Rolling Stone just released a new interview with Trey Anastasio, in which the Phish guitarist tells Rolling Stones’ David Fricke all about his thoughts about what Phish has coming up this summer. A majority of the interview is focused on the upcoming Baker’s Dozen run at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which Anastasio views as “residency” at the legendary venue, though Trey also outlines Phish’s history with residencies at Nectar’s in Vermont, his thoughts on what makes the annual summer tour closer at Dick’s Sporting Good Park in Colorado so special, and how the other summer tour dates came together.
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In the interview, after Anastasio notes that Phish is viewing Baker’s Dozen as a residency akin to their residencies at Burlington, Vermont’s Nectar’s in the 1980’s, Trey talks about the benefits of playing an extended residency over moving from location to location: “Traditionally, a residency is something that really works for people who improvise. You get used to the room; you get comfortable and loose.”
In preparation for the expanded potential catalyzed by their Baker’s Dozen run, Anastasio noted that the group was  “gonna go up to Vermont and hang out at [Anastasio’s studio] the Barn pretty soon. We’ve been very consciously open about this. There has not been a lot of nailing down. The mystery of it is weird, to be set up in this one place for a long time. But we’re relaxed about the whole thing. I think the relaxed feeling is the point of doing a residency.” He also notes that the idea of Baker’s Dozen grew organically from band members asking themselves, “What if we just stayed here for a long time?” Trey then notes, “At the Garden, we always have our band rooms in the same place, the rooms for family and friends. Everybody’s hanging around. You get backstage, and you feel like you’re home. Sometimes the soundchecks are so loose. And you have to wonder: How much of that looseness is about the place?”
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Anastasio also broaches trying to describe the magic of MSG—”There is definitely an energy, definitely a sound at the Garden. It actually vibrates. [The arena sits over the Penn Station railroad terminal.] The whole room goes up and down – so much so that the mic will swing back and forth and bump you in the nose. When people start dancing, the mic stand will sway, depending on the tempo.”—and of the annual summer tour closer at Dick’s Sporting Good Park in Colorado—”It is one of our favorite places to play. It’s got camping. It’s the right weekend, the weather. There’s something about that time of year and that part of the country. You’re outside, under that gorgeous Colorado sky. Everything has an effect on the playing.”
Anastasio talks also about how Chicago and Pittsburgh entered the mix to close out the dates of their summer tour: “Chicago is incredible in its own way, We put ‘The Baker’s Dozen’ on the map, then went “How are we going to fill this in? We gotta go to Chicago.” And we hadn’t been to Pittsburgh in a long time.”
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To check out the full interview with Trey and David Fricke, head over to Rolling Stones full interview here.
[Photo: Gary Sheer]