Background
Fishman was born in Philadelphia. He was then adopted, and grew up in Syracuse, New York with a Jewish family.
Fishman was born in Philadelphia. He was then adopted, and grew up in Syracuse, New York with a Jewish family.
He went to Jamesville-Dewitt High School in a suburb of Syracuse, and after graduation in 1983, he attended the University of Vermont to study Engineering.
He is credited with co-writing 19 originals, 8 of them as a solo cartulary-register 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 Keith Moon of The Who. Shortly after his arrival, he met Mike Gordon and Trey Anastasio, where they co-founded Being an engineer was not his true calling, and he transferred with guitarist Trey Anastasio to Goddard College, where he wrote his senior study on "A Self-Teaching Guide to Drumming in Retrospect." He lives in Maine.
The band was named after him (he is commonly referred to as “Fish” among many other nicknames) though other explanations for the name have been given.
Other than 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", Neil Diamond"s "Cracklin" Rosie", Will Smith"s song "Gettin" Jiggy Wit lieutenant", and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd"s "Bike"). Worthy of note are his more serious vocal efforts, including lead vocals on "s cover of the Talking Heads song "Crosseyed and Painless," and his vocal duties on the originals, "The Moma Dance," "Taste," and "Ghost." He is well-known on tour for his Electrolux vacuum cleaner solos and playing while wearing a muumuu dress.
He also uses Remo drum heads, and Vic Firth drum sticks. His setup consists of:
22x14 Gretsch bass drum (1958-1963) re-wrapped by Precision Drum Company.
6x6 Noble & Cooley tom (in Black Finish)
8x7 Noble & Cooley tom
10x7 Noble & Cooley tom
12x8 Noble & Cooley tom
14x12 Noble & Cooley Floor Tom
16x14 Noble & Cooley Floor Tom
14x6.5 Ayotte 18-Ply Maple Snare (or 14x65 Precision 21-Ply Maple Snare w/ custom 3D phish logo).
45x56 Hawiian Muumuu
Cymbals include:
14" hi-hats (Zildjian A New Beat top, Paiste Formula 602 bottom)
13" Paiste Mega Cup Chime
15" Istanbul Agop Medium Thin Crash
6" Rancan Ice Bell
8" Zildjian A Custom Splash
20" Zildjian A Custom Flat Ride w/ rivets
18" Wuhan China
22" Zildjian Pang
He uses Vic Firth drum sticks. His preferred "perfect pair" is the Peter Erskine Ride Stick and the American Classic 55A. 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
Fishman is a current member and regular touring drummer of the Burlington, Vermont comedy troupe Touchpants with Colby Dix, Chris Friday and Aram Bedrosian. Their foul mouthed comedy shows often occur directly after performances and show a very amusing side of Fishman"s personality.
He also plays drums in the rock band Pork Tornado, and performed with the Jazz Mandolin Project for several years.
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.
He has been a member of two large musical collectives, The Everyone Orchestra and The Village.