The music scene is consistently shocking, but I can honestly say never would I have expected to be writing this: Phish fans have now been compared to the Insane Clown Posse’s Juggalo cult-like following. In his recent book, You Don’t Know Me But You Don’t Like Me: Phish, Insane Clown Posse and My Misadventures with Two of Music’s Most Maligned Tribes, Nathan Rabin follows both groups on tour and fully immerses himself in their respective musical subcultures. Originally knowing virtually nothing about either group, Rabin went from zero to sixty in becoming one of the following, much to his wallet’s dismay, but what he got out of the experience is more than money could have even begun to cover.
On their most basic level there isn’t too much that you can definitively say compares the two groups, other than the fact that they both have huge followings and put on well-known shows. Or you can consider their atypical, outsider status that encompasses both groups; Insane Clown Posse is said to be “to be the worst group in the world” and the only real reason to listen to Phish, Rabin stated, was because it was “something you had to do in order to access other people’s marijuana.” But there’s some allure to that hidden, nearly reject nature that both groups have under their belts, which Rabin understood from the get-go; “The fact that everyone hates them is part of their appeal.”
“They are both kind of iconic acts and important cultural touchstones in American popular culture, and a lot of people have no idea who they are” says Rabin in an interview with Rolling Stone. Neither group has achieved mainstream success, yet they still have fans that far surpass die-hard status. (Consider, how many people do you know that would really be willing to completely cover their face in face-paint in dedication to a band).
Even Rabin, who didn’t listen to either group at the beginning, is now a self-proclaimed ICP and Phish lover. Though he originally set of to provide a sociological look on the subcultures as a “wry, ironic outsider casting an amused, affectionate look at these strange people” it is seemingly impossible to really enter into the Phish or ICP gathering without becoming a fan yourself, which Rabin quickly realized. Both groups’ fans come together to become huge, dysfunctional, chaotic, devoted family units, making them actually comprable to one another.
You can read the entirety of Rabin’s interview with Rolling Stone here and order the book for your reading pleasure here.