For Afleet on SB Sunday!!

Trey Anastasio explains how a Phish song became the rallying cry of Seahawks fans everywhere
By CHRIS CHASE USA Today
Last April, Phish lead singer Trey Anastasio was playing a solo show in Washington when he suggested that Wilson, a crowd favorite song in which fans respond to a thumping bass line by chanting “WILLLLLL-SON,” should be used to greet the Seattle Seahawks quarterback of the same name. When Phish played in Seattle before the 2013 regular season, a fan threw a Phish shirt on stage and Anastasio wore it for most of the show. Not long after that, Anastasio’s wish became Seattle’s command, as CenturyLink Field was playing the familiar double-E the first time Russell Wilson would come on the field.

Ahead of the Seattle Wilson’s Super Bowl debut, For The Win talked to Anastasio about Russell Wilson’s inspiration, the origins of the chant and why it’s hard to write a song about Nick Mangold.

FTW: How did a song that you wrote for your senior thesis and became a Phish crowd favorite turn into the rallying cry for the loudest fans in football?

Trey Anastasio: The funny thing is that the Phish audience came up with that chant on their own and it’s always been loud when they’ve done it. I guess it sort of crossed my mind last year when I was in Seattle. Russell Wilson was having such a great season and was so inspiring and I kind of said something at a concert and apparently people picked up on it.

FTW: That was at the Moore Theater in April?

Trey Anastasio: Yeah.

TW: Phish has some of the most loyal, if not the most loyal, fans. But did you think they’d get your suggestion to take off like it did?

Trey Anastasio: It’s all been pretty surprising and exciting to me. No, I just sort of start talking about these things without thinking about it too much. Then it took off. Who knew they were going to be in the Super Bowl? I guess I couldn’t have predicted, but it’s pretty crazy. But I did think about how they were the loudest stadium in America and it seemed like a good idea. It was sort of meant to be.

FTW: I don’t know if you’ve seen, but there’s an elementary school in Spokane that changed their name to Russell Wilson Elementary and the school principal does the Wilson chant with the kids every day.

Trey Anastasio: Oh really? (Laughs) That’s great. I love it.

FTW: You’re a big Philadelphia Flyers fan. What was your relationship with football growing up and what’s it like now?

Trey Anastasio: This is the funny thing — in reality I’m a Jets fan (laughs). I love football. I love watching Russell Wilson play, for many reasons, he’s a little guy who makes it work. It had crossed my mind that if we had a song called Mangold, named after [New York Jets player] Nick Mangold, I probably would have suggested they use that. He’s probably my favorite football player right now.

FTW: It does have the same syllables and cadence.

Trey Anastasio: Yes! It’s tougher to write a song called Nick Mangold. But, yeah, we love football. My family watches every Sunday. We’ll go to games in New York, or wherever we are.

FTW: Prediction for Sunday? You’re a Jets fan, but are you a Seahawks fan for the Super Bowl?

Trey Anastasio: I am. The other thing is that I’m a Seattle fan. We love playing in Seattle and love visiting. You know, I lived in Vermont for 25 years and I think that there’s been sort of a kinship between people who live in the northern corners of the country. You know what I mean? I love Seattle and we love playing at the Gorge. The other thing is that Russell Wilson played at Wisconsin, which is another big town for Phish. We sort of felt the kinship with them. We used to play the Barrymore Theater and it was at the Barrymore Theater that we met one of our managers who still works with Phish. There’s a history there too. But, yeah, Seattle’s going to win.

FTW: Bold, I like it.

Trey Anastasio: They’re the best team this year. We love playing around Denver too — there’s a big Colorado connection — but the fact that [Seattle] started using the chant this year and it all came together so mysteriously — it was meant to be.

FTW: I’ve got a feeling next time you’re up there, it’ll be the loudest Wilson chant yet.

Trey Anastasio: Hopefully we’ll see soon.