Photo: Rene Huemer

Mike Gordon is showing off his Vermont digs. 

The Phish bassist’s abode was initially featured in the pages of Dwell magazine, which focuses on home design and technology, back in July. As an added component of the behind-the-scenes look, the musician invites viewers to participate in a virtual visit by watching a new YouTube video that the magazine produced, letting his fans and interior design addicts alike behind the concrete walls and into a colorful world of Gordon’s psychedelic creation. 

In the video, which can be viewed at the bottom of the page, the subject introduces himself and his home: “I am Mike Gordon. I play with the band Phish, as well as my own band. I have some other interests like designing this place here, which is a living and working facility. I’ve been renovating places in interesting ways, with some visionaries, for many years, but I’ve never started from scratch.”

Gordon cites functionality and Feng Shui as two features of his design approach, before imparting the significance of instruments and acoustics to the space as well, “If there’s a place I’m going to go, this is going to be the place. It’s inspirational in terms of where it’s set, and it’s inspirational in terms of what kinds of instruments and gear there are.”

He continues, touching on the space’s ability to support sound, “It’s really rare to find in Vermont a studio that has the acoustics designed to sound balance. So to have a place where that can be trusted, because someone like John Storyk was involved with the acoustics.”

Balance and proportional arrangements are other features of his approach.“I feel liberated. Another thing for me is symmetry. There were a lot of designs that were asymmetrical, and I just get uneasy. I like the symmetry,” Gordon says. “I like low contrast, but then I needed it to be rock and roll. So to bring in the ultraviolet purple and then to design my own rug to match some of those patterns and colors and have it be all crazy but still kind of match the dark, rich code of the wood.”

“I was probably 7 or 8 years old when I started designing my own clubhouse. So I always really liked the special lairs and nooks,” Gordon says of his initial interest in creating spaces, before tying the concept back to the music, “And it’s flowing. I can already feel the flow in working on these songs.” 

Watch Gordon’s Dwell Home Tour below.