Band Members' Other Projects

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Trey started earliest, working with his mother (editor of Sesame Street Magazine) to write stories and songs.

Page did the movie score (four or five instrumentals) for Only In America (which opened in Austin 7/25/97), working with bass player Andy Cotton and sax player Dave Grippo (who also played congas). The producer described it as "an independent feature film made in Texas. It's satire targeting the war on drugs, a sensationalist media, televangelists, and the information age." The theme song, to which the opening and closing credits are set, evolved into "Cars Trucks Buses", which appeared on Billy Breathes. Blake Shepard said, "Bits and peices of the song are strewn throughout Just Say No to Satan, the film's movie-within-a-movie-within-a-movie-within-a-movie (yes, the whole thing is a meta-meta-meta-movie!)." Hal Waterman , who added "There was [another instrumental] that kept reoccuring (sp) during 'tragic' moments in the film. It sounded like something similar to the music played at the end of The Wall when the kids were searching through the rubble. There were no titles listed for any of these songs in the credits." Blake "found the most memorable one to be the piano piece that accompanied the lead actress's visit to a 'Forbidden Books' store. There, she discovers a wealth of information on hemp, the environment and cover-ups, while Page's song eerily evokes her feelings of discovery, fascination, creeping paranoia and thrilling defiance." There are currently no plans to release a soundtrack, but the film may come out on video. .. During the House of Blues Radio Hour in August of 1998, Page McConnell had a public service announcement, speaking on the dangers of unprotected sex, with "Free" playing in the background. Dirk Taylor (8/17/98) and Emanuel David Moss (8/23/98)

Jon appears in a movie filmed in May of 1997 on Lake Champlain (in Vermont). Directed by Martin Guigui, The Wedding Band is about a Jewish/Catholic wedding.

Update 11/28/99: "Wedding Band" won "Audience favorite" at Palm Springs International Film Festival, Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival and San Diego Film Festival. Now in distribution. Select dates in the Northeast now and Southwest theatres to follow after New Year's.. See www. weddingbandmovie.com for schedule and other stuff. Also going to foreign markets- Germany, France, Italy and Japan via Atmosphere Entertainment. (Flicks@AtmosphereEnt.com) Blockbuster video release in April 2000. Some bootlegs of all of Fishman's scenes (including some very funny and quirky out-takes not used in the movie) are circulating. (Martguigui@aol.com)

Fishman is the band's drummer, and performs (in a pink dress) with Hebber Stebber (played by Burlington musician Chad Hollister), Barry Goudreau (late Boston guitarist), Debbie Gibson, and Dom Deluise. The film features Martin Guigui and members of Spastic and the Dude of Life's touring band. .... Update: Higher Ground (a club in Winooski, VT, just outside of Burlington) will host the "gala premiere party" of The Wedding Band Thursday, December 17, 1998. Tickets are $3 at door; free with invitation. The party begins at 9PM; the screening begins at 11:30PM. The invitation (and the club's emailed listings) call the film "a locally-filmed mockumentary - the Spinal Tap of wedding receptions, starring Dom DeLuise & Debbie Gibson & many local luminaries" and identifies "the actual band featured in the movie: James Montgomery - blues harp, Barrow Goodrow - guitarist, Jon Fishman - drums, Chad Hollister - percussion & singer, Aaron Hersey - bass, Joe Moore - saxophone, Martin GuiGui - keyboard, & other special guests."Thanks to Alex Crothers and Higher Ground. Thanks also to Jeremy David Goodwin .

Mike has:

• directed and produced videos for Down with Disease and called Tracking, a documentary of the production process behind Hoist
• written a book (Mike's Corner, fifty-five short pieces, many from his column in the newsletters, with illustrations by fiance Cilla; published by Bulfinch Press, a division of Little, Brown and Company; circa $14.95)
• made short films including Goodwood - Phish at Great Woods (a twisted mix of footage from the show, clips of Paul panicking, and Mike's sense of humor; the shots of Paul were reportedly filmed in Mike's basement) and Stewart (with Page in the title role and Fishman's critique as a coda). (Thanks to Nina McDonnell .) Mike is now working on his first drama (rumoredly called Outstructional), having filmed 7/21/97 at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta; Kristen and others showed up, as instructed, in cowboy regalia, and according to a 12/5/97 interview with Mike, "It's about a guitar student -- he wants to get into music school, has rented a videotape with Col. Bruce Hampton as teacher. They end up meeting and taking lessons. It'll be out in another year." Nina reported that, "Mike also had the camera running at his booksigning in south burlington ... (7/12/97). Though I can't be completely sure, I believe I heard him ask the camera person to point the camera at peoples' shoes."
• cameoed in a film: Matthew J. King posted (10/30/97) that "John O'Brien, who did Man With A Plan (Spread Fred, for all you flatlanders), is doing a third installment in his Tunbridge Trilogy [about life in Vermont]. Nosey Parker is the story of a small town lister and, yes, Fred Tuttle is in it." Matthew posted a snippet of an article in his local paper: "Neither of the paid actors has the high profile of one of the unpaid bit part actors. Mike Gordon, the bass player for the tremendously popular band Phish plays the role of a 'deluded rock star' according to O'Brien. The presence of Gordon will help promotion of the film tremendously, thinks Jack Rowell of Braintree, who is assisting in the production. 'He'll sell 100,000 tickets for us,' he predicted. Phish and its many fans have websites spread througout the internet, Rowell noted. Any indication that one of the band members is in a movie will bring fans out of the woodwork, he said. O'Brien and Gordon met at the opening night of Man With A Plan. Gordon had taken film courses at UVM and was interested in the process; and said that he'd like a part in the next movie."