Editing Phish (section)

===''Junta'', ''Lawn Boy'', and ''A Picture of Nectar'': 1989–1992===
On January 26, 1989, Phish played the [[Paradise Rock Club]] in [[Boston]]; the owners of the club had never heard of Phish and refused to book them, so the band rented the club for the night.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Morse |first1=Steve |title=Twenty years later, Phish still moves against the current |url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2003/11/30/twenty_years_later_phish_still_moves_against_the_current |website=Boston.com Archive |access-date=19 July 2020   |date=30 November 2003}}</ref> The show sold out due to the caravan of fans that had traveled to see the band.<ref name="brain"/> The concert was Phish's breakthrough on the northeastern regional music circuit, and the band began to book concerts at other large rock clubs, theaters, and small auditoriums throughout the area, such as the [[Somerville Theatre]], [[Worcester Memorial Auditorium]] and [[Wetlands Preserve]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Puterbaugh |first1=Parke |title=Phish: The Biography |date=2010 |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=9780306819209 |pages=82–86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eXD8AgAAQBAJ&q=phish++1989+paradise&pg=PA82  }}</ref> That spring, the band self-released their debut full-length studio album, ''[[Junta (album)|Junta]]'', and sold copies on cassette tape at their concerts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Puterbaugh |first1=Parke |title=Phish: The Biography |date=2009 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9780306819476 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/phishbiography00pute/page/88 88] |url=https://archive.org/details/phishbiography00pute |url-access=registration |quote=phish junta. }}</ref> The album includes a studio recording of the epic "[[You Enjoy Myself]]", which is considered to be the band's [[list of signature songs|signature song]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rolez |first1=Chez |title=Morning After Phish: Halfway Between Erie And Pittsburgh |url=https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/reviews/morning-after-phish-halfway-between-erie-and-pittsburgh/ |website=Live for Live Music |access-date=19 July 2020 |date=24 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pharewell My Friend: Phish Says Farewell At Coventry |url=https://www.jambase.com/article/pharewell-my-friend-phish-says-farewell-at-coventry |website=JamBase |access-date=1 October 2018 |date=24 August 2004}}</ref> Later in 1989, the band hired Chris Kuroda as their lighting director. Kuroda subsequently became well known for his artistic [[Laser lighting display|light shows]] at the group's concerts.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenhaus |first1=Mike |title=Chris Kuroda: Visual Vocabularies |url=https://jambands.com/features/2016/07/25/chris-kuroda-visual-vocabularies/ |website=Jambands.com |access-date=19 July 2020 |date=25 July 2016}}</ref> A profile on Phish appeared in the October 1989 issue of the [[Deadhead]] magazine ''[[Relix]]'', which marked the first time the band had been covered in a major national music periodical.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Skidmore |first1=Mick |title=Too New To Be Known: Phish (Relix Revisited Oct. '89) |url=https://relix.com/articles/detail/too-new-to-be-known-phish-relix-revisited-oct-89/ |website=Relix Media |access-date=5 August 2020 |date=October 1989}}</ref>

By late 1990, Phish's concerts were becoming more and more intricate, often making a consistent effort to involve the audience in the performance. In a special "secret language",<ref name="secret">{{cite web |url=http://phish.net/songs/secret-language-instructions |title=Secret Language Instructions|access-date=2011-02-09 |work=FAQ Files |publisher=Phish.net}}</ref> the audience would react in a certain manner based on a particular musical cue from the band. For instance, if Anastasio "[[Teasing#Other usages|teased]]" a motif from ''[[The Simpsons]]'' theme song, the audience would yell, "[[D'oh!]]" in imitation of {{Audio|PhishSimpsonsCue002.ogg|Homer Simpson}}.<ref name="secret"/> In 1992, Phish introduced a collaboration between audience and band called the "Big Ball Jam" in which each band member would throw a large beach ball into the audience and play a note each time his ball was hit. In so doing, the audience was helping to create an original composition.<ref>{{cite web |title=This Video Of Bill Clinton Synchronized To Phish's 'Big Ball Jam' Is Amazing |url=https://liveforlivemusic.com/news/this-video-of-bill-clinton-synchronized-to-phishs-big-ball-jam-is-amazing/ |website=Live for Live Music|access-date=18 April 2020 |date=29 July 2016}}</ref> On occasion, performances of "You Enjoy Myself" and "[[Mike's Song]]" involved Gordon and Anastasio performing synchronized maneuvers and jumping on mini-[[trampoline]]s while simultaneously playing their instruments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://phish.net/faq/onstage-antics| title= Phish On-stage Antics|work=FAQ Files |publisher=Phish.net| access-date=2011-02-09}}</ref> Fishman would also regularly step out from behind his drum kit during concerts to sing cover songs, which were often punctuated by him playing an [[Electrolux]] vacuum cleaner like an instrument.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vacuum Solo History - Phish.net |url=http://phish.net/song/vacuum-solo/history |website=phish.net |access-date=6 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Rossi |first1=Christophe |title=Phish Stories: An Interview with Jon Fishman (Relix Revisited) |url=https://relix.com/articles/detail/phish-stories-an-interview-with-jon-fishman-relix-revisited |website=Relix Media |access-date=19 July 2020 |date=24 February 2011}}</ref> The band released their second album, ''[[Lawn Boy]]'', in September 1990 on Absolute A Go Go, a small independent label that had a distribution deal with the larger [[Rough Trade Records]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Puterbaugh |first1=Parke |title=Phish: The Biography |date=2009 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9780306819476 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/phishbiography00pute/page/97 97] |url=https://archive.org/details/phishbiography00pute |url-access=registration |quote=phish junta.  }}</ref> The album had been recorded the previous year, after the band had won studio time at engineer Dan Archer's Archer Studios when they came in first place at an April 1989 [[Battle of the Bands|battle of the bands]] competition in Burlington.<ref>{{cite web |title=Phish 'Lawn Boy' Deluxe 2-LP Vinyl Available For Record Store Day |url=http://phish.com/news/phish-lawn-boy-deluxe-2-lp-vinyl-available-for-record-store-day/ |website=Phish |date=4 March 2013 |access-date=23 September 2018}}</ref>

Phish, along with [[Bob Dylan]], the [[Grateful Dead]], and [[the Beatles]], was one of the first bands to have a [[Usenet]] newsgroup, rec.music.phish, which launched in 1992.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arnum |first1=Eric |title=Digital Flashback: Phishing For Tapes On Web |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/k9ad1u/digital-flashback-phishing-for-tapes-on-web |website=MTV News |access-date=24 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731154854/https://www.mtv.com/news/k9ad1u/digital-flashback-phishing-for-tapes-on-web |archive-date=31 July 2023 |date=30 March 2000 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Aware of the band's growing popularity, [[Elektra Records]] signed them that year after they were recommended to the record label by A&R representative Sue Drew.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bernstein |first1=Scott |title=Sue Drew Who Brought Phish To Elektra Chats With Phishbase |url=https://www.jambase.com/article/sue-drew-brought-phish-elektra-chats-phishbase |website=JamBase |access-date=19 July 2020 |date=20 December 2017}}</ref> In the summer of 1991, the band embarked on a 14-date tour of the eastern United States accompanied by a three-piece horn section dubbed the [[Giant Country Horns]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bernstein |first1=Scott |title=Giant Country Horns Talk Formation, Phish & Twiddle New Year's Eve In Albany |url=https://www.jambase.com/article/giant-country-horns-talk-formation-phish-twiddle-new-years-eve-albany |website=JamBase |access-date=19 July 2020 |date=28 December 2017}}</ref> In August of that year, Phish played an outdoor concert at their friend Amy Skelton's horse farm in [[Auburn, Maine]] that acted as a prototype for their later all-day festival events.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Puterbaugh |first1=Parke |title=Phish: The Biography |date=2010 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9780306819209 |pages=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eXD8AgAAQBAJ&q=phish&pg=PA5  }}</ref>

In 1992, the band released their third studio album, ''[[A Picture of Nectar]]'', their first release for the major label Elektra. Subsequently, the label also reissued the band's first two albums. Later in 1992, Phish participated in the first annual [[H.O.R.D.E.]] festival, which provided them with their first national tour of major amphitheaters. The lineup, among others, included Phish, [[Blues Traveler]], the [[Spin Doctors]], and [[Widespread Panic]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Budnick |first1=Dean |title=H.O.R.D.E. Core (25 Years Later) |url=https://relix.com/articles/detail/horde_core_25_years_later7181/ |website=Relix Media |access-date=19 July 2020 |date=2 May 2017}}</ref> That summer, the band toured Europe with the [[Violent Femmes]] and later toured Europe and the U.S. with [[Santana (band)|Santana]].<ref name="1992ph">{{cite web |title=August 1992 |url=https://phish.com/band/august-1992/ |website=Phish |access-date=30 August 2019}}</ref> Throughout the latter tour, [[Carlos Santana]] regularly invited some or all of the members of Phish to jam with his band during their headlining performances.<ref name="1992ph"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Puterbaugh |first1=Parke |title=Phish: The Biography |date=2009 |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=9780306819476 |page=107 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9zyoeq86UV0C&q=phish%20santana%20hose&pg=PA107  }}</ref> The band ended 1992 with a New Year's Eve performance at the [[Matthews Arena]] in [[Boston, Massachusetts]], a performance that was simulcast throughout the Boston area by radio station [[WBCN (FM)|WBCN]].<ref name="pranks1"/> The concert was filled with several new "secret language" cues they had taught their audience in order to deliberately confuse radio listeners.<ref name="pranks1">{{cite web |last1=Bernstein |first1=Scott |title=Phish Pranks Throughout The Years |url=https://www.jambase.com/article/phish-pranks-throughout-years |website=JamBase |access-date=14 October 2018 |date=1 April 2018}}</ref>