Mike Gordon
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Mike Gordon (born June 3, 1965 in Sudbury, Massachusetts) is a bass player and vocalist most noted for his work with the legendary rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica, and percussion.
Background
Gordon met Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, and Jeff Holdsworth at the University of Vermont, where Phish began in 1983.In the music, Gordon's influence is the most obvious in Phish's many different renditions of various bluegrass, calypso and even traditional Jewish songs. He also contributed by singing, usually adding to the higher end of the harmony spectrum, as well as writing off-beat lyrics to amusing but thought-provoking songs.
Gordon played many roles in Phish. Until the band became too big for self-management, he dealt with practically all public relations and fan communication, such as answering fan mail, managing funds, and booking gigs. Gordon wrote 17 Phish original songs and coauthored 22 Phish tracks. [link]
Filmmaker
As Phish's de facto filmmaker, Gordon directed the band's only music video, 1994's "Down with Disease". During the making of Hoist, Mike shot film in the studio of performers, walls, tables, recording equipment, smoke, sounds and other gases of various compounds and released it as the short film Tracking. He produced Phish's 20th Anniversary Retrospective, which was aired in between sets at December 2, 2003, gig in Boston.
Besides his musical talent, Gordon is known for his bizarre sense of humor exemplified in his 1997 book of short stories, Mike's Corner. Mike is also a filmmaker, releasing his full-length feature film, Outside Out, in 2000. He also directed Rising Low, a documentary about Gov't Mule and their late bass player, Allen Woody.
Instruments
Gordon played a custom Paul Languedoc ("dragon") bass in addition to another custom bass built by Paul. Mike switched to a Modulus Quantum 5 bass (as used by Phil Lesh in 1997) and has relied on it ever since. This instrument is known for their deep tones and "futuristic" sound, largely attributable to a unique construction including a neck that is made entirely of a carbon-graphite compound, not dissimilar to a material selected by NASA for use on the Space Shuttle. Like Anastasio, although to a lesser extent, Gordon played custom-made basses built by Paul Languedoc.
Other musical projects
Gordon has played in several side-projects apart from Phish, including Grappa Boom with Jamie Masefield of the Jazz Mandolin Project and Doug Perkins of Smokin' Grass.
In 2002, Gordon recorded the critically acclaimed Clone album with acoustic guitar master Leo Kottke. The duo reunited in 2005 for Sixty Six Steps.
Gordon formed featuring Josh Roseman, Scott Murawski, Julee Avallone, James Harvey, Gordon Stone, Jeannie Hill, and Doug Belote in 2003 and released Inside In based loosely on Outside Out.
In the summer of 2004 Gordon produced musician Joey Arkenstat's debut album, Bane. Gordon is also credited with providing vocals and shofar accompaniment.
In 2004, Gordon performed with The Benevento-Russo Duo for several shows benefiting Headcount, a voter registration organization. The trio played a number of dates throughout late 2004 and 2005 including the Bonnaroo Music Festival in June 2005 and a New Year's Eve series of shows in Florida and the northeast.
In December 2005, Gordon formed SerialPod with Anastasio and Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann. The group debuted at the 14th annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam in Ashville, North Carolina.
In early 2006, Gordon teamed up with his mother, artist Marjorie Minkin, to present Another Side of In - a visual and audio art show featuring interactive sculptures created by Minkin and set to the music of Inside In.
In the summer of 2006, Gordon will be perform his first solo shows in nearly three years at Bonnaroo with a new backing band called Ramble Dove, also the name of the fictional band from Outside Out. Additionally, he will join Anastasio for more shows with the Benevento-Russo Duo.
Albums
1. Clone (with Leo Kottke) (October 8, 2002)
2. Inside In (August 19, 2003)
3. Sixty Six Steps (with Leo Kottke) (August 23, 2005)
Books
Mike's Corner (May 1997)Films
Awards
- Sixty Six Steps won album of the year at the 2006 Jammy Awards.
- Rising Low was the winner of the Joe Jarvis Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at the 2002 Newport International Film Festival.
- Outside Out garnered the audience award at the South by Southwest festival.
External links
- [Mike's official website]
- [Outside Out website]
- [The official website of Inside In]
- [Phish's official website]
- [Phish's 20th Video-Retrospective]
- [An experiential art show by Gordon and Marjorie Minkin]
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