Tonight will not be a typical Thursday at Hotung Caf?©. While there will still be plenty of chicken parms and chef salads available, the stage will not belong to a Tufts band this evening, but rather to former lead singer of Toad the Wet Sprocket Glenn Phillips. Phillips, who is now pursuing a solo career, will play an acoustic set tonight in support of his new album Abulum.
Former head of Concert Board Dan Aaronson arranged for tonight's show. Usually, Student Activities signs Tufts bands or lesser-known local bands to play the Thursday night slot, but Aaronson wanted break away from that trend.
"I wanted to do something different, to save up money and get one big show. This is it."
The Daily talked with Phillips about his upcoming performance, his career, and few other random tidbits.
Tufts Daily: Be honest, before you got booked here, had you even heard of Tufts University?
Glenn Phillips: Yeah, I had a friend Tom who went here. He played Ultimate Frisbee. He did International Studies, but mostly he played Ultimate Frisbee
TD: How do you feel about playing here?
GP: It should be fun - wait, that really isn't a feeling, is it? I'm happy to be asked and happy to come.
TD: What should Toad the Wet Sprocket fans expect from your new album?
GP: [Pauses] It's got more in common with the first couple of Toad albums than the last two. It's like the indie Toad albums; it's a lot less cleaned up. There's not a lot of production. I had a need to do something belligerently non-commercial. It doesn't tell what to listen for, doesn't have a lot of what I call post-its. You know, guitar solo, here, pay attention to this part. It's like you just wander around in it. It's pretty spare.
TD: How would you describe your solo career thus far?
GP: Umm...difficult. Fun, though. It's been creatively really wonderful. I've had more fun making it and more fun playing. It's been nerve-wracking. I've got three kids and my old career was better for my mortgage. But I'm much happier [laughs]. I like my new problems.
TD: Give me the story of your life in 50 words or less.
GP: Boy goes off, starts band, falls in love, leaves. How many words is that? I don't know; boy grows up, gets happy, dies. I don't know, I'm in no hurry to die. I can spend a lot of time on the gets happy part. I don't have to reach enlightenment, if I could just be at peace with the world, that would be great.
TD: If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?
GP: Probably plum, a good tree. They give good fruit, they lose their leaves, and they make a mess. We have a plum tree in our yard and I often find myself scraping sticky plums from the driveway.
TD: Describe your creative process in Haiku.
GP: Can I have a minute? [Pauses]
Not so disciplined
Sporadic inspiration
Still Satisfying
TD: Now, I'm going to shamelessly rip off Inside the Actor's Studio. What sound do you like?
GP: Low humming. The kind of ambient machine sounds they use in spaceship scenes.
TD: What sound do you hate?
GP: It's hard to hate a sound. [Pauses] I'd have to say the sound of the human voice whining.
TD: If you were in any other profession, what would you do?
GP: Wait, this is if I can go time warp and do school and everything again? Well, the original plan was acting. I was really into theater. The plan after that was briefly law because it seemed fun with words. Then after that the plan was to be a high school teacher. As an adult I'd say gardening. There is something about working with tangible results. If you leave out all the chemicals and companies that f-ck up stuff, it's really great. Organic farming would be incredible.
TD: If heaven exists, what do you want to hear God say when you arrive?
GP: I'd just want to ask where are all my friends?
TD: You have a family now. Has it changed your perceptions of things, or your music?
GP: It's changed my perception of things; it's probably changed my music. It's definitely improved my life.
TD: Anything you just want to say, final thoughts, shout-outs to your peeps?
GP: Not really. How about there's no axis of evil? [Chuckles] It's been a great year for rhetoric.
