10/03/2026
“My journey with Phish has gotten more and more serious over the years — now to the point that they are the reason I make a living. At the same time, it’s also gotten funnier and funnier.
It’s started at Randall’s Island in 2014, where I quit my restaurant job on a whim for a miracle ticket from my friends Alex and Harry. It was easy for an 18-year-old line cook to find another restaurant job, but a free ticket to Phish? That’s worth going out on a whim for. The show ended with a humorous head of acid, a bit of confusion, and the assessment of ‘I don’t get it but I’d do it again.’
I didn’t go again for another two years. When I heard Phish was coming to town, my ears immediately perked up. This time, instead of eating one hit, I would eat two! The second set rolled in, I got separated from my crew, and I was starting to ‘get it.’
I remember being struck by the music. I could feel it in my bones. There were several emotions hitting at the same time: confusion, excitement, humor, explosiveness. After each ‘song’ ended, I was mind-blown but so excited for what was happening next. After the show, I found my friends (who were seasoned phans) and tried to make sense of it all as they cracked up. I ended up re-listening to that show daily until going to Vegas my first Phish run. The rest is truly history.
The band took hold of my life by 2019. After hitting nearly the entire summer tour, rehab, New Years, and Mexico, I found a job where my career evolved with the band. Once the pandemic ended and I found long term sobriety, baklava kicked in.
Good Baklava was never supposed to be a company, only a side hustle and a way to continue seeing Phish. After moving back to NYC and selling locally in the parks, I decided to go all in.
The last five years of sobriety, baklava, Phish, entrepreneurship, and traveling have been a true adventure. This life, company, community is beyond my wildest dreams — and it’s my moral and civic duty to take it as far as it will go!
I’m so grateful for Phish, the wild, hilarious scene, the country of Türkiye, and the universe for letting me be a part of this wild life.”
- Roy Donk (AKA Good Baklava 😋)
