Jon Fishman
Jon Fishman is an American drummer and co-founder of the band Phish, which was, in part, named after him. He is credited with co-writing nineteen Phish songs, eight with a solo credit.
Early life
Fishman was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Syracuse, New York. Fishman had a passion for the drums from an early age and emulated John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin, Bill Bruford of Yes and King Crimson, along with Keith Moon of The Who. He went to Jamesville-Dewitt High School in a suburb of Syracuse. After graduation in 1983, he attended the University of Vermont to study engineering. Shortly after his arrival, he met Mike Gordon and Trey Anastasio and founded the band Phish. Deciding against engineering, he and Anastasio transferred to Goddard College.Musical career
Phish
The band Phish was named after him, though other explanations for the name have been given. In addition to drumming, he also sings back-up vocals and occasionally lead-vocals. Worthy of note are his more serious vocal efforts, including lead vocals on Phish's cover of the Talking Heads song "Crosseyed and Painless", and his vocal duties on the Phish originals, "The Moma Dance", "Taste", and "Ghost". He is well known on tour for his Electrolux vacuum cleaner solos and playing while wearing a donut-printed muumuu dress. He has admitted to taking acid before playing early in the band's career.Fishman regularly performs with Phish wearing a blue muumuu dress with a pattern of red annuli. In 2015, Phish filed to trademark the pattern on Fishman's dress, but the request was tentatively denied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Equipment
Fishman uses a variety of drums and cymbals on his kit; brands such as Noble & Cooley, Gretsch, Ludwig, Yamaha, Ayotte, Eames, Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste, and Wuhan. He also uses Remo drum heads, Vic Firth drum sticks, and LP percussion accessories.His setup consists of:
- 22x14 AYOTTE round badge bass drum.
- 6x6 Noble & Cooley tom
- 8x7 Noble & Cooley tom
- 10x7 Noble & Cooley tom
- 12x8 Noble & Cooley tom
- 14x12 Gretsch Floor Tom
- 16x14 Gretsch Floor Tom
- 14x6.5 Ayotte 18-Ply Maple Snare.
- 14" hi-hats
- 13" Paiste Mega Cup Chime
- 15" Istanbul Agop Medium Thin Crash
- 8" Zildjian A Custom Splash
- 16" Zildjian K Thin Crash
- 17" Sabian Cymbals HH Crash
- 21" Sabian AA Dry Ride
- 20" Zildjian A Custom Flat Ride w/ rivets
- 18" Zildjian Oriental China Trash
- 22" Zildjian Pang
He uses Vic Firth drum sticks. His preferred "perfect pair" is the Peter Erskine Ride Stick and the SD4 Combo. He uses TG12 Sticks for practice, Vic Firth and Regal Tip Brushes, and Vic Firth T1 Mallets.
He uses Remo drum heads. His preferred setup:
- Snare: Coated Ambassador; Bottom: Clear Diplomat
- Toms: Clear Emperors; Bottoms: Clear Emperors
- Kick: Coated Powerstroke 3; Bottoms: Ebony Ambassador
On rare occasions, Fishman will play the theremin.
Other musical projects
Fishman was a past member of the Vermont band "Touchpants" and no longer participates. He also used to play drums in the rock band Pork Tornado, and performed with the Jazz Mandolin Project for several years. He has been a member of two large musical collectives, The Everyone Orchestra and The Village. In 2007, he emerged from semi-retirement to perform a series of shows with the Yonder Mountain String Band, including a large portion of their set at the Rothbury Music Festival which happened the summer of 2008.The Mimi Fishman Foundation is a nonprofit organization started by Jon to raise money for various charities, especially for charities that benefit the visually impaired. The charity was named for Jon's mother, Mimi, who had glaucoma. Fishman was also a member of fellow Phish member Trey Anastasio's side-project Ghosts of the Forest.