KGNU’s Wendy Mills talks with Glen Phillips about his 40-year career with Toad the Wet Sprocket, his solo work, and life as a working musician. Phillips reflects on the band’s early years, the challenges of growing up together, and how their relationship has evolved over time. The interview includes live in-studio performances, discussion of Phillips’ weekly songwriting game and how it shaped his most recent record, and an update on his touring schedule, livestreams, and upcoming projects, including a new acoustic Toad the Wet Sprocket album. (Air date: 12/10/25)
Listen to the session here:
Interview Transcript
Wendy Mills:
Well, we have a treat. With us in the studio is guitarist, singer, songwriter, lyricist, producer, and so much more, formerly of Toad the Wet Sprocket. 40 years is incredible for a band to stay together.
Glen Phillips:
It’s one of those relationships. We did have a breakup period, and we’ve had our ups and downs over the years, but it’s actually been getting much better in the last few years. I think last year we all agreed it was the most fun we’d had since the early ’90s. It’s been good to get old enough to get over stuff, if that makes sense.
Wendy Mills:
That makes a lot of sense. I’ve heard other people talk about being so young when everything started and how overwhelming it was, like being in a centrifuge and maybe not thinking clearly.
Glen Phillips:
There are all kinds of reasons. Part of it is the business and the planning. Bands don’t get a lot of character-building support. There’s never enough gratitude early on, and on top of that you’re incredibly different people. We met in high school, so it’s not the band we would’ve formed in college or as adults. Figuring out how to accept each other for who we are and how to let water go under the bridge takes some doing.
Wendy Mills:
You’ve done so much, and I want to touch on all of it, but I also want to let everyone know that Glen brought his guitar and is going to play a few songs for us. I want to talk about your solo work, the different projects you’ve been in and continue to do, and also the European river cruise. That sounded delightful on the Danube.
Glen Phillips:
It was very fun, yeah.
Wendy Mills:
You’ll also be part of an Alaskan cruise in the works for 2027, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Glen, thank you. Welcome to KGNU. Would you like to play something right off the bat?
Glen Phillips:
Sure. I’ll do one off the new record. Hopefully I can sing it at this hour.
Wendy Mills:
And here’s Glen Phillips.
[Musical Interlude]
Wendy Mills:
That is beautiful. What’s the name of that one?
Glen Phillips:
That’s called “The Sound of Drinking.” It’s from an album that came out of a songwriting game I play with Matthew the Electrician from Austin, Texas. It’s an idea Bob Schneider came up with. Every week there’s a title. One week was “The Sound of Drinking,” and I figured everyone would do songs about bars, so I had to find something that wasn’t about a bar.
Wendy Mills:
I was going to ask you about that game. It’s really fascinating. Could you elaborate?
Glen Phillips:
Sure. There are about 25 songwriters, and every week we get a phrase. It doesn’t have to be in the chorus, it just has to appear somewhere in the song. It’s like a Rorschach test. You find the song you need to write. Part of it is staying in shape and having people to answer to, because life can get in the way. Another part is that those titles open really unexpected doors.
Early in my divorce, I was avoiding writing about it. I wanted to make a dance record, happy music. Then I got a run of titles like “Reconstructing the Diary” and “Leaving Old Town,” and I started writing about what was actually going on, which I wouldn’t have made myself do otherwise.
Wendy Mills:
I’ve seen similar exercises in other mediums, but this one really struck me as a great stretch, a way to push your boundaries.
Glen Phillips:
My whole last record is all songs from that game. They can be pretty cool.
Wendy Mills:
When did you start writing songs?
Glen Phillips:
Probably the summer after seventh grade. My first song came out of a summer camp romance at Interlochen. I was really into Rush at the time, so I wrote this eight-minute romantic epic with all these unrelated sections. I’d been listening to Hemispheres and thought that’s how songs were supposed to go.
Wendy Mills:
All of that early work is a foundation for where you are today.
Glen Phillips:
The first Toad record was written when I was 16, so there’s a permanent public record of my adolescent awkwardness. But those early records have an immediacy. We recorded everything live, including lead vocals, so they’re raw and flawed, but there’s an honesty people connected with.
Wendy Mills:
There’s a balance between perfection and rawness that people really love.
Glen Phillips:
Art is always a combination of craft and inspiration. You intend to write something, but then you follow what actually makes you feel something. You do the work to invite the muse, then let her take you where she’s going to take you.
Wendy Mills:
Tell me about some of the collaborations you’ve done, like Mutual Admiration Society and Remote Tree Children.
Glen Phillips:
You’re the first person at a radio station who’s mentioned that record. Remote Tree Children was a very nerdy project. My friend John Askew and I were learning Logic, so we decided to make a record to learn the software. There’s a song about gold farming in World of Warcraft, and another inspired by a Radiolab episode on Wagner’s Ring Cycle and industrialization. We were all over the map.
Wendy Mills:
Those themes are still very relevant today.
Why don’t you share another song?
Glen Phillips:
Sure. I’ll do an old Toad single.
[Musical Interlude]
Wendy Mills:
That was one of those songs that stopped me when I first heard it on the radio. It still sounds great.
Tell me about your touring now. You’re at eTown Hall tonight with Ana Cutler, your final show of the year.
Glen Phillips:
Yes, my final show of the year. I do about 100 shows a year, around 40 or 50 solo and 50 or 60 with the band. We toured this summer with Gin Blossoms and the Jayhawks, then with Vertical Horizon and KT Tunstall. I also did a cruise on the Danube, which was amazing, and a tour opening for Colin Hay in England and Scotland. Then it’s back at it again early next year.
There’s no album sales anymore, so you have to tour.
Wendy Mills:
I want to talk about Volume and the monthly livestream you do.
Glen Phillips:
I’ve done a lot of livestreaming. During lockdown I was doing five nights a week at first, then three. It built a real community. A couple of couples met in the chat and are married now. It’s been really sweet to see how just showing up regularly gives people a place to connect.
Volume is a subscription platform, which lets me share alternate recordings, new material, and do Zoom meetings. It gives me more days at home and a different way to connect.
You can find it at volume.com, or just go to glenphillips.com. That’s Glen Phillips with one N. There’s another Glen Phillips with two Ns, and he’s a better guitarist than me, but we’re different people.
Wendy Mills:
Before we wrap up, I heard there’s an acoustic Toad album coming.
Glen Phillips:
Yes, it’s coming out in the new year. There’s one song from every album we’ve ever put out. Some are straightforward acoustic versions, others are really deconstructed. It’s our 40th anniversary, so it’s a retrospective that still sounds current.
Wendy Mills:
We can’t wait to hear it. Thank you so much for coming in. Glen Phillips’ final show of 2025 is tonight at eTown Hall with Ana Cutler. We really appreciate you and everything you’ve done.
Glen Phillips:
Thank you. It’s my pleasure.
