Deepak Chopra And Phish

I am multi-tasking, with a live Phish jam contending with an interview of Doctor Chopra, who is talking about perceptual experience and the mind; and Phish are jamming away out of a different pair of speakers....

Let's see, do I have a Phish story?

Well, in 1989, when I was taking "a semester" off to get my finances in order before trying to return to U-Mass as a yet to be determined major. And I wound up selling weed, and I wound up selling a sack to the Phish guys, who had rented a Victorian looking house that sat on the corner not far from Hampshire College, and separated from the closest other other house by a pretty good parcel of wooded acreage.

At this time, there were bands that played the college circuit. And the most popular of them had names like "Minibus Sandwich," "Dinosaur Jr.," and of course there was Phish.

A guy who lived in my apartment complex, who was a math (in some discipline) major who was from Morocco.

I think he said his father was a genuine nomad, with camels and a diet heavy on dates and oranges.

But Deveaux, as that was his name, was very good at ingratiating himself with musicians of every ilk. I hadn't been cranking a new amplifier very long before I looked out the picture window to see a skinny, pretty dark black guy with an afro hairstyle. He was motioning to me, as in; could he come inside my place and check me out jamming, type of thing.

He spoke impeccable English, using a lot of "academic" words. This was right in the heyday of hip hop music, when rap songs seemed to introduce a new word or phrase with the release of each album.

But, Deveaux was befuddled by the American African Americans. One time another young black guy approached him on the street and began speaking in terms of "Yo, homeboy" and asking Deveaux if he was "down" with this or that thing, and using words like "crib" to describe a dwelling, etc.

Deveaux told me that he had politely returned: "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not sure I understand what you are saying..." or words to that effect.

He thought the look of confusion on the guy's face was priceless. "I'm not sure that HE understood what I was saying," he laughed.

Deveaux liked to be the guy who showed up at band practices and gigs with "the weed" and so he was able to sell a good amount on my behalf, and he of course found his way into the orb of the Phish guys, befriending their manager of sorts, whose name was Mentos. Just like the little breath mint candies, or whatever Mentos are...

That name kind of stuck with me, as did the name Phish, because of the way they spelled it. They wouldn't become famous for at least another 10 years after that. But that is my Phish story; I sold them a sack of weed once, through a guy named Deveaux and another named Mentos.

The idea of a band sharing a house so that they can jam at the drop of a hat is a great idea. No worries about jamming without the bass player or drummer while you wait for him to arrive, type of thing.