Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg talked about his musical tastes, including discovering Phish as a teenager, in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times.
Buttigieg had previously tweeted his appreciation for the Phish song “Tweezer Reprise,” played the song over the P.A. at an event announcing his candidacy and included the A Picture Of Nectar version on his campaign’s “Buttijams” playlist. “When I was really getting into music, as I was about to head into high school, there were two things that interested me a lot. One was classic rock, especially when I got a guitar — Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix. And the other was jam bands,” the current mayor of South Bend told the Times about how he discovered Phish. “It started with Dave Matthews. I didn’t get to see them play live much. A couple of times. But the idea that every song was different, that they would settle into the music and take it interesting places, really excited me. And when I discovered Phish, they took that to the next level.”
The candidate was asked about whether the Phish shows he saw were “an eye-opening experience for a young man from South Bend.” Buttigeg responded, “It was different, for sure. There were a lot of things going on there that I was new to.” Pete studied classical piano and was asked if he got excited when Phish would play material in odd time signatures. “Sometimes I’d catch stuff like that,” he explained. “I wasn’t super-expert about it. I’d played piano at a fairly serious level, but I don’t want to overplay how sophisticated I was.”
Pete Buttigieg went on to discuss his high school band, the first CDs he bought, his wedding song, the music he brought with him when deployed, the bands he’d want to play his inauguration and more. Head to the Los Angeles Times to read the rest of the interview.
