Blade 420 Smokebreak Interview: Backstage Pass into Phish's Mike Gordon's Sonic World

Step into the vibrant world of Mike Gordon, the celebrated bassist of Phish and the driving force behind the Mike Gordon Band, as he shares the thrills of his musical journey. In an episode brimming with tales from his relentless touring schedule, Mike unravels the exhilaration of performing night after night, offering a rare glimpse into the life of a musician who finds bliss in the relentless pace. He discusses the stark contrasts between the colossal presence of Phish and the more personal ambiance of his solo gigs, shedding light on the tightrope walk of a performer's life. Mike also opens up about the spontaneous genesis of his collaboration with Leo Kotke, showcasing his affinity for the unexpected and the offbeat.

Prepare to be charmed by the sounds and stories that define Mike Gordon's artistry and his bonds with his bandmates, especially the renowned guitarist Scott Murawski. As Mike candidly reflects on the dynamics of his solo concerts, including the heartfelt interactions with fans, listeners will be transported backstage to witness the intricate dance of improvisation and the warm embrace of tight-knit musical communities. With an eye on personal growth and creative expression, Mike's narrative journeys through the bustling excitement of upcoming Phish festivals, the nurturing moments with his new baby, and the anticipation of fresh solo material. Join us for an intimate auditory adventure with one of music's most passionate and eclectic spirits.

Transcript

Blade: 0:00

Let's see what's happening. Mike Gordon of Fish joins us on the program. Thanks, how are you in this fine, beautiful Monday afternoon? Great.

Mike Gordon: 0:10

Actually, yeah, I had my day off after we did five in a row on this tour, which is it's fun just to get the gears cranking like that. We're revved up, yeah.

Blade: 0:19

So you started right after Labor Day, didn't you? And you've been going every day since.

Mike Gordon: 0:29

Actually, we started on the 8th but, um, you know, I had just finished a fish tour, not too recent, not too far before that. Um, so, yeah, I, I like this this summer because I just get to play and play and play, which is what I like to do.

Blade: 0:35

So good for you, man. And how did you get this kooky cat over here, scott? Where'd he come, scott?

Mike Gordon: 0:40

um and I have done many projects together for the over the last 15 or so years and so we have a special connection. We've been doing some writing together and this is a permanent configuration. This band the way I see it it's my. A lot of my other projects were just for one season and the goal here is just for for it to kind of build on itself and and, and, yeah, yeah.

Blade: 1:04

So that's what we're doing so how many permanent configurations do you have? Man, just the you and fish and then the mike gordon band.

Mike Gordon: 1:10

Basically it's just the two, yeah, um, and then there's some collaborations, like my, leo kotke, so we'll probably do some more of that at some point. But but, yeah, I like to see it as two, two main things. This, yeah, and they're kind of opposite in a way. The challenges are opposite With fish, you know, it's been 25 years, so sometimes the challenge, the chemistry, is incredible.

Mike Gordon: 1:32

You know it's psychopathic, but the challenge is not to get in a rut of doing what we've always done, you know, and we've always been pretty good about changing and evolving. But that's the challenge there. And with this it's sort of the opposite, because we've only been playing together now for one year, and so every turn is a new thing to discover in terms of how we play with each other, because I'm all about improvisation and interplay between the musicians and it's the world I come from where you actually listen to each other rather than just doing the memorized album rendition and and that's happening now and, and so we're just, it's all about discovery. And then the chemistry thing is something we build over time and um, and my goal is to have them be so that they're um, you couldn't uh that they're mutually exclusive. So if you come to see my band. You're going to get sort of an experience that you would never get with fish, and vice versa, of course, so that it's not just one thing kind of spinning off the other. That's my goal, and we're starting to do that, so anyway, Well, dude, that's an interesting hookup with Leo Kotke.

Blade: 2:34

How did that all come about?

Mike Gordon: 2:36

That was just another. A lot of the big changes in my life have been because of visions I've had. I mean not visual visions, but many epiphanies. And with Leo it was like that too, where I was. I had been seeing him play for a couple of decades, and and, um, and I heard a song on the radio and it just dawned on me that we would click, and so I, I made a tape uh, I made a tape of myself playing bass along with one of his songs, um, and gave it to him and he thought it was the cheesiest thing anyone had ever done and never heard from him for for about six months. And then later he called and he said you know, I actually liked that tape. Let's get together and jam. And, you know, one thing led to another. Oh right, Scott's, he's not on a microphone, he's in the background.

Blade: 3:20

That's quite all right. So background, that's quite all right.

Mike Gordon: 3:21

So what happened there? Well, same thing with scott I. I loved his guitar playing, uh how'd you hear his guitar playing? Just um well, he played with a band called max creek.

Blade: 3:29

He's played for oh, he's a max creek.

Mike Gordon: 3:30

Okay, that's god okay yep, there he is, um and um, all the fish guys used to, you know, go and check them out when we were, um, just getting to college there, uh, anyway, and um, yeah, trerey ended up buying, buying a guitar, his first, uh, one of his first guitars, because it was the same one that Scott had. Um, anyway, and I, I transcribed one of his guitar solos and fish ended up doing a gig with Max Creek and we and, and I wrote it out and um, I gave him the written music and with him playing, there is band playing on one side and me adding the new solo mimicking it on the other side. So, yeah, similar thing. Beware the Mike Gordon transcription, it's coming your way.

Blade: 4:14

That'd be fun to catch some of those on YouTube, but they're not there on YouTube or anything.

Mike Gordon: 4:17

There is some crazy stuff on YouTube to be found, but not that exactly. You and Leo Kotke on YouTube. I'm sure there is, I don't know, I haven't looked.

Blade: 4:26

Really, do you watch any YouTube? Do you go out there?

Mike Gordon: 4:28

I do, I get the really funny, like the cat playing the piano one. And oh, what's my favorite YouTube recently that one, that's right no there's one that, oh, I can't remember now, the kid of the dentist? Yeah, no, there's some. What was I playing the other day? Oh well, I have some favorite YouTube stuff that I just play over and over again. We were just talking about. You know, where were we before YouTube?

Blade: 4:50

Yeah, oh God, I know Well no. Do you ever go look for Mike Gordon stuff on YouTube?

Mike Gordon: 4:55

I don't go looking for it. You know, it's a funny thing about that. Fish got into this thing about not reading reviews because, I mean, sometimes you learn from it. But as an artist you want to trust your own inner vision and you know when you need to work on something and when something's going well and you desensitize that if you start listening to what other people are saying. Sometimes and other times it's good to get some feedback.

Mike Gordon: 5:21

And I was going to mention I don't know if I'm supposed to, but so at the uh, here's an example of the internet going crazy. Um few gigs ago, I, I, I made a comment on stage. I said um, I, I, I held up a drink and I said cheers before the encore. And I said I just remembered I'm allowed to drink on this tour, and so cheers. And then two minutes later people are talking all on the internet. You know, because fish is, we're having a sort of a, we're all experimenting with sobriety these days and it's, it's so great and the jams are even deeper as a result. And you know, but that's crazy, I'm allowed to drink on fish tour and I was making a joke. And now on the internet everyone's talking about how I'm evil and I hate my bandmates, and you know it's just crazy.

Mike Gordon: 6:06

So that's why I don't go on, I don't read the message boards and all that. You know, I, I, yeah, I've, I've had that happen a few times where where huge misunderstandings led to. You know, well, on Fish Tour, it's all huge plastic pigs and whipped cream, and you know, and I'm glad that I don't have to do that anymore. And well, you know, I'm just going to, I'm just going to play with the concept of media, going crazy as much as I can.

Blade: 6:33

Right, we can bleep this out, but that's called fucking with us is what that is, as much as possible as much as possible.

Mike Gordon: 6:39

As much as possible.

Blade: 6:40

That's the only way you can get away with it. Think about it and everybody will know that you're doing it, and so that's good. They can't kill you that way?

Mike Gordon: 6:45

Yeah, they probably will anyway, but that's okay All right dude.

Blade: 6:49

So, Mikey, when are you joining back with Phish and how long does your current tour last here? This tour is a month.

Mike Gordon: 6:57

I'm having the same feeling with both tours, where I wish they were both more. A fish tour ended and we wanted to be playing more, and this tour it's a month long, which is a decent number of I think we have 21 dates and you know it's a good number, but I'm already sad about it ending when it and it's just beginning, um, because you know you, as you go along, the jams get deeper and you just you learning and from night to night about what to do, and so, anyway, it's not going to be too long after this one when fish is doing our big Halloween festival in California and and then probably some more stuff later in the year. And, yeah, and I'm also working on my own next album, so I'm trying to cram it all in. I also have a new. I have 10 month old baby and I'm so fun playing with her that I'm trying to leave as much time as possible for that too, and it's just a very busy but very fun year that I'm having.

Blade: 7:52

Fantastic Congratulations. Tell us the rest of the guys in your band real quick that we can see tonight. Yeah.

Mike Gordon: 7:56

Well, just right, here is Scott Murawski on guitar and then we have Todd Eisler on drums and there's a percussionist, craig Myers, and Tom Cleary is the keyboard player. So, yeah, man, we're playing right here in Raleigh. We had a great time. By the way, we played in Raleigh a year ago and I have a hotline that fans call and they were all were saying that the Raleigh one was the one that they they really liked. So there's kind of a special vibe about that room and it's cool too, because on this tour it's small enough where I can go out afterwards and hang out with all the people that you know. I go to the merchandise table or wherever, or go to the bar next door and get some drinks, and that's really fun too, just getting to hang with people and see what they think you know, or you know if they were on fish tour or whatever they want to talk about. It's very cool for me, on Fish Door there's too many security people and there's too much isolation backstage, and all that Right on.

Blade: 8:48

Okay, that's fantastic. Well, thank you, Mike Gordon.

Mike Gordon: 8:49

I appreciate it. Scott, thanks for having us, thanks for playing for us.

Blade: 8:52

That's really great, and so you'll have a great one tonight, of course, again at Lincoln Theater in Raleigh. Showtime is Whenever I'm not even going to ask anymore, whenever.

Mike Gordon: 9:00

The artist will never know.

Blade: 9:01

Yeah, no one's ever known you can put a 10 o'clock on there if you want, but it'll happen when it happens, all right, that's great, great.