Hear Trey Anastasio Talk Phish Fall Tour 1997, Boy Bands, Harry Styles & More On ‘Undermine’ Podcast

Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio was the guest on JamBase partner Osiris Media’s Undermine podcast with hosts Tom Marshall and RJ Bee. Season 4 takes a look at pivotal Phish shows in the 1990s culminating with a deep dive into the band’s landmark 1997 Fall Tour. While Trey’s appearance was focused on Phish's November 17, 1997 concert in Denver, he also shared a number of insightful nuggets about other periods of the band’s career and additional topics.

Co-host, Phish lyricist and childhood friend of Trey Anastasio, Tom Marshall, opened the discussion by asking the guitarist if Fall ‘97 was one of his favorite eras. “Definitely,” Trey noted, but also noted that he “really liked” 1992-93 which he said, “doesn’t get talked about a lot.”

Anastasio continued on ‘97: “The trajectory of life and band changes from mid-’96 till Big Cypress was like a rocket ship taking off.”

The conversation naturally drifted back to the early to mid-’90s and how that shaped what was to come in the latter part of the decade. Trey pointed to the Bangor “Tweezer” on November 2, 1994 as being “important for the four members” (the Bangor ’94 “Tweezer” would appear on the band’s debut live album, 1995’s A Live One). Anastasio also talked about the complex, composed nature of a lot of the music in the early-’90s and how it affected the band moving forward.

“If you stopped the music In the middle of ‘Fluffhead,’ if you just stopped it, there’s a four-note chord being played at any moment in time with the rules of counterpoint,” said Anastasio. “So all this discipline came before the jamming in ‘97, and then sometime in ‘94 or ‘95 we started talking about, ‘let’s jam, but let’s be the band that listens to each other when we jam, not the band [where] one guy takes a solo.’ That was a conscious choice that was happening sometime around ‘94 and ‘95.”

Trey also spoke about how the change affected the fans moving into the mid-1990s.

“I do remember old fans being like ‘you’re losing me here, I don’t understand what’s happening,’” said Trey. “Part of my personality agrees with them (laughs). I was so proud of us in ‘93, we’d walk off stage and I’d be like we’re playing music that no one else in the world…I’ve never heard a band play like this before.”

After providing context to what would happen in Fall 1997, Trey unpacked the incredibly busy year that led up to the renowned run which included songwriting sessions with Tom that produced a number of staple Phish songs, a European tour, The Great Went Festival, recording The Siket Disc, The Story Of A Ghost, what would turn out to become Farmhouse and more.

Trey also noted that he got married to his wife Sue and had two children between ‘94 and ‘97.

“I felt like I was living two lives … I was going out and having this explosion of stuff and then coming home and trying to be super dad, changing diapers and being like ‘I leave that on tour,’” he shared. “Because of the fact that I was the only one who had children, the party was on. Man, it was on. And that’s gotta be factored into what you’re hearing…”

Anastasio went on to discuss the show that took place 25 years ago today.

“For the four of us, the ‘Ghost’ during that show — I like the ‘Tweezer’ opener too — it was like we were really loose but you could really hear, if you really listen, the passing of the baton back and forth,” Trey explained. The guitarist sang some of the “Ghost” jam and gave the concert a huge compliment.

“After this show we listened to that ‘Ghost’ on the bus and it was the first time we could listen to a live Phish show — it was an important show for us in that way,” Anastasio said.

The modern era came up when Trey reeled off some of the harsh critiques the band received over the years. He explained how much he loves his vocals on the band’s 2020 LP, Sigma Oasis, and all the work he put into his singing.

“We already knew how to jam in ’97 style so that’s no fun,” Anastasio stated. “What else can’t we do? It’s become really good singers,” he added of the need to keep growing.

When Tom put forth “dance” as the next frontier for Phish to conquer, Trey shared a hilarious tidbit about their 2021 Halloween show.

“For Halloween, we were going to be a boy band,” Anastasio said as he couldn’t contain his laughter and added, “We weren’t going to play instruments at all. All we were going to do was dance. Just like Backstreet Boys-style dance.”

Marshall then asked Trey his opinion on Harry Styles and whether he felt competitive over the former One Direction vocalist’s recent 15-show residency at Madison Square Garden (Phish played 13 consecutive concerts at the venue for their 2017 Baker’s Dozen run). Anastasio had high praise for Styles.

Other tales from Fall ‘97 as well as Trey discussing his love for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and more follows. Listen to the latest episode of Undermine featuring guest Trey Anastasio below:

For more on the legendary tour, check out JamBase’s Remembering Phish Fall Tour 1997 series. Originally published to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the seminal run in the band’s history, each article features a remembrance from an attendee, as well as the setlist, The Skinny and any media that circulates.