Grey April 12, 2012, 00:15:25

This is funny because I knew Tomato from way back because of their friendship with what use to be the mighty Ween and the dirty Jersey rock scene of the mid to late 90’s. Chris Hartford, Instant Death, etc… He’s a true performer if you’ve ever seen S.O.U with an unbelievable guitar player in the mix. Still back in the days of no stage shows at the Saint in NJ it was clear that they were not a band saying anything new and I hate to say that cause he’s a really chill cat. Phish has been my favorite functioning band since I started to learn that making music has little to do with being a performer. Not all artists are entertainers and Trey hits it right on the bullseye. Music business success has more to do with a right time, right place kind of stance. Musical “success” for musicians, especially improvisational ones, is for me at least, about going blank, communicating with the air or another person and getting myself off. If you look at Phish’s tour ticket sales from when they returned in 2009 to this summer’s tour you can see that they are a band riding on a well deserved merit for their time of actually breaking new ground on an almost daily basis. When they returned, tickets were being sold for thousands. Usually they sell out their tours in minutes. This year that didn’t happen because to say it simply WE lived while we were young and like improvisational music, the only art form that moves at the speed of life cannot go back in time. That question does not need to be addressed anymore and IMO that’s why Phish is and was an all around musical and financial success. They did it. Right place, right time, meticulous hard work doing what you love and the need to play as any real musician knows. You have to play to keep your sanity and whether its for an audience of thousands or alone in your basement and if you are lucky and driven your passion will transcend into communication with an audience or yourself alone. I’ll still see Phish as much as I can simply because I have a connection to their music but I know not to expect the life changing experiences they guided me through nearly as much as they once did. Real musicians will always play whether they are getting paid or not, in front of an audience or not.That IMO is musical success. “It’s only rock n roll but I like it” to the kid in his/hers parents basement who is going to generate the next milestone and change in the transcendental ancient sonic language. If you are creating and making art with the main focus on being able to support yourself, go into advertising because you haven’t learned what art is for and why it exists yet. When you genuinely figure that out you will have succeeded.