MUSIC PHISH : Phine Phun : Four jazzy rockers tour in support of their big-label debut, ‘A Picture Of Nectar.’

These Phish are phinally pheeling phrisky, phlopping about on a solid phiscal phoundation on that pier of life, interrupting all this phine phun only when they phall by to phiddle with the pheet of their phaithphul at the Anaconda Theater in Isla Vista tonight.

A rock quartet with jazzy overtones, Phish is touring in support of their big-label debut and third album overall, “A Picture Of Nectar.”

From keyboards to wailing guitars to banjos, nearly every song sounds as if it were performed by a different band, making Phish hard to categorize.

Whatever they are, they can certainly play. There are extended jazz riffs on tunes such as “Tweezer,” straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll on tunes such as “Chalk Dust Torture,” and even sort of a hillbilly rave-up on “Poor Heart.” Plus, everybody sings.

And they’re smart. No “The sky is blue, whoop-do-doo, I love you” lyrics from Phish. When’s the last time you heard a rock band use the word “exponentially”? From “Guelah Papyrus,” a sample line:

” . . . This is the work of Guelah Papyrus

Stranded for a moment on the ocean of Osyrus

Absorbing all she can for every member of her clan

Expanding exponentially like some reclusive virus . . . “

Phish didn’t spend a lot of time sitting around and sniveling about how to get Mr. Big from Megazilla Records to listen to their demo, love them, sign them, then support them forever. They took their act on the road, deal or no; and until recently it was no deal. They released two independent records and completed two national tours without a hit, a deal, MTV or any of the traditional stuff rockers-to-be think they can’t live without.

In a recent phone interview guitarist Trey Anastasio discussed the life and times of his favorite touring band from Vermont:

How are the new album and the tour doing?

I assume the album is doing fine although it’s not ready to knock Nirvana off the charts. The tour’s going great. Tomorrow, we’re going on a two-day raft trip in Arizona. Last night, we were at these incredible hot springs in New Mexico. We’re driving our own van.

Rock ‘n’ rollers in a van--do the cops hassle you guys?

No, we’ve got this New Jersey touring van with a “Foxy Grandma” sticker on it. The cops drive right by us. Our only problem is when our drummer drives, he hits deer. He’s hit three so far. Only him, though.

What’s the Vermont scene like?

Life in Vermont is wonderful. Vermont is relatively underpopulated and there’s a lot of space. People are more relaxed. There’s not too many natural disasters like mudslides or any of that, and it’s too cold for most people to deal with so no one really ever comes to Vermont. There’s very few concert venues, just a few acoustically poor rooms. Springsteen and Prince probably won’t be coming. Actually, Metallica came to Vermont when they did a gig in every state, and once George Thorogood did 50 gigs in 50 states. Also, there’s no professional sports teams; I don’t think the University of Vermont even has a football team.

The only time we hear anything about Vermont is during the election. During the last primary, the newscasters were wondering aloud how to pronounce the capital of Vermont.

It’s pronounced Montpelier (mont-PEE-lee-yer).

OK, so much for geography; how did Phish get started?

We got started at the University of Vermont where I met Mike Gordon, the bass player and Jon Fishman, the drummer. We ended up meeting Page McConnell at Goddard, a small, experimental college. We’ve been together for 8 1/2 years now.

Your bio mentions a fan club.

As time went by, we gradually developed a computer network of our fans called the Phish Net. It’s set up so people all over the world can communicate. You can find out the first song we played last night and when our next gig will be. Sometimes the fans will meet at a bar or something before one of our gigs and just hang out with each other.

Phish completed two national tours as an unsigned act. Most new bands concentrate on getting signed rather than getting better. What do you think?

I think that’s a real problem. You need to get your live act together on stage. By the time they (Elektra) found us, we had already completed several national tours. Our contract was basically for them to put out our album, that’s it. They’re going to reissue our other two albums.

Are there really 100 Phish songs?

There’s a lot of them. When we play, we usually do two sets, each about 75 minutes long, almost all originals. Sometimes we do a few bluegrass tunes, some jazz standards and maybe a Led Zeppelin song. On three of our West Coast dates Widespread Panic is opening for us because they’re friends of ours, but usually we choose to play alone. It’s usually billed as an evening with Phish.

What was your strangest gig?

That would have to be this gig we played at this sex commune in Vermont. It was run by this old guy named Irving who had to be about 80 years old. They were a bunch of old hippies with gardens and kids running around everywhere, and they intermingled their lovemaking. They had a schedule where every night they switched partners. Irving showed up at the gig with a beautiful young woman on each arm. He was the schedule maker. They cooked us an incredible meal, too.

What would you change, if you could, about your career so far?

I wouldn’t change a thing--we’re completely enjoying it. We’re doing exactly what we want to do--traveling and playing. Our goal is to play for people who want to see us and not to open for some big act, but just to have fun. None of us are married or have families and that makes it easy. Right now, the big question is should we improve the sound system or get a tour bus.

* WHERE AND WHEN

Phish, Widespread Panic, the Anaconda Theater, 935 Embarcadero del Norte, Isla Vista, 685-3112. Tonight, same time as “The Simpsons,” but more expensive at 15 bucks.