4/11/94 w/Scott Chasolen of REPRISE

Summary

Helping Friendly Podcast Episode Summary Date of Release: January 13, 2025
Episode Title: 4/11/94 w/ Scott Chasolen of REPRISE
Host/Author: Osiris Media

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Introduction

In this episode of the Helping Friendly Podcast (HFPod), hosted by Osiris Media, the conversation delves deep into a specific Phish concert from April 11, 1994, featuring special guest Scott Chasolen of the band Reprise. The episode offers an insightful exploration of Phish's spring 1994 tour, the band's musical evolution during that period, and the intricate process of recreating a classic Phish show years later.

Guest Introduction

The episode kicks off with host Brian Brinkman welcoming listeners and introducing Scott Chasolen. Scott, a longtime musician and a previous guest on HFPod, brings firsthand experience from witnessing Phish's intense 1994 touring schedule.

Scott Chasolen's 1994 Phish Tour Experiences

Tour Schedule and Attendance

Scott recounts attending approximately eight shows during Phish's spring 1994 tour, emphasizing the grueling nature of their schedule:

"I saw the Binghamton show on 4/9, the Buffalo show on 4/10... I saw the Beacon run after that, which was three nights in New York, and then three or four shows after that." ([05:44])

Trey Anastasio's Ankle Injury

A pivotal moment discussed is Trey Anastasio's ankle injury, which significantly impacted the Buffalo show:

"The night before this New Hampshire show on April 10th in Buffalo, Trey broke his ankle... he was sitting on a stool for most of that Buffalo show. And at the end, he just kicked the stool away. It was like, fuck it. I can't sit here anymore." ([06:39]-[07:00])

The injury led to unexpected on-stage antics, such as Trey reading the newspaper while fellow musician Brad Sands entertained the crowd on a trampoline:

"During you Enjoy Myself, Trey sat in a chair and read the newspaper while Brad Sands jumped on the trampoline." ([07:00]-[07:20])

Coping with Physical Injuries on Stage

Scott shares his own experiences with stage-related injuries, illustrating the challenges musicians face:

"I have to play with one hand for a while until it healed enough that I could play with my left hand again." ([10:23]-[11:13])

The Puking Incident Backstage

One of the most vivid stories is Scott's personal mishap during a performance:

"We were about to start the show, and I just was totally puking backstage. The first song opened with a Clavinet part that I'm supposed to play and I'm not there... I kept throwing up behind Leslie... It was the most horrifying experience." ([12:00]-[13:24])

Musical Evolution of Phish in 1994

Growth and Freedom in Musical Expression

Scott observes significant growth in Phish's music throughout 1994, highlighting their embrace of musical freedom and experimentation:

"They would take all risk, any risk. There was basically no boundaries for where they would go musically." ([14:07])

This period marked a transition towards more fearless jamming and improvisation, setting the stage for some of Phish's most iconic performances.

Incorporation of Jazz and Bluegrass Influences

Phish's foray into jazz and bluegrass is a recurring theme:

"Trey and Fishman were really into playing jazz, and they actually had a band called Bad Hat... jazz was on the radar for Fish at that point." ([09:50]-[10:01])

Scott underscores the band's openness to diverse musical styles, which enriched their live performances:

"Bad Hat... They just played locally in Burlington. So jazz was on the radar for Fish at that point." ([09:50]-[10:01])

Recreating the 4/11/94 Show with Reprise

Rehearsal Process and Setlist Preparation

Scott details the meticulous process of preparing for the recreation of the April 11, 1994, show:

"We start with the material that we haven't played before... Then reviewing the complex songs that we've already played." ([16:54]-[17:37])

The band prioritizes mastering new material before delving into improvisation, ensuring both technical proficiency and creative spontaneity.

Challenges in Recreating Iconic Performances

Recreating specific Phish shows poses unique challenges, particularly in balancing authenticity with the band's own artistic expression:

"Sometimes that can actually inhibit us from playing and being ourselves." ([48:56]-[49:29])

Scott emphasizes the importance of remaining true to their own musical identity while honoring the original performance.

Specific Song Insights

"Caravan" and Jazz Influences

"Caravan" serves as a prime example of Phish's jazz-inspired repertoire:

"Caravan... it's a Duke Ellington song, and Fish kind of made it into, like, this cool, groovy rock version of the jazz tune." ([07:48]-[08:00])

The song's placement as an opener highlights Phish's inclination towards blending genres seamlessly:

"The first time since 1991 where horns are a major part of a Fish show... It's a really cool addition." ([33:12]-[33:52])

"Foam" and Technical Mastery

Scott expresses particular enthusiasm for the song "Foam," noting the complexities involved in its performance:

"Divided Sky is very hard... Foam is very difficult. I love Foam. It's one of my favorite ones to play." ([20:00]-[20:23])

He anticipates exciting renditions and highlights the intricate solos that make "Foam" a standout piece.

The Big Ball Jam

A contentious yet iconic part of the 4/11/94 show is the "Big Ball Jam," which sparks debate among fans:

"It's just as brutal in the room. I'm glad I could provide that for you." ([25:20]-[25:55])

The hosts and Scott share differing opinions on the jam's execution, reflecting the diverse perspectives within the Phish community.

Phish Setlist and Musical Improvisation Techniques

Balancing Structure and Spontaneity

Scott discusses Phish's approach to setlists, emphasizing the balance between structured compositions and spontaneous improvisation:

"You just listen to everybody else on stage and you respond to what everybody's playing... there's kind of no limit to where you can go." ([39:30]-[40:10])

This philosophy fosters a telepathic connection among band members, enabling fluid and unpredictable performances.

Charting and Memorization for Complex Jams

To handle intricate jams like "Tweezer," Scott explains the use of charting to maintain the flow without stifling creativity:

"I wrote it out, and we had it on stage so that it wouldn't require us to remember things." ([50:21]-[51:19])

This method allows the band to navigate complex structures while preserving the essence of improvisation.

Favorite Phish Songs to Play

When asked about favorite songs to perform, Scott reveals his current preference:

"I really love playing Foam. That might be my favorite right now." ([53:47]-[54:10])

He expresses eagerness to perfect their rendition, showcasing his dedication to delivering an authentic and polished performance.

Host and Guest Banter and Community Engagement

Throughout the episode, lighthearted banter among hosts and Scott adds a personal touch. Topics range from draft victories and favorite shows to playful teasing about stage antics. This camaraderie underscores the tight-knit nature of the Phish fan community and HFPod's role in fostering these connections.

Conclusion and Upcoming Shows

As the episode wraps up, the hosts and Scott discuss upcoming Reprise shows and future podcast plans. They emphasize the importance of balancing Phish-focused content with new projects, ensuring continued engagement for listeners. Scott thanks the hosts and listeners for their support, highlighting the meaningful impact of reconnecting with past experiences through music.

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Notable Quotes:

• "The only way to find out what happened at the show was to wait until the next day." – Scott Chasolen ([02:00]-[03:00])

• "They arrived at a place of absolute freedom... something insane was happening every single night." – Scott Chasolen ([14:07])

• "You just listen to everybody else on stage and you respond to what everybody's playing." – Scott Chasolen ([39:30]-[40:10])

• "I'm looking forward to getting another chance at Foam." – Scott Chasolen ([54:10])

Final Thoughts

This episode of HFPod provides an in-depth look into a transformative period in Phish's history, enriched by Scott Chasolen's personal anecdotes and professional insights. Listeners gain a nuanced understanding of the band's evolution, the complexities of live performances, and the enduring passion that fuels the Phish fan community.

Transcript

[Megan]

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[Scott Chaslin]

Osiris.

[Brian Brinkman]

Good afternoon everybody. This is the Helping Friendly podcast. We are here with you. We're going to be talking about a show from spring 1994. I was going to say fall. It's not fall. We talked about fall 94 a couple weeks ago. We're talking about a spring 94 show. 411 94. We have a special guest who we're going to introduce in one second. If you're watching on the video, you can see our special guest. But first, I want to say welcome to all of our fans. But I especially want to welcome the Brink Maniacs, which are a new group of fans who are the acolytes, the fans, the admirers of Brian Brinkman. The Brinkmaniacs are the first official fan club of HF pod 12 years in. And Megan and I don't have a fan club, but we might have a couple fans, but we don't have our own group of people who, you know, who are, who are there specifically for the takes and the wisdom of one person. And if you're, if you're interested in being part of the Brink Maniacs fan club, then you need to organize it yourself because we're not going to do anything. We're just going to tell you that that's the name.

[RJ]

Am I going to have to organize this in like an apple note? Like, yeah, you're going to ask off my fans.

[Brian Brinkman]

You're going to need a spreadsheet. But there might be, there might be merch ideas here. There, there's certainly should be maybe more voicemails. About how awesome Brian is because he likes hearing that. Maybe there's some bonus segments on, on, you know, Brian's on his brilliant brain. Brilliant brain.

[RJ]

We need some like flat brim dad hats.

[Megan]

Totally.

[RJ]

Just like.

[Brian Brinkman]

Yeah, there you go. Oh my God, that'd be so sick. Okay, keep the voicemails coming. The phone number is 484-416-0488. We got a couple questions about whether we screen our voicemails to only have the good ones and we don't. We just only get good ones if we, when we give critical ones, we play them. I mean, send us some bad ones.

[Megan]

We played that.

[Brian Brinkman]

Yeah. Tell us what's. Tell us what's. Tell us what's horrible.

[RJ]

Just be prepared if you're going to call in with like a critical voicemail about how like we didn't include such and such show or we didn't talk about such and such jam and such and such episode. Like, I'm down to get the criticism, but I'm going to sit you down and like we're going to talk through very specifics about fish and about fish history and maybe about colonial American history. Whatever I'm feeling that day. So, like you can come with the hot takes, but like we need to actually engage in discussion about your evidence around these hot takes. Okay. So I just want to put that out there as like kind of a clarifying. Don't just come at us yelling and.

[Megan]

Get ready for the brink maniacs to come after you.

[Brian Brinkman]

Yeah, exactly.

[Megan]

That's all I'm saying.

[RJ]

I could use some of these defenders in my life. I don't know where they are.

[Brian Brinkman]

Yeah, well, okay, so that's enough of that. We are going to talk about 4, 1194 in just a second. But first we'll say hello, hello and welcome to our guest Scott Chaslin of. Well, Scott, I was going to say of Reprise, but Scott Chaslin of the Machine, of Reprise, of ulu, of I'm probably missing some. Scott, a longtime musician follow up guest on HFPOD as well. You've been on before. So thanks, Scott, for coming back.

[Scott Chaslin]

Thanks for having me. Good to be here.

[Brian Brinkman]

Scott, I understand that you are on your way to rehearse for Reprise.

[Scott Chaslin]

Yes, on my way to a Reprise rehearsal in an undisclosed location. We have material to work on right now.

[Brian Brinkman]

Yeah. There's three shows next week. There's Pembroke, Massachusetts at Soundcheck Studios and then back at Park City Music hall in Bridgeport and then Sunday night at Stone Church in New Hampshire. And the show we're going to Talk about today is from 41194, which is from UNH in Durham, New Hampshire. And I want to talk. I think we all probably have questions for you, Scott, about, you know, recreating these shows and what kind of work goes into all the stuff you guys do to prepare. But first, tell us quickly about your spring 94 experience or where. Start. Start us off with where you were in spring 94.

[Scott Chaslin]

So my spring 94 experience was I saw, I don't know, maybe eight shows on that tour. And I started that. It was the beginning of vicious touring for that year. And I saw the Binghamton show on 4 9, the Buffalo show on 410. I skipped the New Hampshire show, which I regret very much. And then I saw the Beacon run after that, which was three nights in New York, and then three or four shows after that. So, like, that whole chunk of shows, I saw them all, except for the one that we're playing.

[Brian Brinkman]

And we could talk about this in the context of the show, but. So Brad Sands jumped on the trampolines during you Enjoy Myself, I think you told me, Scott, last time we were talking, that was it. The night before that Trey fucked up his ankle.

[Scott Chaslin]

The night before this New Hampshire show on April 10th in Buffalo, Trey broke his ankle. He fell through a hole in the stage during soundcheck. And he was sitting on a stool for most of that Buffalo show. And at the end, he just kicked the stool away. It was like, fuck it. I can't sit here anymore.

[Megan]

Yes.

[Scott Chaslin]

So the following. I know. It was such a tragic thing because they had just started their tour, and they were going to be on the road for three months at that point. And the next night, during you Enjoy Myself, Trey sat in a. In a chair and read the newspaper while Brad Sands jumped on the trampoline.

[Megan]

So awesome. Yeah.

[Unknown]

And he. He had somebody fill in for him.

[Scott Chaslin]

You know, for the next few months, whenever they did yam. I think later in that week they had, Remember, Big Spill. He was a fan at that time. He did it, I think, in Amherst or somewhere like that. Yeah. So Che couldn't do it. But the.

[Unknown]

The New Hampshire show, I had so.

[Scott Chaslin]

Many regrets about missing that one.

[Unknown]

First of all, you have to realize.

[Scott Chaslin]

It'S 1994, and you can't just go on your phone and check the set list as the show is happening. Right. There is no phone. You don't have a phone. You don't have email. You don't have anything. So the only way to find out what happened at the show was to wait until the lot the next day. You walk around as people start showing up, you're like, who was at the show last night? Who's got a set list? And people would have written it down with pen and paper during the night, and then they'd show it to you and you'd find out like, oh, man, I missed Colonel Corbin and I missed Mockingbird, and I missed, you know, I missed the Caravan opener. And it was. It was, you know, a whole different thing to find out what was played the night before. And I was so bummed because I had never seen Torbid Mockingbird, and I really wanted to hear that. And they played it, of course, at one show that I didn't go to. And Caravan is a jazz tune. And they opened their show with that in New Hampshire and then closed the set with Cavern, which is a similar title. And they often did that. Sometimes they play it back to back. Caravan. Cavern and Caravan was a Duke Ellington song, and Fish kind of made it into, like, this cool, groovy rock version of. Of the jazz tune. And they did that a lot during those days. Like, a few nights later at the Beacon, they played Take the A Train, which is also Duke Ellington song. And Trey and Fishman were really into playing jazz, and they actually had a band called Bad Hat. I don't know if you guys are aware of this. And Fishman and Trey were in that with Jamie Masefield from Jazz Mandaloon Project. And Stacy Starkweather was the basic. And all he did was play jazz standards, and they just played locally in Burlington. So jazz was on the radar for Fish at that point. And you can hear it in their playing. You know, Trey definitely was studying bebop and those type of melodic lines and things like that. So I really dug that aspect of what they were doing around that time.

[RJ]

I gotta ask you, just on the topic of Trey tearing a couple ligaments in his ankle, have you. Have you ever been physically injured on stage, all of this, or had to play with a physical ailment that kind of fucks up what you do well on stage or, like, makes you readjust in some way like he did?

[Scott Chaslin]

Yes, I've had injuries to my fingers, and it really sucks, really hard to play. I once I dropped my roads on my index finger of my left hand, and if any, you guys know what a rose is? It's a super heavy electric piano, and I literally smashed my finger on a parking lot asphalt between the roads and my finger, and it blew up like four times the size, and I couldn't play at all. With my left hand. This is in the middle of a tour with Blue. And. And that was no fun.

[RJ]

What did you do? I mean, did you just play one handed? Like, like, what was your approach?

[Scott Chaslin]

I had to play with one hand for a while until it healed enough that I could play with. With that left hand again.

[Brian Brinkman]

I would. I was just going to say that I know one of your bandmates recently had a. Had a. A puking issue on stage.

[Scott Chaslin]

Yeah.

[Brian Brinkman]

And I. And I feel like maybe that's, that's something that happens. I feel like you guys all were like, oh, yeah, I've been there.

[Scott Chaslin]

Cal had a little problem at a PTF show where he projectile vomited in the middle of the Mango song.

[Unknown]

Which I'm not laughing at him.

[Scott Chaslin]

I know it's awful. It's awful. But yeah, at the same time it's hilarious. And I can only laugh at him because I've experience that as well. I don't know if you want to hear that story. It's not.

[RJ]

Let's do it. Let's do it.

[Scott Chaslin]

Not family friendly.

[Megan]

Yeah, kinda.

[Scott Chaslin]

So I was on the road with Ulu and we were playing in Milwaukee and this place was called Thai Joe's and it was a Thai restaurant and it was our sax players hometown. So everyone, all of his friends were there. It was huge, sold out. And we had all this food in the green room before the show. We were like, oh, this is amazing. Thai restaurant. They're feeding us all this, all this food, all we can eat, you know. And I ate so much food and literally made myself sick. And right before we were about to start the show, I just was totally puking backstage, couldn't come out on the stage and the band had already gone out on stage and didn't realize that I wasn't there. And the first song of that night opened with a Clavinet part that I'm supposed to play and I'm not there. And everyone's just standing on stage, like in front of this whole audience. Everybody's waiting, wondering what's happening. And tour manager comes running in, is like, dude, you gotta get out there. Like, I can't. I'm throwing up. So he pushed me out onto the stage, put this giant industrial sized garbage.

[Unknown]

Can behind my Leslie cabinet so you couldn't see it.

[Scott Chaslin]

And literally every five minutes I went running behind Leslie to throw up. And then I'd go back to my keyboard rig and keep playing. It was the most horrifying experience.

[Megan]

Showbiz, it's not always glamorous, right?

[Scott Chaslin]

No, but the show must go on, you know?

[Megan]

Yeah, exactly. That's amazing. Scott, I have a question for you about 94 and just being there. Did you see shows in fall 94 as well?

[Scott Chaslin]

Yes, I saw the majority of the fall 94 tour that year.

[Megan]

So did you see the change in the band that year? We talked a lot about that when we covered the top 25 tours. The growth from this spring tour all the way to the fall tour is pretty incredible. And the fall Tour is of 94. We have that, like, you know, one of the top three, four tours of all time. So I'd love to hear kind of what your perspective was after seeing so much of them that year.

[Scott Chaslin]

Well, they definitely evolved quite a bit in that year. And I think where they arrived was just a place of absolute freedom. They would take all risk, any risk. There was basically no boundaries for where they would go musically. And that's what I love so much about it. As the year went on, every single night, just something insane was happening that you couldn't believe that four musicians were able to do night after night after night. And Even though in 94, it wasn't so much about the set list being unique and never repeating songs, it was a different climate as far as that goes. But musically, what was happening, it was just so unpredictable. And, you know, 50 minute tweezers and 45 minute David Bowie's and Segways like you couldn't believe. And bluegrass was really on their radar at that point. You know, they were on the road with Jeffrey Moser and he was, you know, teaching them all about playing bluegrass. And it was just really a privilege to witness that. And I think I saw 55 shows that year.

[Megan]

Wow, that's amazing. That's incredible. You really saw, like, a lot of the growth, like, and that year especially is so fascinating because it's kind of before Jerry's death. And I think there's so much that, like, the risks they were taking while growing has just always astounded me. But that's really cool that you got to see that. That development in person. Were you at the Grand Rapids show in the fall?

[Scott Chaslin]

I was not the Grand Rapids show.

[Megan]

That was my first shot. I was wondering if we were there.

[Scott Chaslin]

I was, yeah.

[Megan]

Yeah.

[Scott Chaslin]

There was a couple of. A couple of segments of the tour that I. I missed because I actually had to come home and deliver pizza for Domino's so I could make enough money to get back on tour.

[Megan]

Yeah, we had to do what we had to do for sure, man.

[Brian Brinkman]

So, Scott, we had you guys have three shows to prepare for next week. We just announced three shows in March with a fourth one on the way. So I guess my question is, like. And I can maybe phrase this question in the context of this show, because we wanted to talk about some of the highlights. I know that you guys have played a lot of these songs before, but, like, opening a show with. With Caravan, it's. You know, it's. It puts you in a different era of Fish really sonically, and I assume mentally. How. How do the rehearsals start? When you look at a set list, I mean, do you. Do you go through the songs that you've already. That you guys already know and kind of, like, put those to the side now and do the ones that you haven't played yet? Like, how do you approach that when you see a new. A new tune on the set list?

[Scott Chaslin]

That's exactly what we do. We start with the material that we haven't played before. With these three shows coming up next week, there's 16 songs that we haven't done yet, so we'll probably start with a couple of the more difficult ones, you know, Colonel Forbin or Famous Mockingbird or, you know, there's some pretty hard ones in there. And then reviewing the complex songs that we've already played, that's. That's part of it, too. Usually at first, we just get the composition down so we can play it, and then the jamming is always sort of the last thing that we focus on, because that's where we can be more of ourselves within that, you know.

[Brian Brinkman]

Luckily, they're all really hard, so you don't need to, you know.

[Megan]

Yeah, exactly.

[Brian Brinkman]

Like, they're all hard.

[Megan]

This whole first set is, like, stacked. It's just, like, such an energetic. Just like. I mean, there's so much flow in this first set, but it is straight. Just power and energy the whole way, which is something I think that you. The four of you really have in common. With Fish is an ability to create, like, a really intense, wild energy with just four people. But this first set is really relentless. I'm excited to hear you play it because it's really exciting.

[Scott Chaslin]

Yeah, I'm excited to play it, too. I love the glide into divided spirit, guy. That's always.

[Megan]

Oh, yes. I was just thinking about that when I was listening back to it, because they're so good at 94 and balancing, like, very silly stuff with really contemplative, beautiful stuff. And they do that so well.

[Unknown]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Like, Poor Heart and then boom.

[Megan]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, well.

[RJ]

And you get a Lot of this first set kind of goes in a really interesting, like. Like, you get from, like, jazz to bluegrass to weird Prague to something like, Fast enough for you? And so, like, your first four songs are very different sides of fish, and you think, like, foam, and Fast enough for you, back to back, like, that is polar opposite ends of writing music. One is, like, trying to break down all these strange riffs out of time with each other, and then kind of everything comes back to together, and it's really fast, and everything changes quickly, and then fast Enough for you, it's literally all emotion, and it's kind of like one of our first examples of that. I'm curious, as you guys are preparing, especially as you're preparing, like, a spring 94 show versus you guys just did. Was it 12, 28, 95, like, the big December 95 show? Are you. Do you find, like, the challenging aspect to be more recreating something like Foam or something like Divided sky or kind of finding the emotion of where the band was at in a song like, Fast enough for you?

[Unknown]

Well, I think it's. It's. It's balancing all those things.

[Scott Chaslin]

That's what's so great about going to.

[Unknown]

A fish show is you get all those styles and all those different things.

[Scott Chaslin]

All in one set.

[Unknown]

And the difficult part for us is just executing the technicalities. Like Divided Skies is very hard in.

[Scott Chaslin]

Some sections, and foam is very difficult. I love foam. It's one of my favorite ones to play.

[Unknown]

But Fast enough, like, that's. That's something else that's not technically difficult, but.

[RJ]

Right.

[Unknown]

It's emotional. And in reprise, sometimes we don't do.

[Scott Chaslin]

Exactly vocally what Fish did. So I end up singing Fast enough for you? Because I think it's just more of, like, where I'm at as a vocalist, and it just seemed to work for my voice.

[Unknown]

And so that one. I love singing that song, and I don't know if people will be upset because, you know, the keyboardist is singing it, not the guitarist.

[Scott Chaslin]

I'm sure Cal could sing it great, too, but sometimes we pass the vocals around in a little bit of a.

[Unknown]

Different way, but so maybe that answers.

[RJ]

That's.

[Megan]

That's so cool. I'm really excited to hear you play this Foam, because there's. Paige has that gorgeous, huge solo in this version. I was thinking about that, and that's awesome. It must be exciting to get to do that, that one in Foam.

[Unknown]

Yeah, yeah. Foam has a great piano solo that, yeah. Kind of hands it off like.

[Scott Chaslin]

Like a baton and a relay to the guitar solo. I love that.

[Megan]

Yeah. And this version, like, it gets really cool quiet. It's like almost like silent. And then Trey just goes off. Yeah, that's gonna be fun.

[Scott Chaslin]

It does get silent. That's something that they were doing in 94 in some of their improv stuff where they would bring the volume so quietly that you almost couldn't hear them at all. Sometimes they would go to complete silence and there would always be that. That one idiot in the crowd that's like, you know.

[Megan]

I know, I know.

[Scott Chaslin]

During those moments.

[Megan]

So bad.

[RJ]

Those tapes are like. It's so quiet and everyone's being respectful. And there's that one guy you mentioned. This is your guys first time playing Forbin's Mockingbird. Are you guys going to attempt to create your own narration? Are you going like based off of the transcript, like word for word what Trey says? Like, are you guys just going to do the straight through old school Forbin's Mockingbird. Have you thought this through?

[Unknown]

You know, that's a good question, man. I think we have to do a narration of some sort. At our very first weekend of shows, we played Harpua.

[RJ]

Okay.

[Unknown]

And Cal did an approximate narration. It was.

[Scott Chaslin]

It was Sugar Bush 94. So it was the hit in the head with a comet.

[Unknown]

So that was really fun.

[Scott Chaslin]

And this Forbin is a great narration. I mean, Trey always had a way to tie in the local area to the story. So, you know, he has it like you're rising above the arena.

[Unknown]

You see the field house.

[Scott Chaslin]

You see, and he mentions different things like that are actually there geographically. And then, you know, eventually he gets into outer space and somehow you land in Gamehenge.

[Megan]

And this one, you go through the pleasure hole. The. He talks about falling in the night before. Yeah, this is a good one. There's a lot of like, fun stuff in here that you can play with.

[Unknown]

I think I will probably do a.

[Scott Chaslin]

Narration, you know, loosely based on what was done that night.

[Unknown]

That's what I would think.

[Scott Chaslin]

But we haven't gone through it yet.

[Unknown]

So I don't know.

[Megan]

How about the Big Ball Jam? It's a contentious topic here on HFPod. I'd love to hear what you're going to do for that.

[Scott Chaslin]

Well, what.

[Unknown]

What are your thoughts on the Big Ball Jam? I like to hear that too.

[Megan]

I am not a fan. I'm not a fan. I'm sure in the room. I don't even know if I ever saw one. I don't think I ever saw one in the room. I'm sure it was really fun listening back torture. It's just like, it sounds. It sounds horrible. I appreciate what it was used for as, like, a connective tool with the audience and, like, inability to show them that they were part of the show, which I think was so crucial to Fish's development. But, yeah, I could go without.

[Brian Brinkman]

That's how I feel. And I. I never saw it, you know, in. In person. So I'm sure it was different on the. On the tapes. It's. It's. It's rough, man. It's like, so. I mean, it's only, you know, it's only three minutes, but it's just like literal cacophony, you know? So, like, it's. But in the room. I don't know. Like, I guess we should discuss that. Are we bringing balls?

[Unknown]

Well, first, let me tell you how.

[Scott Chaslin]

I feel about Big Ball Jam as.

[Unknown]

An audience member, because I saw many.

[Scott Chaslin]

Of them night after night after night. They did it over and over again.

[Unknown]

And it's just as brutal in the room.

[Megan]

I feel so validated right now.

[Unknown]

Good, good.

[Scott Chaslin]

I'm glad I could provide that for you.

[RJ]

I remember reading about the Big Ball Jam when I was first getting into Fish, and I was like, this sounds like the coolest thing in the world. And then I got my first tape with a Big Ball Jam on it, and I was like, wait, what? That's what it sounds like. It's one of the few moments where reading the description about music sounds cool than the actual music.

[Megan]

Yeah, exactly.

[Scott Chaslin]

I. I would agree. I mean, it was fun to witness. I gotta say, in all of the shows that I saw then, I never got to hold the ball. You know, maybe that's why I'm so, so bitter about it.

[Megan]

Exactly.

[Scott Chaslin]

Because they, you know, they would react to whatever was happening. There was three balls, one for Paige, Mike and Trey. And Fishman would just keep the kind of maniac groove going the whole time. And whatever was happening with the ball respective to each band member, they would try to musically say whatever was happening. So if someone was holding the ball and shaking it, you know, Trey would imitate that with what he was playing. And it just.

[Unknown]

It was fun the first time, but.

[Scott Chaslin]

Over and over again, it was. It was kind of rough, just as you guys said. What are we gonna do? I have no idea.

[RJ]

I mean, you've got your own Brad Sands here, I think. I think rj. Rj, you've got to bring the balls and throw them out on stage. And I feel like RJ needs to jump on the trampolines.

[Megan]

He's doing the trance for sure. For sure.

[Brian Brinkman]

That seems like. It seems like now what we should do.

[Megan]

Come on, rj. This is your chance to jump on the trampoline on the stage. That is so fun.

[Scott Chaslin]

Rj, welcome to the show.

[Brian Brinkman]

Well, that's a good question. I am coming to the first two. I don't know if I'm coming to Sunday night yet. So now this would. This is a whole. This is a whole different discussion.

[RJ]

Sorry.

[Scott Chaslin]

Who's going to throw the balls out if you're not there, man?

[Brian Brinkman]

I know. Well, who is. I know.

[RJ]

Like, the bartender's gonna do it. Come on.

[Brian Brinkman]

I know. How would they even be able to figure that out? Um, Brian, what. Brian, what were your. Do you have any. Any highlights from this first set? Like, anything that you. That particularly stuck out to you?

[RJ]

I mean, I think two things really stuck out. Scott was talking about the Caravan being so special. I was just looking this up. This is the only other. The only time it ever opened a show, which is a really cool way into the overall show. This song hasn't been played since 12, 29, 96. And like, I can't really see why. You know, I kind of get. Take the A train. Like, that's a very. It's like a basic entry level, like, jazz standard that you like, kind of have to learn. Like, I guess Caravan falls in that category. But it also sounds like something that they could segue out of right now. So I would. I'm just gonna advocate for that to, to come. To come back. But you know, Meg, you were talking about, and Scott, you mentioned this based on how many shows you. You saw in summer. 94 or throughout 94. Excuse me. Like, this is such a different band from what we're going to hear within 10 months. And even in some ways, this is a very different band from what we heard in August 93. This is a band that just released Hoist. So, like, it's a very tight show. It's a very kind of forward rock driven type show. But it's. It was really interesting to me. In the Divided sky, you just started to hear as the, as the composition was peaking, these just kind of back and forth little moments and like, they only last like 10 seconds. We're not talking, like huge diversions here, but there's definitely, like, you can start to hear the band kind of kicking around ideas in their head and seeing what can we do to distort the expected peak of this song so that people are thrown off a little bit. And the peak is going to Come. It's not like they're changing the way the divided sky ends, but, like, I could just hear towards the end of that, them kind of kicking around ideas and figuring out, like, how do we escape how this song is written?

[Unknown]

Which.

[RJ]

Which feels like such a huge foreshadowing of where the year is going to go. Hey, this is Steve Choi, host of the Musicians Guild Podcast, part of the Sound Talent Media Podcast Network. Within the four walls of the Musicians Guild, we'll be discussing the habits, idiosyncrasies, experiences, and general psychology of my friends and peers all involved with music in various capacities. Listen and [e-mail].

[Unknown]

This is Chris Demaiks, guitarist and vocalist for Less Than Jake and host of Krista Makes a Podcast, a songwriting podcast, where every week I'm joined by an amazing guest to break down the writing, recording, and release of one iconic song from their career. In our giant evergreen back catalog of episodes, we've had rock legends such as Dee Snider and Huey Lewis, punk rock favorites like Mark Hoppus, Fat Mike and Brett Gurewitz, and up and coming artists of today such as Liz Stokes of the Beths and Genesis Owusu. We've had guests from all genres and styles of music, and I guarantee that if you peruse our back catalog, you'll see several episodes that'll make you say, man, I gotta hear that. Whether you're a fan of music or a creator of music yourself, you'll take away a whole new appreciation for the songs you know and love. Krista Makes a Podcast is available for free on all the places you could possibly listen to podcasts. And new episodes come out every. Every Monday.

[Scott Chaslin]

Yeah.

[Brian Brinkman]

Yeah, that's. That's interesting. It's so much change during this time. I mean, the one thing I was going to ask Scott, I don't know how long it lasted when, like, Julius was new this tour and they had those, like, they were, like, playing the horn lines within the. Within the song, and then they kind of dropped that. I don't know if that was. That might have been this tour, like, I think by. Even by fall 94, I don't think they were, like, carrying those little horn lines over. Just to Brian's point. Is there anything, like, musically that you see as kind of like how you would characterize it, you know, in this spring time period that's different from even, like, fall 94 when you're. Especially when you're thinking about playing?

[Scott Chaslin]

I think in the spring, they were still, you know, for the most part Keeping the songs within a certain structure. And it wasn't just total adventurous improvisation, you know, like, you know, the. You Enjoy Myself basically follows the same formula that. I mean, none of those big jam vehicle songs were in this particular show actually, so. But the. The nights before that in Binghamton, the mic song from that night is pretty insane. And that was the first time I had ever heard Mike song. And they were still doing trampolines in that song as well. I don't know if you guys realize that.

[Brian Brinkman]

Right, right.

[Megan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Scott Chaslin]

There were trampolines during the mic's jam and insane strobe lights with smoke. Oh, yeah, that was the vibe during that song. I was losing my mind during that part. And yeah, I mean, this was the pathway that would lead them towards much more fearless jamming and improv later in the year. But you're starting to see signs of it here and there. I really love, like you were saying, Brian, about. About the jazz tunes, McGilla was actually Fish's version of a short little jazz jam, you know. Yeah, I love that they played that a lot. Especially in. In this spring of 94, they actually opened that Binghamton show with McGilla and I was so excited about that. And it's similar to Caravan in that, you know, jazz vibe. It's based on a 1, 6 2, 5 chord progression and B flat. You know, if we're going to get super geeky here, why not? That's what we're here for, right?

[Unknown]

We're here for super geeks.

[RJ]

It adds. It's a very different feel to the start of a Fish show than a rock song with a jazz song later. Like, you're right. Having Caravan open this and then Miguela McGilla later in the set, it kind of dominates the show in a way that the horns were at the Beacon Run, I believe, at least one of those nights. But it's kind of the first time since what, you know, like 91 where, like, horns are a major part of. Or jazz is a major part of a Fish show here. It's just. It's a. It's a really cool addition.

[Megan]

I think they were doing that a lot at the beginning of this. Well, this whole year thinking about how different styles of music can play their shows. And this show is like the seventh show on this tour out of 44 shows. This is our top tour, 22 out of top 25. And you can see a difference even in development throughout this tour. You know, it's a full country loop. And I think by the end of the tour, they're Playing totally different shows out west. And so it's pretty cool to see the development even just within this tour. I mean, which makes sense because it's such a monster tour. But this had to feel challenging. When they just get out, they're on the seventh show or the sixth show and Trey hurts himself. It had to be hard to come back. But you see them come back the next night and just play this, like, incredible, energetic, incredibly energetic first set. And I think that's what Fish was doing so well in.94 is just playing so tight. And you can hear that in this first set especially. I think the first set's better than the second set too. Just as far as, like, flow.

[RJ]

I thought it float a little bit nicer. Yeah. Your, your point about like, early on in this tour, Trey hurting himself. Like, this is a really big pressure tour. They've just released Hoist. This is a lot of marketing behind it. This is right around the time we talked about this, where Blues Traveler and Dave Matthews Band have put out hit records and Fish is kind of trying to figure out what that looks like. And Trey gets hurt in a way that, like, you know, he's not a stage performer, but he does, he does kind of need to aggressively stand out on stage and showcase, you know, his skills. And if he's got a boot on his foot, it messes with that. And so what do they do? Of course, they like, turn it into part of the gag. Like Trey sitting on stage, reading the newspaper and like joking around. Brad Sands coming outside out on stage to jump on the trampoline. Like Scott said, said, like, fans doing that over the next couple weeks, like, it's a band that you're, you're seeing. Even when there's challenges that they have to face at like a really important time, they're still able to like, inject some humor into it, which is great.

[Scott Chaslin]

Yeah.

[Brian Brinkman]

Scott, let me, let me ask you a question. Just because, like, we did this Top 25 Tours project, which we've mentioned a few times, where we like went through and you know, we, we got into serious depth on all of it and apparently the fans, our fans really loved it because they kept coming back and sending us nice messages. But what, what do you think, like, pushed them between spring into summer into fall of 94 to like the point where now, you know what, six months from this show, we're getting like a 40 minute jam. Like, do you think that this was like a conscious effort to push themselves? Do you think they just found themselves, like, with more space to explore like from a musician's perspective. I'm just curious, like, how do you. How do you rationalize that or explain it if you're thinking about that evolution?

[Scott Chaslin]

I think what happens in a band that improvises a lot is when you play every night like Fish was doing that year, you just. You just develop insane characters, chemistry together. And that's just how it unfolded for them. I mean, they played that year. I don't know. They played over a hundred shows.

[Megan]

I'm sure they played over 100 shows for like five, six years in a row. Like during that.

[RJ]

Just kept doing this.

[Megan]

It was crazy. It was crazy. Like 140 shows. It was wild.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it's crazy. So crazy. Just what happens when you play night.

[Scott Chaslin]

After night after night after night. And, you know, maybe there was a conscious discussion that happened, like, let's really stretch out on the improv. Or maybe not. Maybe that was just organic and it happened that way. You know, when I, when I was on the road with Hulu a lot, we did a couple years where we had, you know, 200 plus shows in 2000, 2001, and Hulu was complete improvisation within, you know, instrumental music. And we found ourselves doing the same thing where we would stretch out on songs, not ever discussing anything musical, just whatever happened on stage. You kind of develop this telepathy with your bandmates. And that's what Phish had going on too. And they still have that now. It's just. It's more refined. I think back then it was so raw and so exciting in a way, because that had never happened for them.

[RJ]

Before, you know, Can I ask you about, like. Because that's that what you just spoke about, something that I think is like the dividing line between the non musical, like the non musician fans and the musician fans is like what happens on stage when big things happen, when like, you know, huge jams happen or like huge show happens. And you said, like, you guys weren't really planning for these extended jams. They just kind of happen because you build up this telepathy. Do you find that it's just kind of one of those things that over time something amazing happens during a show that if you had talked about, if you had planned for, if you had tried to position yourself to do, never would have happened. You kind of just have to, like, build up the reps and get. Get to that point. Or is it sketching out ideas and kind of having a, you know, like a weekly meeting, like any sort of team in a company would have of, like, we're going after this goal, this is how we. How we go after it is a little bit more of, like, a vibe than that.

[Scott Chaslin]

I don't think it works like that. You know, it's not. It's not like a business proposal. You can't. You can't put an outline of how you want to make music.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Scott Chaslin]

You know, it comes from the heart, and it comes from the soul of the people who are creating it. And, I mean, I can't speak for what happens inside of the minds of the guys in other bands, but the way it works for me is you just. You listen to everybody else on stage and you respond to what everybody's playing. And when everybody's able to have that kind of a conversation within the music, there's kind of no limit to where you can go, you know? And I'm sure that that's what happened for Fish, too. It's just. You can't plan it. It just doesn't work that way.

[RJ]

Yeah. Yeah, that's. That's really cool insight. I appreciate you sharing that.

[Scott Chaslin]

Yeah, man.

[RJ]

Also appreciate that we're getting a dash cam or dash light podcast here. This is. This is a first.

[Megan]

So awesome.

[Scott Chaslin]

My strobe show.

[Brian Brinkman]

Just speak. Just stay safe in that car. Let's talk quickly about the second set, because this is interesting. As I was listening to it in the context of this conversation, I think I've heard you guys play almost all these songs in person, except obviously, we talked about Forbin Mockingbird. A few of them were played at the 122895 recreation. But it's interesting when you think about, like, some of those songs like maze or. Or 2001, or songs that you've played, and you played a 95 version, you played a 97 version, you played a 99 version, you're playing 94 version. Like, and you might have played a 94 version of. Of 2001 before, maybe Sugar Bush or whatever. But, yeah, like, when you. When you go to prep for these. I know that California kind of, like, calibrates his. His pedals and the effects he uses to the. To the era, but to me, that seems like some of the most complicated part is, like, figuring out, you know, you don't want to accidentally, like, go into the 97 funk jam in 2001 just because it's fun, you know? So how do you, like, how do you mentally stay in that era during these shows?

[Scott Chaslin]

Well, we have to remember what was going on in that year on that.

[Unknown]

Tour for our shows next week.

[Scott Chaslin]

2001 is, in all three of them. And we haven't announced what the other.

[Unknown]

Two shows are, but, you know, two of them are 2000, which are very straightforward.

[Scott Chaslin]

You know, four minutes, five minutes.

[Unknown]

And then one of them is stretched out into, like, a huge jam, which happened a few years after 94.

[Scott Chaslin]

You know, every time they played 2001, which basically was every night at this point, it was just exactly what it was. Structure, no jamming. And it was cool.

[Unknown]

But I personally, I love stretching that.

[Scott Chaslin]

One out because it's, you know, it's in C minor.

[Unknown]

That's a great key to stretch out on, and just. It's a fun groove and super cool. So we just have to remember what.

[Scott Chaslin]

Happened in the original show.

[Unknown]

Like, this 2001 doesn't get jammed out, so we.

[Scott Chaslin]

We're not going to play it that way.

[Unknown]

And that's the same that goes for the other songs, you know, as far as the tones go. Yeah, Cal.

[Scott Chaslin]

Cal is dialed into what Trey had going on in his rig in the early 90s. And in 94. 95 is much different than 94 as far as, you know, he had a Leslie cabinet in 95 and was experimenting with, like, this tremolo effect kind of sounds. And in 94, he didn't have any of that.

[Unknown]

It was more. He had this crazy pedal that would. I forget what pedal it was.

[Scott Chaslin]

I remember him explaining it at some point in 94, and.

[Unknown]

And cows. Cal is dialing in.

[Scott Chaslin]

You know, the. A lot of the stuff that Trey was doing. And as far as keys go, Paige didn't have that much to work with at that point.

[Unknown]

He had his piano, he had a.

[Scott Chaslin]

Hammond organ, and he had a Rhodes, and he didn't have the Clavinet until July of 94.

[Unknown]

So Big Birch, that was the first.

[Scott Chaslin]

Show that he ever used the Cloud.

[Megan]

Wow, that's crazy.

[Scott Chaslin]

I was at that show, and I watched the roadies take the Clavinet off.

[Unknown]

The bus and carry it to the stage. I was like, oh, my God, he's got a Clavette.

[Scott Chaslin]

This is such a great day.

[Megan]

Oh, my God. That's so cool that you saw that. That's incredible.

[Unknown]

I saw that.

[Scott Chaslin]

I carried it from the bus to the stage, and he barely played it that night. We did recreate Big Birch over the summer, and I only got to play the Clav for five minutes.

[Megan]

Come on, Paige.

[Scott Chaslin]

He was really shy with the Clavinet.

[Unknown]

At first until he. He got more comfortable playing it, you.

[Scott Chaslin]

Know, maybe the following year or two. And now it's huge part of its sound.

[RJ]

One thing I Was noticing in the second set is Trey goes to the Sunshine of your love riff quite often. Yeah. And it kind of got me thinking of like, you know, the kind of riffs that you learn when you learn how to play guitar, learn how to play piano, and like you come back to. And they're just like these familiar. Like Trey has it with Streets of Cairo. It's like when in Doubt, the streets of Kiowa rift comes out and then the jam can like go from there. Are there any riffs for you that like, you learned and just particularly hit you, you know, as a piano player and like you just. You throw out in the middle of jams just kind of as like comfort food almost.

[Scott Chaslin]

Oh, boy.

[Unknown]

I don't know if there's any specific songs or riffs that come through. I mean, I think as listeners, we hear things that other musicians play and think, oh, they're quoting something.

[Scott Chaslin]

But they might not be doing that intentionally. Like, I don't really quote things intentionally.

[Unknown]

But I think my influences come through even if it's not a direct quote. I don't know. I don't think there's anything specifically that I. That I would.

[RJ]

Our good friend Ryan Storm would call these coincidental chord progressions where we as the listener, like, oh, he's, he's playing that and you're just like, no, no, I'm just. I just play in this area and so it works.

[Unknown]

Right?

[Scott Chaslin]

I think that, like, for me personally, that is probably more of that.

[Brian Brinkman]

Scott, for. For those people who are listening who haven't seen Reprise, I think we've been talking about, you know, recreating these shows to, to the era or to the Forum. But you guys also really go off the map in terms of improv. Like, I think for the 12, 295 show that was covered last time you all played at Bridgeport, you know that Tweezer jam is like iconic in for a very specific riff. And you guys took it in like a totally different direction, which I think was like, really fun for the people there. And like that Reba that night, that was when Cal had the like, you know, three minute peak solo during Reba, which is not exactly what happens on the show. So how do you guys think about that? It was really awesome, really great. How do you guys think about that? Like, do you have conversations about these jams where they go in a specific direction or do you just try to stay in the moment and stay true to the kind of playing?

[Unknown]

Well, it depends on the jam and on what song it is. Like, particularly on that Reba from Park.

[Scott Chaslin]

City, which was 122 95.

[Unknown]

I think that's actually the song where.

[Scott Chaslin]

Cow's contacts fell out.

[Megan]

Yes, I remember that he had to, like.

[Unknown]

He had to go get his glasses.

[Scott Chaslin]

And I made jerky boy jokes while he was.

[Unknown]

While he was getting them.

[Scott Chaslin]

My shoes and my glasses. So I have them. But that's a really good question, RJ.

[Unknown]

Because the last show that we did was 122895 Worcester Centrum, and there's a tweezer on that show that is 22 minutes long, and there's some really specific things that happen during that jam, and we talked about them, and we tried to hit the main points that happened while still trying to be ourselves. And I think in the 12295 New.

[Scott Chaslin]

Haven show, we didn't really outline the original Tweezer jam at all. We just kind of did our own thing with it. So I think it depends on what happened originally and if there were things that were characteristic enough that we feel, oh, we.

[Unknown]

We should quote that.

[Scott Chaslin]

Or we should reference that, you know, because sometimes that can actually inhibit us from playing and. And being ourselves. When.

[Unknown]

If we're in a.

[Megan]

I really hope he comes back. I'm really interested in what he was saying.

[RJ]

It's like, right on the cusp.

[Megan]

Yes.

[Unknown]

There it is.

[RJ]

There it is. Say what you were gonna say.

[Scott Chaslin]

Sorry, I got a phone call.

[Unknown]

If you're.

[Scott Chaslin]

If you're thinking while you're playing, then you're not in the moment anymore, you know?

[Megan]

Yeah.

[Scott Chaslin]

So we always have this discussion, like, well, how.

[Unknown]

How much of this do we want to predetermine, or do we want to.

[Scott Chaslin]

Just go and play and be who we are?

[Unknown]

And I don't know if that's disappointing for people who come out to hear a specific show. They're like, oh, I was. I was at that show.

[Scott Chaslin]

And that's not how that tweezer went.

[Unknown]

But, you know, we're not fish either, and we're for other musicians who, you know, have a lot to say with our own voices. And I think it's. That's always the question. The philosophical question is, are we gonna play what we feel, or are we.

[Scott Chaslin]

Trying to recreate exactly what happened?

[Unknown]

So it's a challenge.

[Scott Chaslin]

I don't know.

[RJ]

Well, it's one of the. If you're covering a band that doesn't really improvise in concert, like, the goal then is just like, how do we nail the songs? How do we give people the exact feeling? But, like, what is the exact feeling you're looking for from a Fish show, it's the unknown, and you're kind of giving the best of both worlds where we'll give you the show structure. And we're going to think about how they approach this jam, but we're also going to interpret it from our own hearts and minds. And, you know, like, we're going to show how we would play in that kind of broad style. Have you guys ever thought, though, about, like, charting out a jam and trying to play like. Like, approaching it like a composition? Or are you guys just, like. So let's not go down that road?

[Unknown]

Yeah, we have, actually. I did chart out that tweezer from 122895 when we played at the Iron Horse last month.

[Scott Chaslin]

I wrote it out, and we had.

[Unknown]

It on stage so that it wouldn't require us to remember things. Like, here's a snap. If you want to glance at it, you can.

[Scott Chaslin]

And that way you're not digging into your memory, like, oh, God, what comes next? What happens next? Because as soon as that happens, then you're not creating in the moment anymore. Exactly.

[Unknown]

And, you know, those guys are such creative monsters.

[Scott Chaslin]

Adrian and Chris and Cal, like, they. They have their own ideas constantly, all the time, musically, that come through. And I'm sure that even if we didn't follow what Fish did, that those guys would have so much to say regardless. But, yeah, I think the map is helpful for. Especially when something is that long, 22 minutes long, it's like.

[Unknown]

Well, you know, there's a lot of twists and turns that.

[Scott Chaslin]

That happen.

[Unknown]

And in that particular jam, there was.

[Scott Chaslin]

A lot of cool things that happened. There was some vocal outbursts that just came out of nowhere. They.

[Unknown]

They just started singing random riffs that.

[Scott Chaslin]

They were playing, and then there was a whole, like, synth part and then.

[Unknown]

A bass solo, and it was like a whole composition in itself.

[Scott Chaslin]

And that's what was amazing about 95. I know that's not the year we're really talking about, but it felt to me like in that year they were composing improvisationally on the spot. It almost was like, okay, this is a complete. You know, this is a complete idea.

[RJ]

Yeah, I felt that, too, when we. We listened to fall 95. I don't know if you guys felt that, but I definitely felt that.

[Megan]

Yeah, definitely. Is there a certain jam or song or era that you are just dying to cover? Is there? You know, do you just think back, like, oh, I really want to play this jam.

[Scott Chaslin]

We're already doing it.

[Unknown]

94 is the year for me. I love these shows. So Much.

[Scott Chaslin]

And anything we get to play from.

[Unknown]

This year is my favorite. And I'm so psyched to do the New Hampshire show and whatever else comes up in the future. You know, having been part of so many of those shows, it's like, it's so meaningful to me personally. And, you know, where I was at.

[Scott Chaslin]

In my life in 1994. Hulu hadn't started yet.

[Unknown]

I was not sure how I was going to become a musician.

[Scott Chaslin]

I just knew it was going to happen somehow.

[Unknown]

And watching those guys do it night after night was just, you know, that sealed the deal for me. Okay, I want to do that. And now getting to actually do that specifically from the shit that I saw is kind of this full circle craziness that I'm just so, so excited about.

[Megan]

It's really meta.

[Brian Brinkman]

Yeah. 30 years later.

[Megan]

Yeah, exactly. That's amazing.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

[Brian Brinkman]

Scott, I know you're on your way to rehearsal, and I appreciate you taking the time to do this. Any other questions? Megan? Brian, for Scott.

[RJ]

The only question I didn't get to ask is, do you have a favorite fish song to play? And have you guys played it live yet?

[Unknown]

Oh, boy. Well, we've done 96 songs so far.

[Megan]

Wow. That's a lot. That's wild.

[Unknown]

That's a lot. And only eight shows. I'm trying to think if there's any. My favorite. I really love playing foam.

[Scott Chaslin]

That might be my favorite right now.

[Unknown]

That'll change tomorrow.

[Scott Chaslin]

But that's my favorite right now.

[RJ]

It's got to be one of those, like, when you actually, like, nail it, it's just. You feel like you've just leveled up.

[Scott Chaslin]

Yes. We haven't done that yet. We played it at Big Birch. I made a couple mistakes and I was very upset with myself. I'm a huge perfectionist, and I don't tolerate my own mistakes very well. I'm much more tolerant of other people's mistakes, so I'm looking forward to getting another chance at foam.

[RJ]

Love it.

[Megan]

That's killer. Is there a moment that you've had that has been kind of your favorite moment playing with Reprise so far? Like, one moment that stood out of being like. That was just such a killer moment.

[Unknown]

Yes.

[Scott Chaslin]

I think when we played in Asbury.

[Unknown]

A few months ago and we did.

[Scott Chaslin]

The 6282000 PNC show, we had a.

[Unknown]

Couple of improv things that happened during.

[Scott Chaslin]

The second set that were. That were really elevating for me. Like the bathtub gin and maybe the Weka pug had some cool stuff. No, not the weak. A pug. The bathtub gin from that. Yeah, was one of my favorite things. And then when we played at Lark hall, we did the. We did the bring the dude show. And the weak pug from that was one of my favorite things that we've done.

[Megan]

Nice.

[Brian Brinkman]

Scott. I just want to say that I've been. I. I think I'm. I think I've. I think I've seen six out of eight reprise shows, so I've been to a lot of them, and I talk to people every time, and no one has ever said, I wish they had played that jam more like the original. So I think, you know, exactly the balance you guys are striking is. Is really resonating with people, and it's interesting to talk to people, like, at that Park City show, because the show you guys did there was so, like, such an iconic show, 12, 2 95. So many people from that, you know, area in Connecticut had gone to that show. So many people were like, that was my first show ever. And you guys kind of, like, put your own spin on it. But at the end of the night, people were like, I can't believe I got to, like, revisit my first show in a different way. So I think, like, the. I think the putting the spin on it while keeping the true to the era is, like, really. That balance is really working great.

[Scott Chaslin]

Great. I hope so. I hope that people feel that way, and I'm glad people feel that way. I'm so happy that people are checking out what we're doing, and, you know, if it brings you back to a.

[Unknown]

Show that you saw or allows you.

[Scott Chaslin]

To experience a show that you didn't see, you know that that's what it's all about. So that's really cool.

[RJ]

Love it.

[Megan]

Yeah. And you're not announcing what you're playing at Park City, huh? When. When are we getting this? I want to know what I'm going to see next week.

[Scott Chaslin]

Tomorrow.

[Megan]

Okay. Okay. I can wait till tomorrow. Yeah, I can.

[Scott Chaslin]

Okay.

[Megan]

Okay.

[Scott Chaslin]

Yeah.

[Brian Brinkman]

We kind of moved up the announcement because of this show. Scott was like, shit. I guess we better get ready to better push this back a little bit. So just so everyone knows, you can go to repriseband.com to get the dates we got. There's three shows next week. Soundcheck Studios, Park City Music hall, and then Stone Church. And then in March, there's a fourth show that's going to be announced hopefully tomorrow. But there are three shows in March as well, including Saratoga Springs, Brooklyn Bowl, New York, and then Dharma Bums in New Hope near where I am. So check out repriseband.com. get tickets. Come check them out. Come say hi. Scott, thank you so much for joining us. This was a lot of fun.

[Scott Chaslin]

It was.

[Unknown]

It was great. Thank you so much for having me on, you guys. I love talking with you about this stuff.

[Megan]

Thanks, Scott.

[RJ]

Thanks, dude.

[Scott Chaslin]

Thanks for making my drive that much more.

[Megan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Unknown]

I'm actually learning now.

[Scott Chaslin]

Let me.

[Unknown]

Let me get back to this.

[Brian Brinkman]

Okay. All right. See you, Scott.

[Scott Chaslin]

All right, later.

[Brian Brinkman]

Bye, Scott. All right, guys. So we. Okay, Brian, do you want to do any sort of programming update or are we just. Are we. We're back to our week.

[Megan]

We have something to do before we leave today.

[Scott Chaslin]

Yeah.

[RJ]

I can't believe you. After all of the aggro RJ that we've gotten in this last week. Both in our text chat about unbelievable. As well as Ohio State, their dominating win on Friday evening, as well as the Philadelphia Eagles as. As rj, celebrating the fact that the Sixers are not going to be taken out of a public fund to build a $1 billion stadium, which is a win for the city of Philadelphia. What else has happened in your favor? I'm trying to think.

[Megan]

There's just been such a good week for rj, kind of everything else. I don't know, maybe there was like a crown that I had to give to you, remember? Do you remember, Brian?

[RJ]

I'm just putting this up in advance just to make sure that nobody, nobody crosses the gaslighting line here. Let's. Let's get a banner up here really quickly for our fish show. 2024 draft winner, champion RJB.

[Brian Brinkman]

Thanks, guys.

[Megan]

Congratulations on your win.

[Brian Brinkman]

R. Well, I just, you know, the floor.

[RJ]

Please go ahead, share your thoughts.

[Brian Brinkman]

Guys. This is a great month. We got Ohio State in the national championship. We got me winning a draft. We got me going to the Relics 50th anniversary party on Wednesday. We got me going to two Reprise shows next week. And we have me being friends with Brian and Megan, which really is barely.

[Megan]

After surprise of all. Barely.

[Brian Brinkman]

Hey, it was a tough match, everybody. You know, both teams played hard. All three teams played hard. But, you know, at the end of the day, there can only be one winner. And 99 times out of 100, it's Megan. And, you know, I'm just happy to. Happy to have my one.

[RJ]

Then you and I just like, flip back and forth for half the other times.

[Megan]

I just want to tell you that, rj, you have now won the same amount of drafts that I've won.

[Brian Brinkman]

No.

[Megan]

So it's true. And yeah, although I probably won't give you as much shit as you gave me after this last one, but we'll see. Maybe you're gonna have to start earning more shit from me because I just want to let the listeners know that it did not stop after we went off air. I continued to be harassed via text.

[Brian Brinkman]

I don't even know what you're talking about.

[Megan]

Yep, it's true.

[RJ]

So who won? I am totally blanking on this. Who won our Fish Years draft back last year?

[Megan]

The first draft we did. Yeah, Me.

[RJ]

That was Meg. And then I won the Tweezer draft, and then RJ won the summer 2024 draft, and then Meg. So I. I'm. I am now lagging behind you guys. This is really, really annoying. For your idea. For my idea.

[Megan]

Maniacs need to get behind Brian. Build him up here.

[RJ]

I've been. I've been thinking on my long walks with the. With the dogs. What is my strategy next time? I just gonna abandon the shows I like and just try to appeal to the masses like Megan does.

[Megan]

Oh, my. Want to let everybody know I was called a pop song this week. It was so offensive to me, of all people. Called a pop song. Unbelievable. I pick shows that I like, Brian. Just so you know, I really like 2 23, 24. Quite a bit like that show. Quite a bit. Quite a bit like 7:30. Quite a bit. So much that I picked it in the first round, even though I probably didn't need to, thereby blowing my whole draft. So there you go.

[Brian Brinkman]

You did not need to. You did not need to pick 7:31st. I think that was it.

[Megan]

I know.

[Brian Brinkman]

I think that actually does prove that you were. That you were just doing your. You know, you were doing your best to. To just follow your heart.

[Megan]

I thought that was the best summer show and it was too stacked of a category. So I've learned my lesson. We all make mistakes, you know, Even the best of us.

[RJ]

I learned my lesson too. Nobody gives a. About Albany 2024. And the fact that I tried to, like, hold that category as, like, that will save me. Nobody cared. Nobody would.

[Megan]

Nobody cared.

[Brian Brinkman]

Listen, not a single person, you know, who cares.

[RJ]

Has anyone ever texted you, yes, two months and been like, hey, dude, this happened in Albany.

[Brian Brinkman]

Yeah, the drink maniac. They're back listening to Albany. Oh, they're doing it. Listening to Albany. You know what else they're listening to? They're listening to that. That 85 whipping post. They're still listening to that. Trying to just make sure they understand.

[RJ]

I would die on that hill. You know what? It you want to align yourself with fish noobs who are like, oh, I'm not gonna listen to 85 fish because it's too early. And the soundboarding quality is just isn't really there. Like, come on, dude. That is the show. That is the jam that created Fish. Jesus.

[Megan]

How could you not have that in your draft? It's unbelievable.

[RJ]

I don't understand. So back to regular scheduled programming now that we've gotten out of the way that RJ finally won a draft. Great job, rj. What are we doing next week?

[Megan]

We don't even to be announced.

[Brian Brinkman]

You're. You're choosing it, aren't you, Brian?

[RJ]

I'm happy to choose it if you want me to choose it.

[Brian Brinkman]

I think you should choose it. Maniacs would appreciate it.

[RJ]

I will choose a show for next Monday. We're going to do it Monday. RJ came up with a great idea. Next Monday is going to be a bit of an intense day for us, for large parts of this country. Don't come at me if you're like, hey, man, I'm super stoked. And now you're oppressing me. Like, hey, you can be stoked. Okay, that's fine. But we are going to create some alternative programming for next Monday. We're gonna go live. What time?

[Brian Brinkman]

12:00.

[RJ]

12:00. 12:00 Eastern. We'll be taking our oath of fish office. And, you know, we're accepting donations. No less than a million dollars to come and watch us talk about a show to be announced. But we'll do that next Monday. And then what do we've got? Like, we've got another episode coming up in January. We've also got a library card episode. There's a lot happening around here, and you can tell it's the early part of this year because we have no idea what we're actually talking about until we sort out a series for ourselves.

[Megan]

Yep, we have a lot of admin work to do, but you know us, we'll do it.

[Brian Brinkman]

We'll do it. We'll always do it. And I do hope that people understand that. You know, the 25 top tour project was amazing. And we were listening to 30 to 40 shows a week at least parts of them. Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on who you are. But we were doing a lot. And so we're kind of just listening to one show a week. But we're going to keep bringing you amazing banter, in depth discussion and analysis and more. Brian Brinkman. So everyone just stay tuned.

[Megan]

It's going to and we're going to have a new series. It's just not going to start till the spring, right? We're going to do a bigger project. It's just going to start a little bit later. It's not. We're not abandoning that. We just need a little respite to. To do something else besides listen to Fish all the time.

[RJ]

A lot of random shows through March and then early April we will start the new series, which we'll be deciding and announcing here shortly. Just as long as some people read the doc.

[Brian Brinkman]

Yep. Yeah, rj Read the doc, everyone, and read the doc. We'll see you later. Thank you.

[Megan]

Bye everyone.

[RJ]

Sarus.

[Robert Rodriguez]

I don't think it overstates things to say that the Beatles were the greatest gift to entertainment and culture of our time. A secular religion, if you will, with their universal appeal and demonstrable impact on people's lives. I'm Robert Rodriguez, host of Something about the Beatles. With every episode I speak with historians, musicians, artists and Beatle witnesses, all in the service of fresh insights into the most joyous cultural entity the world has ever known. I hope you'll join me and listen to something about the Beatles now at Evergreen and wherever you get your podcasts.

[Unknown]

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