Trey’s Road Back: Phish Frank About Breakup In New Feature

Either tonight or tomorrow the new issue of Rolling Stone will be hitting mailboxes of subscribers and newsstands across the country and within the magazine is a lengthy feature on Trey Anastasio penned by David Fricke. In the piece the members of Phish, including Anastasio, discuss the band’s breakup in frank and direct terms for the first time in a long time.

[The Phish cover of Rolling Stone, circa 2003]

Among the hard hitting quotes are Anastasio recalling a conversation with keyboardist Page McConnell, “Page [McConnell] pulled me aside and said, ‘For 20 years, I’ve had 100 percent faith that you would lead us onstage, and it’s always made me feel good. For the first time, I’m not sure I feel that anymore.’” Drummer Jon Fishman also chimes in by saying Trey, “came to the band, in ’04, totally out of his mind, saying, ‘The only way I can describe this is, if I don’t get out of Phish now, I’ll die.’ When your good friend says this to you, you go, ‘It should have never come to this. Absolutely, go home. Nobody should die over this.’ ” Trey also espouses on his current hatred for drugs now that he’s become sober, “I fucking hate drugs. I really do. It’s funny, coming from me.” He also talked about his first experience with blow, “The first time I tried cocaine, I fell asleep.”

The main focus of the feature is on Anastasio’s latest solo album, Traveler, and the coming-soon-to-Broadway musical Hands On A Hardbody. So far the article hasn’t been posted on Rolling Stone’s website. We’re hoping that they not only post the entire two-page-plus feature but also outtakes from the usually press-adverse (at least when it comes to their main gig) members of Phish.

• Previously on HT: The B List – 10 Best Kiddie Phish Videos

[via Relix]