“I'm so excited to be talking about this,” Trey Anastasio told me last week. “Because you're the first person who's ever asked.”

Our topic was the trailblazing series of festivals that he and his band, Phish, created from scratch in the ‘90s. They were an immeasurable influence on the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, which kicks off its 18th year on Thursday. This year, Phish is headlining the festival for the third time.

We explored their festival history for an in-depth piece, which you can read in full here

"I'd go see Solange, because I still can't forget how well she kicked Jay-Z's ass in that video." - Trey Anastasio on Bonnaroo goals

But Anastasio also had a lot to say about this year’s Bonnaroo.

He seems to know the lineup inside and out, and is very excited to be following Childish Gambino on Friday night. He’s also thinking about surprise guests for their set – and the name he threw out might surprise you. Also, it’s cool with him that some Bonnaroo attendees are wondering “who TF is Phish?”

Dave Paulson: With a couple of exceptions, when Phish is playing a festival, it's either one of your own, or it's Bonnaroo.

Trey Anastasio: We don't do many other festivals. I play other festivals occasionally as a solo act, and some of them I would happily shout out, like Hangout. When I first went down there, I thought, 'These guys are super-cool.' I could just tell. It's weird. You can tell the intent. But generally, we have sort of a high standard. We've done all of these Phish festivals, and the amount of care that goes into layout and food, really, an enormous amount of thought and care goes into these festivals.

We were very sad that our festival got canceled last year, because we had some really cool stuff planned. I don't know, maybe we were spoiled by something like that. But Bonnaroo, to me, I feel like I'm part of the family there. And I like that feeling. We kind of just keep coming back (laughs).

DP: Even as you drew massive crowds, the early Phish festivals flew under the mainstream radar. Did it ever bother you that they didn't get much outside attention or coverage?

TA: It was hard for us to even grapple with that, because we (as a band) didn't get attention. And that was fine, we were used to it. But as I'm sure you know, they kept getting bigger. And it was a special feeling. So Great Went, Lemonwheel, Camp Oswego, and all of sudden it's '99 to 2000. The Millennium. And the home run of all festivals was Big Cypress. We went to a sovereign nation, not one cop. No press. No advertising.

But — and I didn't even understand this at the time — but there was this new thing that people were using to communicate with each other, that at the time, was almost, like, underground. And that was the internet. I didn't even know what the internet was when we went to Big Cypress. I had just sort of heard about it. A lot of fans of ours ended up in Silicon Valley. They were like computer geeks. It sounds crazy now, but I remember a woman in our office trying to explain it to me. They were like, 'Well, we didn't do any advertising, and it sold 80,000 tickets.' It was the largest ticketed concert on Earth for the millennium. We thought it was cool (to be under the radar). We managed to get completely off the grid with 80,000 of our friends.

We built an in-ground pool backstage at Big Cypress. We built a giant playground that went on for days. The fact that no one was noticing, everybody just thought it was so cool. It was ours. There was no corporate sponsorship and no advertising. None! Our manager was a nut about that. He would cover up any kind of ad, like the Mr. Sausage sign (a Vermont vendor that traveled to Phish shows). That was glowing when we went on stage. He told all of the vendors to turn off their signs. He ran out there and put a black cloth over the Mr. Sausage sign. You see what I'm saying? It was flying in the face of what was happening with MTV.

DP: Considering how much DNA is shared between the Bonnaroo and Phish festivals, when you first showed up to play the first Bonnaroo in 2002, did it feel familiar? Did it kind of feel like a Phish festival?

TA: It felt extra familiar because so many of our staff were there. You've got to understand that by the time Bonnaroo happened, Phish had done six major festivals, and with each passing festival, we learned skills. Our manager learned skills and improved our staff. By the time we got to Big Cypress, we had gained a level of expertise that can only come through the process of putting these things on, and learning from your mistakes.

Bonnaroo, there was a lot of crossover in our community, and they're friends of ours...It felt, and it still does, like an honor to be part of something that was the one festival that I felt like they were still trying to keep the same spirit alive that we had. I remember trying to say something about on stage that night (in 2002).

DP: You did, and that actually inspired this story, when I saw a video of that headlining performance, and what you said.

TA: I remember that feeling. I would say I feel more that way today, right (now), based on what they did this year. I'm thrilled to go back, and we all are...There's some little tinge of me that feels like going on stage right after Childish Gambino is, like, perfect. It's like, boom! Thank you! Because he's got the song of the year, and it's a commentary on America today in a way that I haven't seen from an artist in a long, long time.

And that choice to me, felt like the spirit is still alive. It's a thrill and an honor to go on stage at Bonnaroo right along with the artist, to me, that had the most important American song of the year.

DP: In 2009, you brought Bruce Springsteen out at Bonnaroo, and in 2012, Kenny Rogers joined you on stage.

TA: We saw him (Rogers) backstage, and we were like, 'Hey man! You wanna play a song?' 'Sure!'

DP: So a precedent has been set. Are you thinking about special guests this year?

TA: (Laughs). It kind of depends on who's milling about. I will say this: I wore Christian Louboutin sneakers for Kasvot Växt (Phish's prog rock alter ego band), and as I was walking on stage, I thought, 'Boy, Cardi B would really like these sneakers.' (laughs). If I happen to bump into her...

[Note: at this point, Trey's phone signal was breaking up. Later in the conversation, he indicated he'd be up for a Cardi B cameo, but no connection has been made.]

DP: I love how much you know about this year's lineup. You seem to be as excited as anyone heading down there for the weekend.

TA: I wish I could see all of the bands. Kacey Musgraves is playing, right?

DP: Yep. Her and John Prine are playing at the same time, which is killing me.

TA: I would love to see John Prine. It all depends on where we're standing. But I would go see Hozier. I love The National, luckily I've played with them and seen them. I wanna see the Avett Brothers, which strangely, I've never actually (seen). I've maybe played a Christmas jam with them or something, but I didn't really get to watch the whole set. I'd go see Solange, because I still can't forget how well she kicked Jay-Z's ass in that video (laughs).

DP: This is a rare occasion for you guys. Obviously, there will be a ton of Phish fans in the crowd, but also a few people who've never heard you before. Do you approach your setlist differently in that scenario?

TA: The thing that affects the song list most -- because I don't know yet -- is just the generalized energy. What's interesting about for festivals for us, is that other bands have gone on before us...that's part of the reason why we never had any other bands at our festival, because it gave up the opportunity to do, like, a Sunday afternoon set, a Saturday night set, and to walk on stage. It was like we were painting our own canvas,

So much of what we do is energy based, it really is. I mean, we don't walk on stage with a song list, still. We talk about it a little, but we juke and jive. So (at a non-Phish festival), the energy takes on a life of its own, and all of these other bands just played. When we walk on, we're surfing the energy of the band that came before us, or all of the bands that came before us that day, and in a strange way, all of the bands that are coming (up later), because people are in a certain mood. If Bassnectar's about to play at 1 a.m., that effects peoples' mindset, and that affects what songs we play.

Because we have such a wide range of songs now, it's kind of ridiculous at this point in time (laughs). So I have no clue. But having been there six times, I can tell you that Friday night usually has a certain energy, and Sunday has a certain energy. But each year is so different. They've all been so different, based on who the other acts are.

DP: Speaking of the lineup, one last thing. The Phish community really embraced this —sort of a sign of how far Bonnaroo has come, and how much time has passed. When the lineup dropped, there was a tweet from a college-aged attendee: "Don't attack me, but who tf is Phish and why is he playing 3 sets?"

TA: (Laughs) See? Our plan worked! ...I think we like being the outsiders. You're kind of like, not in the game, you follow me? The sprint is going on next to you, and you're just over on the side. That's the whole thing. I'm glad we got to this right before (we) hung up, because you're getting the picture now. The picture was, 'Oh my God, we're from Vermont. Who the hell is from Vermont?' It wasn't New York. It wasn't Seattle. It wasn't cool, and that was the best part about it.