Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Michael Eliot "Mike" Gordonis a bass guitar player and vocalist most recognized as a founding member and bassist for the rock band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon is an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, and guitar. He is also a filmmaker and author. He has released four solo studio albums...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBassist
Date of Birth3 June 1965
CitySudbury, MA
CountryUnited States of America
ball defense helped playing threw
We just had to keep playing hard. We started trapping the ball and they just threw it away. Our defense really helped our offense.
american-musician band blues covers dangerous dead fish played side typical
Actually Fish and I had this side band that played a lot of Dead covers and stuff, called the Dangerous Grapes. Also Allmans, typical blues stuff.
amazes fact fans gets great key locked musician playing time unlocks willing
It's like he's a key that gets in there and unlocks part of my playing or sensibility as a musician that is there all the time but it's locked up. Just the fact that he's willing to do the whole collaboration with me amazes me. He's so content. He's got such great fans when he's by himself.
american-musician dynamics grounded playing sort
I like to be sort of grounded with Fish. But, at the same time, I think probably what's unique about us is the way other dynamics happen, where I'll play off Trey for awhile. When we start playing a jam, I don't usually know what's going to happen, I don't have a plan.
fun great group listen playing team work
We?re playing as a team and that makes it fun for everyone. It?s a great group of kids. They listen and work hard.
american-musician bass fish good hooking lately player sound
Lately Fish and I have been hooking up more, which is a good thing because it's just been a struggle for me as a bass player to play with someone who's so creative on the drums, and lately it's been really good, especially during sound checks.
grateful player bass
I don't really have a favorite bass player. I listen to a lot of bluegrass. But then again, I'm not a typical bluegrass bass player. I was really into the Grateful Dead, and I still am - I don't listen to them too much, but for me they are a big influence.
player thinking bass
The worst thing I could be thinking is how could I be a cool bass player.
play interesting trying
Actually, it's great to play with someone who tries to come up with interesting drum beats because it pushes the music in different directions.
thinking play interesting
Usually I don't think much in terms of interesting sounds. Although I think I want to get one of those whammy pedals, I forget what it's called and who makes it. It's got a whole bunch of different settings. You can play a note and it will raise the pitch when you push the pedal.
song play radio
It does make sense to put on some songs that are relatively short, because radio usually only plays songs that are less than 4 or 5 minutes.
song play people
We have access to more resources in general, and they are not going to force a situation on us, whether its the producer, or the cover, or what songs we have to play. And it's a small enough company that it seems like the people there care about music and not just about business.
american-musician coming harder hooking mainly monitor next since
I want to take some jams and really concentrate on hooking up with Page because, since he's the only one not next to me, and his sound is mainly coming from my monitor rather than through the air, it's a little harder for me to hook up with him.
allowed american-musician band definitely explore
I'm not really allowed to talk about the Dead though. I think when we are at our best, we definitely do things that the Dead or no other band could do. We explore things and take things to the extreme.