MI: At the Phish show on Dec. 30, Trey mentioned that you wrote Grind on the Cayman Island trip. Do you guys always go somewhere remote to write, whether it is the Caymans, or the Vermont woods?
TM: Yes — our new writing method is to go to a secluded place and just do nothing but write. It started at the Cayman Islands, but that was also a diving trip — we got more serious as we went along and just rented farmhouses in Vermont which Paul and Pete from Phish would turn into a studio for us. They vanish and Trey and I then just hang out and record. It’s pretty productive.
MI: How elaborate do they make these farmhouse studios? Is it 24 track digital or few DAT or cassette machines?
TM: No — eight or sixteen track at the most. One or two DA-88s. We liked keeping it easy, and similar to the multitracking that we’ve done our whole lives. Back then it was a simple arrangement because that’s all we could afford — now it’s simple so we can focus on the music.
MI: Where else have you traveled with Trey, or alone, to write.
TM: The Caymans, Vermont and New Jersey so far.
MI: Do you consider your musical relationship with Trey as a “team,” like Elton John and Bernie Taupin or Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia?
TM: I guess so — although I don’t think that was the intent. The captain and the kid — I guess I’m the kid, huh?
MI: What songwriters do you respect?
TM: Oh boy…I grew up on early Genesis, so I’d say Peter Gabriel and that whole flock: Eno, Fripp, etc. My favorite songwriting teams of course would include Page/Plant, Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, Hunter/Garcia. New stuff…I like Pavement right now. I could go on…
MI: Where do many of your ideas come from? Do they ever come from dreams?
TM: Yes! Although I wish I was disciplined enough to actually write my first thoughts down in the morning. There’s probably a gold mine of ideas in that method. I usually hear or read something that sticks in my head and eventually becomes one or two lines of a poem. Then I write it down and compose the rest around it. I have learned my lesson there though — I force myself out of bed when I have something good looping in my head. I too have lost a lot of cool ideas by simply going to sleep on them.
MI: Have you ever experienced lucid dreaming? Do you try?
TM: I think I had a lucid wet dream once and decided it wasn’t for me.
MI: Tom, what about basketball. Can you fake the funk on a nasty dunk?
TM: Not close…although I’m all right at volleyball and tennis…but I can’t dunk in those sports either unfortunately.
MI: Tom, two words: Chumbawamba – Tubthumping!!
TM: Ah…it’s all coming back to me…
MI: Do you get nervous walking on stage in places like Hampton Coliseum and Madison Square Garden?
TM: Very! Although, the wait is the worst. Once I step up to the mic, I’m feeling good. Then the rush starts and it becomes addictive — I don’t want to leave. The cheering and the smiles from the audience are intense! The buzz lasts for a long time afterwards…
MI: What has been your favorite time on stage with Phish?
TM: Probably Tubthumping — I finally felt “at home” up there. It was really fun — the experience keeps getting better for me.
MI: Weren’t those Hampton shows amazing! I went both nights and it was one of my best Phish show experiences. It’s right up there with the Lake Placid run in 1995. What is it about Hampton Coliseum that makes for such epic Phish shows?
TM: I’m not good at analyzing arenas or anything like that, but you’re right — Hampton and the Garden just ooze rock somehow.
MI: What other hobbies do you have?
TM: Amfibian is my hobby right now. It’s funny — can something you pursue as a career be considered a hobby? Writing used to be a hobby… Now I need a hobby I guess.
MI: What has been the most rewarding thing about songwriting for you?
TM: The money! No…let me think… I’d do it for free so it can’t be the money, can it? I guess now that Phish has gotten huge, there are certain things that come along with that which are just so enjoyable, cool tours, trips to Europe, etc. But I think your question addresses songwriting in general…well, in my experience, it’s really the collaboration that I’ve enjoyed my whole life. Rarely have I written a song by myself. It’s just such a cool way of sharing energy and creating something.
MI: Well, how does it feel when a Phish album is released, and you hear one of your tunes being played through a stereo, and even sometimes, the radio?
TM: First I write something. Then it’s turned into a song. Then sometimes it makes it onto a Phish disc. Then, rarely, it may be played on the radio. It’s funny how many tests it has to pass before I hear it on the radio – so when I do hear it I kind of marvel at that — plus the probability of my listening at the right time, etc.
MI: For the record, what was the first song you ever wrote for Phish?
TM: Makisupa Policeman I think. Then McGrupp. Then Wilson. Then the Antelope words…I think it goes like that.
MI: What songs are you most proud of?
TM: It’s always the most recent thing I wrote I guess — it’s fun being excited about what I’m currently doing rather than writing a song and then thinking, “hmmm…not really as good as Chalk Dust, huh?” I really love this new song Amfibian is doing called Wouldn’t Miss, even though I only had a tiny part in writing it.
MI: When was it that you first discovered your talent for songwriting?
TM: I’m still hoping to discover it.
Check out the Amfibian website at http://www.amfibian.com. In the near future, catch Amfibian at……
1/15 – Middle East, Cambridge, MA
1/16 – Wetlands, New York, NY
1/30 – Higher Ground, Winooski, VT
__________
Matt Iarrobino lives in New York and works in the tv/film industry and at The Wetlands Preserve.
No Comments comments associated with this post