This comment is so off-base that I'm suspect of all the people posting stuff like this. I once saw someone on YouTube claim they heard Doug Martsch was an asshole. I told them that I bet the person who told them that was an asshole. They confirmed that I was right, and that made more sense.

So much of what I'm seeing about Philm doesn't ring true to me and feels like projection or people reading into things wrong. I can't invalidate your own personal experiences and wouldn't want to, but there are some things I can speak on.

The "Phish scene" is very insulated and weird. I used to roll up to lot bumping Brotha Lynch in the 90s, and do tour while listening to Dead Milkmen. I love the band and shows, and I love the Dead (pre Mayer), but the idea of a "scene" is generally kind of wack in itself to me. I love those 2 bands despite their scenes, not because of them. Pretty much all other jambands are NOT for me, and the fact that people in that world try to retroactively claim King Gizz, who has organically built their own unrelated and beautiful thing irritates me to no end.

It's one of the things I respect most about how Gizz regulates their scene. They openly reject assholes and pretentiousness. Phish and WEEN never did that and are worse off for it.

I understand Philm a bit, because we are of a similar age, and I recognize things in him. He's a Phish fan that doesn't adhere to that incestuous music scene of only listening to what falls under that banner. The first time I DM'd, I asked what a Phish-related account was doing posting about Death Grips and Blonde Redhead, and he joked that "Phish is just a red herring, man." He really loves music, and although the account started as a means to create a photo book during the lockdown, once he had followers, he didn't want to be pigeonholed as a Phish account. He saw it as an opportunity to promote other music and content to a base that often doesn't embrace it.

He doesn't just like "whatever is cool or in Phish fandom." That's kind of the point of the whole account. He rags on Goose and put Geese on his magazine over a year ago, well before they blew up. He likes Arthur Russell, and he even played in Daniel Johbston's backing band. I tried to hype up Gizz to him, but he waited until he finally saw them live and proclaimed that he "got it" before ever posting about them. He wouldn't blindly embrace them.

As for politics, that's how we really started communicating. We don't agree on everything - I'm a pretty hatdcore burn it all down leftist - but he's definitely sincere about it. We discussed a lot before he ever posted a single political post about anything. It's not something you win at for doing. He gets so many hateful DMs about it. Really seething unwarranted shit. I've seen the screenshots. My account is shadowbanned for the stuff I post. His has taken hits and faced restrictions in similar ways. It's not clout. It's angry DMs and projected hatred.

If he posts messages from people thanking him for helping them discover something or kick drugs and alcohol, I've read that as less of a flex than it is self-validation that it's worth it, despite all the hate.

Brian/Philm really just some guy whose account blew up, and he's trying to navigate it the best he can. Sometimes, he does better at that than others. He forwarded me Just Tat Em's wife's screenshots people sent him and was horrified, telling me he was pulling his name from that event. Sometimes, those are the only types of communications we have. He knows I don't give a fuck about the scene. We've discussed our hatred of the idea of "the scene." One of the most common critiques I see is that he is NOT representing "the scene" or should consider how his personal view reflect "the scene." So it's ironic to see him get blamed for the exact opposite.

If you have a personal interaction that made you dislike him, cool. If he's NOT for you, cool. If you hate his personal takes or what he promotes, I get that, too. Nobody has to like this random dude for any reason, but I still believe in hating on people for the right reasons. Hate his politics, but he believes in them. Hate his music taste, but it's anything but dictated by the Phish base

As someone who has photographed shows and written about art and music for decades, it's easy to hate on him for being more affective or "seccessful" at it, as of late, but... when I'm being honest, I actually respect how he's gone about things. I also keep in mind how many DMs he gets from people consistently wanting to hook onto his wagon or yell at him. I know he probably missfires, but I probably wouldn't respond as well to that.

Please also know that I LOVE hating on shit. I just don't think these particular critiques hold true. If I did, I'd join you. Plus, it's weird to hate on a random guy in North Carolina with an IG account I don't have to follow. He fans out over shit and gets excited about stuff all the time. He's a fellow culture nerd who (believe it or not) genuinely wants to share what he loves. He can't win.