting tickets. I managed to get to a show in February 03 (see the [http://user9510.vs.easily.co.uk/ohkeepa/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=10590]2/26/03 individual show discussion thread) and the rest is history…

#12

::goes to 2/26/03 individual discussion::

Wow. That’s one hell of a story.

#13

Damn that was an epic adventure by the sound of it.

#14

I really don’t know how I got into Phish… :eh:

#15

Freshman year (1995 ish?) I would take my sister’s CD’s all the time-- you know her STP, Nirvana, Spin Doctors, Pearl Jam, etc. I was already way into “classic rock” ala Q106.5 in the Quad Cities (Dire Straits, Boston, LZ, Talking Heads, Cars, etc.). She had A Live One, popped it in on one of those nights in my parents basement (literally) and the only song I really liked at first was Chalkdust…bought Lawn Boy next day it must’ve been…loved the whole thing…went back to A Live One…loved the whole thing!! 90-100 shows later, here I am. :laughing:

#16

Is it correct to be considered a Phish head if I haven’t seen any shows yet? All of my friends and my girlfriend call me a Phish head but i still haven’t seen a show yet. Hopefully if they tour the East Coast in 2010 i will get to see them.

#17

does your head look like that of a fish?

#18

Well now that you mention it…

#19

Aug 1996.

The conversation:

“Wanna go to Alpine Valley and see Phish?”
“Who’s Phish?”
“You’d like them”
“Ok, lets go.”

Simple.

#20

By listening.