Phish Keyboardist Page McConnell Appears On ‘Comes A Time’ Podcast

An interview with Phish keyboardist Page McConnell is featured on the latest episode of JamBase partner Osiris Media’s Comes A Time podcast. McConnell, making his podcast debut, spoke with Comes A Time co-hosts Oteil Burbridge and Mike Finoia about life during the pandemic, his recently released Maybe We're The Visitors album, the impact of Phish’s Clifford Ball festival and more.

Oteil is Page’s band mate in Vida Blue, a quartet that also features drummer Russell Batiste and guitarist Adam Zimmon. Burbridge and Finoia started the conversation with talk of Maybe We’re The Visitors. McConnell recalled his January 2020 trip to Iceland, where he recorded the bulk of the LP, and discussed how he put the album together. “I worked on the project and I knew there was something there, but the sequence was really important when I was able to figure out an order form. Each [song] seemed to lead into [the next] nicely,” the keyboardist explained.

Talk then turned to meditation. Page revealed he practices Transcendental Meditation and was trained five years ago. McConnell noted he mediates more when he’s touring than at home. “It’s easier for me because my routine is so set out there,” Page said. “The timing, it finds my way into my routine very easily. Also, I want to be the best I can for that event of the day.”

Page, Mike and Oteil went on to discuss how they have adapted during the pandemic. McConnell spoke about joining Trey Anastasio at The Barn to record songs that aired as part of the guitarist’s “The Beacon Jams” livestream series and for the pair’s December album. “I look forward to the day I’m back with [his Phish band mates] making music, I cannot wait,” Page exclaimed. He did note it will take some time to go from just seeing his family to performing in front of thousands of people. “Some of the social interactions, I’ve got to brush up on them a bit. We’ll get there before you know it,” McConnell added.

Finoia asked McConnell to look back on the Clifford Ball, Phish’s first major festival, which was held in 1996. “I think I was a little nervous because we were playing in front of a larger crowd than we ever played in front of for that,” Page said. “There’s nothing like that feeling that this is a situation where everything is our little world and everyone came there for one reason and this is it.” He added Phish was inspired by European festivals to create their own events.

Check out Page McConnell’s appearance on Comes A Time below: