Mike Gordon

By the time nine-year-old Mike Gordon planned out his first band, he had already written a movie script. "Mighty Man" never got off the ground, but his teenage years proved more fruitful. Video vignettes were taped on a black and white reel-to-reel unit using half broken surveillance cameras from his dad's stores. By college it was Super 8 with a film class at Emerson, then at UVM, inspired by his mentor, Ted Lyman. "He taught me that film doesn't have to be linear - that it can be about juxtaposition, creating tension and release. He made film-making feel like making music, like improvisation." Mike created "Stewart" and "TVF" during college just as Phish's career was budding. By the time Phish became a top touring act, he had created a smattering of short films, including an MTV music video, and published a book of short, quirky stories. In 1996, Gordon started his first feature. "Outside Out", an experimental narrative about a guitar student, won an Audience Award at South By Southwest. "I spent 5000 hours on it, doing the writing, shooting, sound design, scoring, and editing. After that, I was ready to collaborate." In 2001, Mike assembled a team to make the documentary, "Rising Low", about twenty-five famous bass players who joined forces to pay tribute to bassist Allen Woody. It won "Best Documentary" at The Newport International Film Festival and aired on The Sundance Channel for years after. In 2003, he drew from 2500 archived Phish videos to create a 20th anniversary commemorative. By 2006, music collaborations included legendary guitarist Leo Kottke and members of the Grateful Dead, and Mike also finished an animated short. "Cabin Thing", depicting the scale model construction of a cabin Mike had built during high school, played at the DC Shorts festival that year. It's original score was composed to an intricate rhythm scheme from the stop motion. Gordon still plays with Phish, selling out some of the largest venues. His solo music career is evolving, with innovations like a large keyboard wheel Mike invented to allow the audience to play along. Having his own band has also been a great outlet for film projects, including a music video and many tour announcement sketches.