Jon Fishman (born February 19, 1965) is an American drummer and co-founder of the band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

, 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 Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and grew up in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

. Fishman had a passion for the drums from an early age and emulated

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, John Bonh ...

, the drummer for

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording and tou ...

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

and

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

, along with

Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 1946 – 7 September 1978) was an English musician who was the drummer for the rock band the Who. Regarded as one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock music, he was noted for his unique style of playing and ...

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

. He went to Jamesville-Dewitt High School in a suburb of Syracuse. After graduation in 1983, he attended the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

to study engineering. Shortly after his arrival, he met

Mike Gordon Michael Eliot Gordon (born June 3, 1965) is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon plays banjo, piano, and guitar. He is a filmmaker ('' Rising Low'', '' Outs ...

and

Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 ...

and founded the band Phish. Deciding against engineering, he and Anastasio transferred to

Goddard College Goddard College was a Private college, private college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle. The college offered undergraduate and graduate degree programs. With predecessor ins ...

Musical career

Phish

The band

was named after him (he is commonly referred to as "Fish" amon
many other nicknames
though other explanations for the name have been given. In addition to drumming, he also sings back-up vocals and occasionally lead-vocals (usually on cover songs, most of them humorous – the best examples are Prince's "Purple Rain",

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

’s " Love You", and "

Terrapin Terrapins are a group of several species of small turtle (order Testudines) living in freshwater, fresh or brackish water. Terrapins do not form a taxonomic unit and may not be closely related. Many belong to the families Geoemydidae and Emydid ...

", Neil Diamond's " Cracklin' Rosie",

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

's song " Gettin' Jiggy Wit It", and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd's "Bike"). 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 In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

". He is well known on tour for his

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish Multinational corporation, multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool Corporation, Whi ...

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 The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...

Equipment

Fishman uses a variety of drums and cymbals on his kit; brands such as Noble & Cooley,

Gretsch Gretsch is an American company that manufactures and markets musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Fri ...

, Ludwig, Yamaha, Ayotte, Eames,

Zildjian The Avedis Zildjian Company, simply known as Zildjian (), is a musical instrument manufacturer specializing in cymbals and other percussion instruments. Founded by the ethnic Armenian Zildjian family in the 17th-century Ottoman Empire, the com ...

, Sabian,

Paiste Paiste (English pronunciation: , ) is a Switzerland, Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. is an Estonian language, Estonian and Finnish language, ...

, and

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

. He also uses

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and drum hardware, hardware, and various percussio ...

drum heads,

Vic Firth Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth (June 2, 1930 – July 26, 2015) was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company (formerly Vic Firth, Inc.), a company that makes percussion sticks and mallets. He was also known for his association ...

drum sticks, and LP percussion accessories. His setup consists of: *22x14 AYOTTE round badge bass drum. *6x6 Noble & Cooley tom (in Black Finish) *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 (or 14x6.5 Precision 21-Ply Maple Snare w/ custom 3D phish logo). Cymbals include: *14" hi-hats (Zildjian K Light Hats) *13"

Mega Cup Chime *15" Istanbul Agop Medium Thin Crash *8"

A Custom Splash *16"

K Thin Crash *17"

Sabian Cymbals Sabian ( ) is a Canadian cymbal manufacturing company based in New Brunswick. It was established in 1981 in the village of Meductic, which is now part of Lakeland Ridges, where the company is still headquartered. Sabian is considered one of the ...

HH Crash *21" Sabian AA Dry Ride *20"

A Custom Flat Ride w/ rivets *18" Zildjian Oriental China Trash *22"

Pang He uses an LP Black Beauty cowbell, an LP Rock Ridge Rider cowbell, and a set of 4 LP temple blocks. He uses

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

drum heads. His preferred setup: *Snare: Coated Ambassador; Bottom: Clear Diplomat *Toms: Clear Emperors; Bottoms: Clear Emperors *Kick: Coated Powerstroke 3; Bottoms: Ebony Ambassador Fishman's Vacuum-A baby blue Electrolux vacuum cleaner (a.k.a. the vac or 'lux) has been in the repertoire (played as an instrument by Fishman) since circa 1989. An earlier, 1967 model was donated to the Hard Rock Cafe 1/29/93. The currently in-use model is circa 1965. On rare occasions, Fishman will play the

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

. Perhaps the most recognizable part of his kit however, is the orange circle print muumuu he wears almost every performance and as such has become a de facto symbol of the band. He has been known to wear other clothes with the orange symbol as well.

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 Electric Forest is a multi-genre music festival produced by Madison House Presents and Insomniac Events, with a focus on electronic music and jam band genres. Originally named Rothbury Festival in 2008, it is held in Rothbury, Michigan at ...

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 was diagnosed with glaucoma. Fishman was also announced as a member of fellow

member

's new side-project Ghosts of the Forest.

Personal life

Fishman and his five children Ella Cynthia, 21, Jack Bradley, 19, Rose (Rosie) Lorelei, 15, Lily Millay, 13, Fredrick (Freddie) George, 9, live in

Lincolnville, Maine Lincolnville is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,312 at the 2020 census. Lincolnville is the mainland terminal for Maine State Ferry Service transport to Islesboro. History Approximately 10,000 years ago, ...

. The family appeared on an episode of the

Magnolia Network Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery in partnership with Chip Gaines, Chip and Joanna Gaines, the founders of lifestyle company Magnolia. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related ...

home restoration series ''Maine Cabin Masters'' in March 2018. He is a fan of the deathgrind band

Cattle Decapitation Cattle Decapitation is an American deathgrind band formed in San Diego, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup includes vocalist Travis Ryan, guitarists Josh Elmore and Belisario Dimuzio, and drummer David McGraw. Since 2001, none of th ...

and guested on their 2019 album, Death Atlas.

Radio

He has hosted a radio show on WBFY-LP, a community radio station in

Belfast, Maine Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 6,938. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River estuary on Belfast Bay (Maine), Belfast Bay and Penobsc ...

, since 2017. The show was originally called the Jonny B. Fishman Radio Show, but has since changed its name to The Errant Path. Fishman hosts the show weekly on Thursday evenings when Phish is not on tour.

Politics

Fishman was inspired by former

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

bassist

Krist Novoselic Krist Anthony Novoselic (; ; born May 16, 1965) is an American musician, politician and activist. Novoselic co-founded and played bass on every album for the rock music, rock band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Novoselic and Kurt Cobain formed the ban ...

to take action in his local elections. Fishman publicly endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders in both the 2016 and 2020 democratic primaries. Fishman cites Sanders leadership in Burlington and dedication to upholding the arts as primary factors for his support. In 2017, he was voted a

selectman The select board or board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms. Three is the most common numb ...

of Lincolnville, Maine. He did not run for reelection in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fishman, Jon 1965 births 20th-century American drummers 21st-century American drummers 21st-century Maine politicians American adoptees American male drummers American rock drummers Drummers from Maine Drummers from New York (state) Drummers from Philadelphia Goddard College alumni Jewish American rock musicians Living people Maine local politicians Musicians from Syracuse, New York People from DeWitt, New York People from Lincolnville, Maine University of Vermont alumni Surrender to the Air members Phish members Phish