It’s Florida, Man, a new show on HBO, tells the outlandish but true stories of people from Florida alongside re-enactments by a mix of well-known comedic actors. In the opening episode, “Toes,” viewers are introduced to Phil, an Orlando man who tried to fund a trip to see since-disgraced bass music artist Bassnectar in Colorado by helping Steve, a man he met on Craigslist, fulfill his “biggest fantasy”—having a stranger cut off, cook, and eat three of his toes.
The show understandably frames Phil’s story as a classic “Florida Man” shocker, but at its root it’s less of a “Florida” story and more of an “obsessive music fan” story—a genre with which Live For Live Music and its readers are quite familiar. Simply put, we’ve all gone to great lengths to get ourselves to “the show.” Maybe not mutilation/cannibalism lengths, but still…
With that in mind, we reached out to Phil to get into the motivations behind his It’s Florida, Man misadventures and the compelling pull of the live music experience as a whole.
Was Phil’s story somehow… relatable? We’ll let you be the judge. [Note: If you haven’t already, we recommend brushing up on Phil’s story here before digging in below.]
The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Live For Live Music: When did you tape your account of the “Toes” story?
Phil: We filmed my portion around this time [in 2023]. … I was in contact with the film crew and some of the producers for a while, and then we kind of stopped talking, so I a hundred percent thought that the project got canceled. It was kind of a dumb idea anyways. I’ve always found my story to be good, but I didn’t know it was truly that good to make TV. So when they stopped talking to me for a bit, I was like, “Oh well, it is what it is. I tried.”
Live For Live Music: It’s almost too ridiculous for TV. It feels like a myth you’d hear someone tell on lot or in a festival campground and think, “There’s no way that’s true.”
Phil: The first time I told [the story] to a bunch of my friends at Electric Forest, everyone bought it as [being] true. But as time went on, I’d have to convince people, like, “No, this definitely happened.” I’d have to show ’em the photos from my phone.
Live For Live Music: It’s Florida, Man frames your story as a totally beyond-the-pale series of bad decisions, and I definitely agree with that assessment. Every step of that saga is a red flag: Craigslist favors, human mutilation, cannibalism, Bassnectar [laughs]. But then again, I can relate with really loving an artist and having that feeling of, “This is going to be a big moment, I have to be there.”
Phil: At that time [of the story] I was just seasonal at Disney because I was in school up in Tallahassee. So I’d come back [to work] over summer break, winter break, stuff like that. But I didn’t want to go back to work until after Electric Forest. I didn’t want worry about getting time off.
The [Bassnectar Colorado run announcement] was in early June [2019], and I had spent most of my savings up in Tallahassee partying. So I was like, “S—, I really have no money right now to do [a] trip, hotel, flight, all that jazz.” I wasn’t even going to go.
And then all my friends… When I was seeing Bassnectar, there was a group of 20 of us spread around the country that were really close friends and they would always [be like], “Come on, Phil, don’t worry about paying for a hotel. We’ll buy you the hotel. We’ll chip in for your ticket. Just come on, come on.” And that’s what kind of got me to get to the point where I was like, “Okay, all I need is this amount of money and then I’m all set.”
Live For Live Music: I mean, I’ve definitely been there. Good friends planning good times can be a dangerous thing when you’re trying to be responsible.
Phil: It’s kind of interesting, someone sent me a post from a Pretty Lights Facebook group about [It’s Florida, Man]. They were like, “Oh, crazy-ass Bass Heads, yadda, yadda, yadda.” And the thing is, they think that me being a Bass Head—well, former Bass Head—made me do that, but I would do it for any band. It just happened to be Nectar at the time. I’m really big into Goose right now. I wouldn’t do that for Goose because I’m an adult now with a job, but had Goose been a thing back then and I was trying to go on tour, it would’ve been, “Oh, look at this crazy Goose fan.” It’s not a whole EDM-based thing, I’m just a crazy guy. Or, I was a crazy guy [laughs].
Live For Live Music: It does sound crazy hearing it, talking about it. And yet I think every one of my friends has probably felt some version of that feeling. Maybe not on the level of, “I’m gonna do Steve’s thing,” but definitely, “How can I make this work? It feels important.”
Phil: Up until that moment, I’d always been very pro-Craigslist. There was one year before Hulaween when a hurricane came through Florida, like it always does, and I just walked around my neighborhood picking up debris and got money to go to Hulaween. I’ve always been like, “Okay, how can I get there?” There was one time where I was passing out promotional club flyers throughout downtown Orlando to get money to go to a show. I’ve always been like,”I’ll do about anything to get to a show.”
I don’t know what kind of flipped me on the day when I met up with, um, my toe man, but it was kind of the only legitimate offer I had on the table to make money that fast, so I guess I was a bit more desperate than usual. Typically I’d plan out in advance—”I have two weeks to make money, yadda, yadda.” But I was trying to make money in 48 hours, basically.
Live For Live Music: Yeah, the pressure’s on at that point if you’re committed to it. But was there any part of you that saw mutilation and cannibalism and was like, “Nah, f— that?”
Phil: The way I kind of tell the story makes it seem as if there was an 80% chance I was going to cut this dude’s toes off. But in actuality, I was always kind of hoping that one of us would tap out.
Live For Live Music: It did end up seeming like a game of chicken on a certain level, and obviously it never actually came to fruition, but you had to do those mental gymnastics of, “Would I do this? Am I actually going to do this?”
Phil: I’ve joked around with my friends, like, “Oh, how would you have cooked it? Would you have used seasoning?” But as crazy as I was during that time period, thats a lot to go through with, eating someone. It’s totally insane. And I’m bipolar, so I do get manic episodes, but it never includes… murder [laughs].
When he tapped out the first time, I kind of knew that I would be able to get out of there without doing what he wanted. But I wanted to get some money out of him…
Live For Live Music: But you had to get to that point where you’re really considering it. That says a lot about the pull off, “I’ve gotta get to that show.”
Phil: It’s crazy because I’ve had tons of fantastic musical experiences post-Bassnectar. I’ve actually enjoyed life a lot post-Bassnectar, I think it’s better now. But in the thick of it, we were just a group of kids in our twenties who we were all in college who had no real responsibilities other than not dropping out and staying off the streets. So every show that was announced was doable. There wasn’t, “Oh, let me check my schedule,” or, “I gotta get a babysitter.” It didn’t matter. If we had the money, we’d figure out a way to get there. … We had so many great times together that I think we were really addicted to the family atmosphere more so than the music. Outside of Bassnectar, I wasn’t really a big dubstep person.
Live For Live Music: I don’t think that feeling is specific to any one artist or genre. I’m sure there are some old Deadheads who have even crazier stories about what they did to get to shows.
Phil: They definitely do, and either 1) don’t want to tell them since they might be illegal or 2) HBO’s just not going after their stories, nor do they want to talk to HBO. … I’ve always been a bit of a theatrical person. I did musical theater in middle school, I’m a sucker for a good Broadway show. I do have that flare to my personality. So when the chance came up to tell the story on camera, I was like, “Oh, yeah.”
Live For Live Music: How long after that night did it take you to tell people that story?
Phil: I was actually texting two of my current best friends at the time, the whole night it was happening. The photo that they showed of me with the knife [shown above], that has been my best friend’s contact photo for me for five years. Whenever I call him, that photo pops up. So they got it in real-time updates.
I didn’t tell anyone [else] for like two days, but when I flew to Denver, my friends picked me up and they were like, “So wait, we thought you weren’t coming. How did you get here?” I was like, “Oh, well see, here’s the story.” And one of my friends in the car was in law school at the time, so he’s looking at me like, “Phil, what did you do?” And then my other friend, he DJs now out in Denver, he was all for it. He was like, “This is the greatest story I’ve ever heard in my life.”
I have a couple of friends who are now lawyers. Whenever I tell the story, they’re like, “Dude, you’re so lucky.” I mean, I know how the law works. Like I said, I wouldn’t have actually gone through it… and I don’t think the toe man, Steve, really thought through that part, [either]. He gave me a little paper to sign saying, like, “I am willingly doing this,” but nothing in there mentioned, like, should he die from bleeding out… Yeah. It was very peculiar.
Live For Live Music: It’s definitely legally dubious, but maybe not breaking any actual laws?
Phil: Now, had I broken into his house, tied him down and said, “You’re going to pay me this money and I’m going to cut your toes off,” yeah, I’m going to jail for sure. I definitely wouldn’t have spoken about it publicly if I feared some kind of pushback.
It’s funny, at the end of the show I talk about, “Oh, what happens when I have to go into a job interview?” … Could it possibly come up? Sure. But it’d be more of like a, “Ha ha, that was me when I was 20, I’m 30 now.” I’m not worried about any pushback that it might have on my career because restaurants tend to hire the craziest people anyways. I’ll be employed.
I got recognized the other day at work by a guest. We were doing a private event for the season ticket holders and this lady saw me and she was like, “I don’t mean to be rude, but, were you on a show?” I’m like, “What do you mean?” She’s like, “You know, the Florida one.” I was like, “Oh, yeah, that’s me.” She goes, “Dude, that’s f—ing crazy.” And I told her, “That was five years ago. I was like a child, immature. I’ve been in therapy myself. I don’t just act out on my emotions like that anymore.”
Live For Live Music: Is that how you’re gonna handle people who approach you about this now?
Phil: I think so. I made an Instagram story the night that it came out basically saying that this was me five years ago. It doesn’t reflect me as a person now. I don’t really tell that story unless we’re at a festival or an after party and I’ve been drinking and someone goes, “Who’s got a funny story?” I’m not just walking up to people being like, “Hi, I’m Philip and this happened to me five years ago.”
A couple months after [the story took place], I did end up getting diagnosed as bipolar. Looking back at it, it’s like, “Holy s—. Yeah, that was definitely a manic episode.” So, like, I’m in therapy, on medication. I can think through my thoughts now. I’m seeing Goose next week, I have no plans on pulling a knife to get that ticket [laughs].
Live For Live Music: Progress is a beautiful thing [laughs]. Here’s hoping Steve has made progress, too. Are you still in touch with him?
Phil: The last time I spoke with him was when HBO was going to do the interview with me and I was like, “Hey man, I’m doing a show with HBO about that night we had, they would love to speak with you. We’re not going to make fun of you. They generally want know why you want this to happen.” And he was like, “Oh, well, I’m just not comfortable talking about it. I’ve actually been going to a therapist to try and get over this thing that I have going on.” I’m like, “That’s really sincere and I love that for you, so don’t worry about it. I won’t text you about this again.”
Live For Live Music: That’s the other element of this story that’s so bizarre—that you feel so supportive toward a man who you were at one point planning to mutilate and eat in order to pay for Bassnectar tickets. It sounds pretty dark and depraved at face value, but it’s actually sort of a wholesome story about people trying to help each other out with their goals and being really considerate about it in the process. It’s just the things those people want that are, uh, let’s call it “unusual.”
Phil: I hope that whatever therapist he is seeing [can help him] work this stuff out.
Live For Live Music: The story as told on It’s Florida, Man sort of lumps together the cancellation of those Bassnectar shows and the “cancellation” of Bassnectar in general after the sexual assault allegations against him, which adds to the “WTF” factor of the whole thing. But that timeline is a little condensed…
Phil: So, the exact reason why this concert [from the story] was canceled was the roof was collapsing at 1stBank Center in Colorado. … That part [of the show’s depiction] was the only thing that I kind of don’t agree with. Did the allegations happen? Yes, a hundred percent. But that was a whole year after—this was 2019 in June. [The allegations didn’t] actually came out until, like, July 4th, 2020.
I mean, they weren’t wrong to kind of chop it up and say that I don’t agree with the Nectar project [anymore]. That is true. I don’t listen to him really that much anymore. … Some people are still ride or die [for Bassnectar], which is okay. I have friends that still support him, and they’re still my closest friends. I am not going to cancel someone over that.
Live For Live Music: Do you still consider yourself a Bassnectar fan in light of the sexual misconduct allegations?
Phil: I mean, I’ll put it to you this way. I will speak about my times in the community and I will speak about them with joy and happiness because it was a very good three-and-a-half years of my life. He’s played some shows since. I have not felt the urge to go to those shows, mainly because I’ve discovered love for other music post-Bassnectar that I probably wouldn’t have discovered because I was so just caught up in that world at the time.
If someone were to play one of his older tracks, play Divergent Spectrum or Heads Up, something like that, yeah, I’d nod my head for sure. Those are memories from high school and college that I’ll never let go of. But he’s playing New Year’s Eve in Miami, I’m in Orlando. I have no plans on going.
Live For Live Music: I guess there is a larger conversation at play here about whether or not we should separate the art from the artist. I mean, people still listen to James Brown, Michael Jackson. Kanye has been nothing but offensive for years, but My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy still exists…
Phil: You kind of wish [Kanye] would just go away the same way Bassnectar did. Like, just stop talking, for real, because you’re making this worse.
Live For Live Music: I mean, Bassnectar didn’t really stay gone, though. It seemed like he was showing remorse at first, but then he came back hard in the other direction, railing against cancel culture when a venue cut his show due to public backlash. Not a great look…
Phil: That was kind of the official nail on the coffin for me. I had a little bit of hope, but then when he said that I was just kind of like, “Oh man, we can’t be doing this.” I understand you’re mad. Your show got canceled, but they got pissed for a reason. People don’t want you in those towns.
Live For Live Music: Actions have consequences.
Phil: Exactly. But I do kind of wish that [It’s Florida, Man] touched on it more from a [general] music perspective because like I said, I got kind of pigeon-holed into, “Oh, he likes Bassnectar, of course he did that.” If OutKast came back today and they were playing one show in Atlanta, one show only, and it was sold out, I’d probably be like, “Hmm, well I got to see Three Stacks, so I got to do what I got to do.”
Live For Live Music: Although now, you’d have the benefit of some very specific perspective…
Phil: Yeah. It’s okay to miss shows. They’re going to come back eventually. It’s nothing truly that important. Yeah, I had a lot of good times seeing the shows. I have a lot of great times seeing Pretty Lights right now, seeing Goose, seeing Sturgill Simpson, all the people that I love. But at the end of the day, if you can’t make it, you just can’t make it. We have jobs or money can get tight or a hurricane comes through and you got to focus on rebuilding your community. There’s so much more life than a bass drop a guitar solo.
Watch Phil tell his story of Bassnectar tickets, toes, and attempted cannibalism on the first episode of HBO’s It’s Florida, Man here.
The post Talking Bassnectar, Eating Toes, & The Pull Of Live Music With ‘Florida Man’ Phil [Interview] appeared first on L4LM.