WEBVTT 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:23.800 Welcome back to Shecky's Jam Bands. I'm Shecky 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:26.820 and I want to start today with a question. What 00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:29.559 do you get when a bunch of college kids at University 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:32.659 of Pennsylvania look around at the jam band world 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:35.479 and the rave world and decide, you know what, 00:00:35.579 --> 00:00:38.920 we're going to live in both of these places at 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:43.420 the same time. You get the Disco Biscuits, Philadelphia's 00:00:43.420 --> 00:00:46.259 transfusion pioneers, one of the most original 00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:49.439 and relentlessly creative bands in the history 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:53.170 of live music. and today we're going all the 00:00:53.170 --> 00:00:58.030 way in. The year is 1993, University of Pennsylvania. 00:00:58.310 --> 00:01:01.770 Guitarist John Gutwillig, who everyone would 00:01:01.770 --> 00:01:04.890 eventually call the barber, meets bassist Mark 00:01:04.890 --> 00:01:08.730 Brownstein, who goes by Brownie. They start playing 00:01:08.730 --> 00:01:11.609 music together. Mostly Grateful Dead and Fish 00:01:11.609 --> 00:01:15.709 covers at frat houses and house parties. They 00:01:15.709 --> 00:01:19.859 pick up original drummer Sam Altman, and a rotating 00:01:19.859 --> 00:01:23.459 cast of others. At various points they call themselves 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:27.760 Party Tent and Zex C, which honestly are both 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:31.879 terrible band names. They know this. Then in 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:37.060 1995 keyboardist Aaron Magner joins and something 00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:40.219 clicks into place. And this is also the year 00:01:40.219 --> 00:01:43.079 they get their name. And I need to tell you this 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:45.879 story. because Mark Brownstein told it to Spin 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:48.840 Magazine and said he'd never told it publicly 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:52.519 before. The band was headed to the Jersey Shore 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:56.340 for a party, all crammed into a car, and one 00:01:56.340 --> 00:01:59.079 of their friends, totally impromptu, turns to 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:01.959 the group and says, hey, you guys, you want to 00:02:01.959 --> 00:02:06.099 go find some disco biscuits? And Mark says they 00:02:06.099 --> 00:02:09.280 all looked at each other and said, boom, that's 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:12.419 the name. Now... Here's the wrinkle Brownstein 00:02:12.419 --> 00:02:15.860 was happy to admit to. He says at the time he 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:18.319 didn't even know what disco biscuits meant. His 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:22.060 friend was looking for Quaaludes, the 1970s sedative 00:02:22.060 --> 00:02:24.599 that was slang for disco biscuits back in the 00:02:24.599 --> 00:02:28.139 day. By the time they named the band, the slang 00:02:28.139 --> 00:02:31.120 had shifted and disco biscuits had become street 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:35.099 slang for ecstasy instead. So the band's name 00:02:35.099 --> 00:02:37.419 came from a car full of college kids headed to 00:02:37.419 --> 00:02:40.479 the Jersey Shore party a friend asking about 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:44.539 drugs, and a collective decision that this accidental 00:02:44.539 --> 00:02:47.979 phrase was too good to pass up. Welcome to the 00:02:47.979 --> 00:02:51.680 Disco Biscuits. For the first few years, the 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.620 Biscuits were a solid band in the fish tradition. 00:02:54.860 --> 00:02:58.479 Good musicians, good shows, growing college following. 00:02:58.939 --> 00:03:02.139 But in late 1997, something changed that altered 00:03:02.139 --> 00:03:05.919 the course of not just their career, but an entire 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:10.389 genre. Keyboardist Aaron Magner got a Roland 00:03:10.389 --> 00:03:14.969 JP -8000 synthesizer, an analog modeling synth 00:03:14.969 --> 00:03:19.289 that could produce those driving, pulsating electronic 00:03:19.289 --> 00:03:23.069 sounds associated with trance and EDM music. 00:03:23.889 --> 00:03:26.550 And he started incorporating it into the live 00:03:26.550 --> 00:03:30.370 setup. And suddenly, the jam band improvisations, 00:03:30.830 --> 00:03:33.550 which were already strong, had this completely 00:03:33.550 --> 00:03:36.669 different dimension underneath them. Electronic, 00:03:36.889 --> 00:03:41.669 driving repetitive in a hypnotic and almost ritualistic 00:03:41.669 --> 00:03:46.129 way. The rhythms came from the rave floor, but 00:03:46.129 --> 00:03:49.550 they were being played live on real instruments 00:03:49.550 --> 00:03:53.729 with the spontaneity of jazz. Nobody has done 00:03:53.729 --> 00:03:57.250 this before, not like this, not this level of 00:03:57.250 --> 00:04:00.009 commitment. Original drummer Sam Altman described 00:04:00.009 --> 00:04:02.699 one of their early breakthrough moments a Halloween 00:04:02.699 --> 00:04:05.759 show in 1997, where they just started playing 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:09.659 this groove, this eight -bar loop, and kept going. 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:12.860 It was real repetitious, he said, but the music 00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:15.280 was going places we never imagined it could. 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:19.660 They called the style Trance Fusion, and it wasn't 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:23.199 a marketing term. It was genuinely accurate. 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:27.439 Trance Structure's jam band improvisation played 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:31.120 entirely live, with no samples, no backing tracks. 00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:34.639 Just four people turning a rock show into something 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:37.800 that felt like a rave and a jam session happening 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:41.199 simultaneously. The Disco Biscuits basically 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:44.379 created a new genre and you could see the impact 00:04:44.379 --> 00:04:48.439 immediately. Bands like STS -9, which we covered 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:51.399 in an earlier episode of the show, came up right 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:55.459 behind them exploring the same space. The crowd 00:04:55.459 --> 00:04:58.819 that came to the Biscuits shows became one of 00:04:58.819 --> 00:05:03.120 the most genuinely mixed audiences in live music. 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:20.620 One reviewer described it as, The biscuits spoke 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:24.019 to all of them. Alright, I'm picking one song 00:05:24.019 --> 00:05:31.689 to send to you, and I'm going with, Yes, Space 00:05:31.689 --> 00:05:34.910 Bird made him call. This song is everything the 00:05:34.910 --> 00:05:37.850 Disco Biscuits are. Ridiculous and brilliant 00:05:37.850 --> 00:05:43.170 at the same time. It lives in their 2002 album, 00:05:43.509 --> 00:05:46.470 Señor Boombox. And the moment it begins, you 00:05:46.470 --> 00:05:49.509 understand what transfusion actually means in 00:05:49.509 --> 00:05:53.810 practice. There's a pulsing, almost alien groove 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:57.029 at the center of it. Gutwilig's guitar weaves 00:05:57.029 --> 00:05:59.930 through it all. like something being broadcast 00:05:59.930 --> 00:06:04.509 from orbit. Magner's synths create this layered 00:06:04.509 --> 00:06:08.129 swirling atmosphere and underneath it all, Brownstein's 00:06:08.129 --> 00:06:12.269 bass is just locked in, absolutely merciless. 00:06:12.870 --> 00:06:15.230 This is either thrilling or baffling, depending 00:06:15.230 --> 00:06:18.829 on your familiarity with their catalog. Space 00:06:18.829 --> 00:06:22.269 Bird, Made in Call is the song that can ease 00:06:22.269 --> 00:06:26.449 you in. It's got melody, it's got groove, It's 00:06:26.449 --> 00:06:29.550 got hypnotic electronic quality that is pure 00:06:29.550 --> 00:06:33.769 biscuits. Press play on a live version and just 00:06:33.769 --> 00:06:37.029 let it happen. Okay, here's a story I've been 00:06:37.029 --> 00:06:40.490 building toward. By 2006, the Disco Biscuits 00:06:40.490 --> 00:06:43.209 had replaced their founding drummer Sam Altman, 00:06:43.509 --> 00:06:45.829 who left to go to medical school, by holding 00:06:45.829 --> 00:06:49.029 a two -night sold -out drum -off at the Borgata 00:06:49.029 --> 00:06:52.889 Casino in Lenox City. An open audition for a 00:06:52.889 --> 00:06:57.230 drum chair at a casino. that is very Disco Biscuit's 00:06:57.230 --> 00:07:00.269 approach to problem solving. They choose Alan 00:07:00.269 --> 00:07:03.889 Auken and the new lineup was Electric. In April 00:07:03.889 --> 00:07:07.430 2007 the band unveiled something entirely new, 00:07:07.949 --> 00:07:10.850 a performance under an alias called Tractor Beam. 00:07:11.370 --> 00:07:14.470 The concept was simple and bold. Tractor Beam 00:07:14.470 --> 00:07:17.709 was the Disco Biscuit's but completely instrumental, 00:07:18.170 --> 00:07:21.089 no vocals and designed to feel more like a DJ 00:07:21.089 --> 00:07:24.800 set than a rock show, something closer to a club 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:28.399 experience than a concert. Described by the band 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:32.480 as something more akin to a DJ club set, the 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:35.040 lights changed, the vibe changed, the approach 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:39.040 to improvisation changed. The Mr. Don that night 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:42.220 was described as mammoth. Fans who experienced 00:07:42.220 --> 00:07:46.680 both 1998 original and the 2007 Tractor Beam 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:49.079 version called it one of the most meaningful 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:53.420 musical experiences they'd had at any show from 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:57.220 any band. It wasn't just improvisation. It was 00:07:57.220 --> 00:08:01.519 memory made audible. History played live. The 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:04.300 band released the full soundboard recording of 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:08.560 that Tractor Beam show for free download to celebrate 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:11.180 the Jammies nomination. It's on the internet 00:08:11.180 --> 00:08:14.259 archive right now. Go find it. It's extraordinary. 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:18.120 Alright, some things that make the Biscuits generally 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:22.639 unique. They scored live films. The Disco Biscuits 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:26.259 have improvised live music scores to full films 00:08:26.259 --> 00:08:30.300 during their shows, including Akira in 1999, 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:37.240 Tron in 2015, The Fifth Element in 2023, and 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:42.379 2001 A Space Odyssey in 2024. The entire band 00:08:42.379 --> 00:08:45.679 watches the film and improvises in real time. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:49.539 No rehearsal, no pre -planned score, just four 00:08:49.539 --> 00:08:54.139 musicians reacting to Kubrick and Miyazaki live 00:08:54.139 --> 00:08:57.679 on stage in front of an audience. Mark Brownstein 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:01.820 co -founded Headcount. In 2004, bassist Brownie 00:09:01.820 --> 00:09:05.019 co -founded Headcount with Andy Bernstein, a 00:09:05.019 --> 00:09:08.600 national non -partisan non -profit with partners 00:09:08.990 --> 00:09:11.850 with musicians to register voters at concerts. 00:09:12.570 --> 00:09:15.269 If you've ever registered to vote at a live music 00:09:15.269 --> 00:09:18.169 show, there's a real chance head count was behind 00:09:18.169 --> 00:09:22.110 that table. Camp Bisco started by accident. In 00:09:22.110 --> 00:09:25.549 May 1999, the band was supposed to play a set 00:09:25.549 --> 00:09:30.009 at the All Good Music Festival that got cancelled. 00:09:30.610 --> 00:09:32.990 A dedicated group of fans had already camped 00:09:32.990 --> 00:09:37.009 out and dubbed their campsite Camp Bisco. The 00:09:37.009 --> 00:09:40.309 band took the hint That August they hosted the 00:09:40.309 --> 00:09:43.830 first official Camp Bisco music festival which 00:09:43.830 --> 00:09:47.889 grew over nearly two decades into a full -scale 00:09:47.889 --> 00:09:53.529 event featuring Skrillex, Bass Nectar, STS -9, 00:09:53.669 --> 00:09:58.110 Pretty Lights, and Gramatik alongside the Biscuits 00:09:58.110 --> 00:10:02.889 themselves. Last fact that you might find interesting 00:10:02.889 --> 00:10:05.669 is they actually play songs backwards. They're 00:10:05.669 --> 00:10:09.070 inverted and dyslexic. approaches to song structure 00:10:09.070 --> 00:10:13.850 are genuinely unique in live music. An inverted 00:10:13.850 --> 00:10:18.649 song begins with its ending, a dyslexic version 00:10:18.649 --> 00:10:22.990 has its sections scattered across the set, and 00:10:22.990 --> 00:10:25.789 a fake out is when they jam toward one song and 00:10:25.789 --> 00:10:29.070 pivot to another. Songs can start one night and 00:10:29.070 --> 00:10:31.909 finish the next. The Biscuits treat their set 00:10:31.909 --> 00:10:35.440 lists like puzzles for fans to decode. Here's 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:38.320 what I keep on coming back to at the Disco Biscuits. 00:10:39.100 --> 00:10:43.379 They've invented something. Transfusion. Jamtronica. 00:10:43.899 --> 00:10:46.519 Whatever you want to call it, that space where 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:49.580 live improvisation meets the relentless forward 00:10:49.580 --> 00:10:52.659 motion of electronic music. They didn't just 00:10:52.659 --> 00:10:56.139 exist in it, they built the room. They made it 00:10:56.139 --> 00:10:58.600 possible for a generation of bands to follow 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:01.139 them in that space. They are also one of the 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:04.659 most intellectual, playful bands in this world. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:08.519 They invented songs. The dyslexic structures, 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:12.779 the fake -outs, the tractor beam alter ego, the 00:11:12.779 --> 00:11:15.899 live film scores. These are people who genuinely 00:11:15.899 --> 00:11:20.919 love the puzzle of music. Who take joy in subverting 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:23.440 their expectations and then completely blowing 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.500 your mind with what comes next. And underneath 00:11:26.500 --> 00:11:30.240 all of that complexity, there's a groove. A deep 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:33.309 bone -rattling dance floor destroying groove 00:11:33.309 --> 00:11:36.529 that belongs entirely to the Disco Biscuits and 00:11:36.529 --> 00:11:40.070 no one else. Find Space Bird Mating Call, find 00:11:40.070 --> 00:11:43.049 the Tractor Bean Chameleon Club Show, and if 00:11:43.049 --> 00:11:46.990 they're playing anywhere near you, just go. Just 00:11:46.990 --> 00:11:49.750 be ready for them to start a song, stop in the 00:11:49.750 --> 00:11:52.149 middle, play something completely different, 00:11:52.309 --> 00:11:55.230 and then finish that song three songs later. 00:11:55.850 --> 00:11:58.649 And it's not a bug, that is the whole point. 00:11:59.490 --> 00:12:02.299 That's Disco Biscuits. And that's Shecky's Jam 00:12:02.299 --> 00:12:04.440 Bands. We'll see you next time.