T MIX

Sometime in late 1992 I handed Trey these lyrics inspired by the rhythm of the song Pocahontas by Neil Young.  Trey wrote this one completely by himself soon thereafter in his home studio in Vermont, and the first time I heard it was over the phone and we both flipped out over how cool it was.  Trey's interesting overdubbed solo carried through to the studio version as well to my delight.  Phish started playing it in early 1993 when it came out on Rift.  One of my live favorites, I always think back to this first version when I hear it...

The Wedge

October 2003.  Trey and I had a very productive 2003 with two great writing sessions.  This was post-hiatus, and post Round Room, but pre-break up.  4 of these 8 songs we wrote at this session (back in a Stowe, Vermont farmhouse) would wind up on Undermind.  Some Undermind tracks also came from an earlier writing session in Nantucket which Trey and I plan to release as well -- in fact we mixed and created an album called Men From Nantucket which may have leaked, but no matter -- we're going to release it when we agree upon the best way to do so.  Anyway -- the party was ON...these songs are raw tequila-fueled energy...mixed with a hint of the looming breakup later in 2004...which although neither of us specifically knew about yet, seemed to pervade the mood of Undermind...and thus this session.  Stay tuned -- I want to release most of the songs from this session -- while we're on the topic.  I am changing mediums though...moving to a different way of presenting the music...soon...

A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing

This is a song we wrote twice.  We have a few of those actually...where we have an idea and revisit it later, sometimes years later.  This first time was the same session as A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, Oct 2003 in Vermont.  This was a poem of quiet desperation that my friend Scott Herman and I emailed to each other when we were deep in work-misery.  Trey turned it into a cool jam, and then later (the next time we rearranged it in 2009 in New York for the album Joy) a rock anthem.  I love this version -- it jams at the end...the "band" remember is Trey on drums, Trey on guitar(s), Trey on bass, Trey on keys, Trey on vocals...etc... Multi-tracking heaven.  Maybe I'm singing somewhere in there...

Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan

This was recorded in a house overlooking the Hudson River in April 2010.  An alternate title is "I See a Boat"...and THAT is a long story.  I'll attempt to shorten it considerably:  in Europe somewhere, in June 1997, after a Phish show and subsequent partying, Trey mentioned to me that I should be inspired to write beautiful music by the beautiful cities we were visiting...London, Vienna, Prague, etc...  I agreed with him.  But he actually pressed me to write one right away!  All I could come up with at the time -- since I was sinking deeply into my bed -- was "I See a Boat" -- it was all I could say...inspired by a horrible oil painting near my bed of a boat on the ocean.  It was a very short song with no melody.  He kind of let me off the hook, seeing that I was not suddenly going to bound out of bed and compose a masterpiece.  Of course I knew that wouldn't be the last I'd hear about it...it became the subject of some jokes at my expense...comparing my writing with that of say...Robert Hunter...who apparently composed Brokedown Palace, Ripple and To Lay me Down in one afternoon while visiting London.  When Trey held up my composition next to those, I had to admit..my European writing submission came up a bit short.  Fast forward to 2010:  a boat cruised by on the river capturing our attention.  I said "I See a Boat" to remind Trey of our running joke.  He grabbed a guitar -- I suppose to finally finish the song we started in 1997 -- and we came up with this.  He was able to play it with his band shortly thereafter at a benefit for the big oil spill in the Gulf.  Apart from that, this would be a true "From the Dungeon" release.

08 Clown Powder

Mariachi El Bronx

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Jose Luis Guereca

Jose Luis Guereca