What inspired you to create this book?

We started creating the idea for All My Friends during Covid. We were both missing Phish and going to shows. A bunch of our friends were having kids and Lindsay was pregnant with her first daughter. We thought it would be a really fun passion project for us to keep busy, talk endlessly about our love of the band and make something that we’d love to share with our Phish friends and community in general.

Did your friendship grow out of a shared love of Phish or did you get into Phish together?

We were friends long before our love of Phish, but our joint obsession and seeing shows over the years definitely brought our relationship to a new level.

How did you split the work? How collaborative was the process?

Most of the project was done collaboratively. Hanging out, talking about our favourite songs, favourite characters and what would work best visually. It was hardly “work” considering the amount of fun and laughs we had thinking about fun easter eggs to include in the drawings.

Who created the amazing art for your book?

All of the illustrations were created by the incredible Day Off - aka Bridget Richardson and Luke DiBona, a crazy creative duo based out of Northern Colorado. They are illustrators, designers and creators of goofy things inspired by balancing the weight of the world (politics, mental health) with the joy of their comfy illustrations that keep them going. They’re familiar with the music but aren’t big fans so seeing our ideas come to life in their creations was so fun.

Have either of you ever done anything else like this? What are your day jobs?

Sarah has created several children’s books in the past, so her expertise on the actual process and her connections with our printer were extremely helpful. She works in education and is currently training in art therapy where she works with adults and kids.

Lindsay spent 10 years creating documentary film projects focused around her love of the culinary arts. The past few years, as a new mom of two girls, her focus has shifted to creating colourful, quirky and unique content for kids.

What was the most challenging part of this project? What was your favourite part of it?

The hardest part was understanding that this is also a business. We have to forecast, file taxes, etc etc. As a passion project it was all fun but we have to also spend time and make sure everything is in order as well.

The best part is definitely being able to spend time with each other and with our favourite music. The feedback we hear about children wanting to read about “their friends” before bed or seeing a llama and shouting “taboot taboot” is what it’s all about. Parents' telling us about the joy it brings to share their love of the music with their kids fills up our loving cups. It’s become so much more than just a book for us.

Are there more creative projects on your horizon together?

We hope so! We’ve loved this process so much, and for the past year we’ve been working to obtain a licence from one of our favourite bands to create something similar. Our fingers are crossed that we’ll have another book out to everyone as soon as possible :)