John Fishman American drummer, known for his work with the jam band Phish Country: USA

1. Jon Fishman: The Drummer Behind Phish
2. Early Life and Influences
3. The Birth of Phish
4. Phish and Beyond
5. Personal Life

Jon Fishman: The Drummer Behind Phish

Jon Fishman is an American drummer renowned for his work with the jam band Phish. He is credited as a co-writer on 18 original Phish compositions and as the sole writer of seven.

Early Life and Influences

Fishman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and adopted into a Jewish family in Syracuse, New York. He developed an early fascination with drumming and emulated the styles of John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Bill Bruford of Yes, and Keith Moon of The Who.

The Birth of Phish

After graduating high school, Fishman attended the University of Vermont for a year, where he co-founded Phish. He later transferred to Goddard College with guitarist Trey Anastasio, completing an academic project titled "Retrospective Drumming Self-Tutor." As of 2005, Fishman resided in Essex, Vermont.

Phish and Beyond

Phish was named in part after Fishman, known by the nickname "Fish." In addition to drumming, he provided backing and lead vocals, often on covers and parodies, notably the band's signature song "Suzy Greenberg." His more serious vocal performances include Phish's cover of Talking Heads' "Cross-Eyed and Painless" and the original "Ghost." Fishman became known for his Electrolux vacuum cleaner tour and his iconic blue and red-ringed robes.

He played briefly with the rock band Pork Tornado and spent several years as a member of the Jazz Mandolin Project. In recent years, he has performed with The Everyone Orchestra and The Village. He is also a member of the Burlington, Vermont-based comedy troupe Touchpants with Colby Dix and Chris Fridie.

Personal Life

In 2007, Fishman took a brief sabbatical to help Yonder Mountain String Band develop a series of shows, including a large portion of their 2008 Roskilde Festival performance. Like other members of Phish (excluding Mike Gordon), Fishman has acknowledged past psychedelic drug use. He claims to have set his alarm for 5 AM one year, taken acid, gone back to sleep, and woken up at 7:30 AM feeling the effects, which he says enabled him to have a record-breaking academic year. He also states that he took LSD before every Phish concert for the first two years of the band's existence.