The third season of Phish lyricist Tom Marshall’s Under The Scales podcast began today with the release of an episode featuring Phish bassist Mike Gordon. Mike’s appearance on Under The Scales is a two-parter with the second installment due next Monday, February 18.
Marshall and Gordon’s chat took place after Phish’s recent New Year’s Run at Madison Square Garden in New York City. As such, the pair began by discussing Mike’s experience of being lifted above the stage and playing “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” while in mid-air. The talk then turned to the genesis of Phish’s Kasvot Växt Halloween set. Gordon shared some of the demos the band worked up as part of process of creating the 10 songs they’d debut as the second set in Las Vegas on October 31, 2018. He also clarified the difference between what the band had planned for their “sphere set” at the canceled Curveball Festival versus what went down on Halloween.
Another interesting topic hit upon was Mike’s conversation with the late Who bassist John Entwistle for Gordon’s feature film, Rising Low. Mike talked about how he thought about joining The Who after Entwistle died, especially once The Who announced they would be performing Quadrophenia. The podcast chat then turned to bass tones. Gordon explained the differences between his solo and Phish rigs and how he’s trying to make them as similar as possible these days.
Towards the end of the podcast, Mike and Tom exchanged thoughts on songwriting. Gordon also documented the various projects he was involved in between Phish breaking up in 2004 and his forming a five-piece band in 2008. He said that he went through a grieving process at the start of the breakup but soon embraced the experience of not being a member of Phish between 2004 – 2009. Listen to the entire chat below and check back next Monday for the second part:
https://simplecast.com/s/60d581c6
