The Berklee College of Music has announced the new Mike Gordon Endowed Scholarship, a grant that will go to, “Berklee students studying bass who are also well-rounded artists, with skills in other areas such as songwriting, production, arranging, or creative entrepreneurship.”
The prestigious Boston music school celebrated the new scholarship on Friday with a student-only seminar led by Mike Gordon himself. Jambands.com reports that the Phish bassist discussed topics like meeting Trey Anastasio, Phish’s longevity, meditative listening exercises, and Phish’s “no analyze” rule between sets.
“It’s about being open, being able to say when we don’t like something, finding compromise despite the differences,” Gordon said of the secret behind Phish’s longevity. “Of course there have been rifts—leading to a whole album named Rift!”
Some of Gordon’s friends were also in attendance during the seminar, including event moderator and associate professor Loudon Sterns, who helped Gordon build the interactive REEL keyboard that has appeared at many of his solo shows since 2016. Professor Pat Pattison and associate professor Linda Balliro, who provided vocal coaching for Gordon, were also there.
[H/T – Jambands.com]