The Biscuits are comprised of Magner, guitarist Jon “The Barber” Gutwillig, bassist Marc Brownstein, and drummer Allen Aucoin. But if we're not ready to take that risk, then you're not going to get the cool parts of the reward, of brand-new jams that would never have transpired unless we had the balls to go from point A to a different point entirely on a different universe. We're willing to take the risk of utter and complete embarrassment, which, again, have unfortunately happened over the course of our career. And so that's a risk that we're willing to take. But it just serves to- It's the generalized point of like, hey, if you don't take risks, then you don't get the reward. Luckily, I feel like we could count our train wrecks on one, over our entire career, one hand. And every now and again, it just doesn't work.

We always strive to keep the bumps, keep the turbulence down as much as possible, you know, but sometimes it gets turbulent. But you know, frequently it's like, okay, everybody just- It's trust, right? Everybody just needs to trust each other that we're going to end up in this different place from where we started. Very rarely we’ll discuss kind of checkpoints of how we need to get from point A to sometimes point Z. And there's a lot of high-level communication that takes place on stage, a lot of anticipation of each other's moves. If we launch out of this section of the song and we land into a completely different section of another song, then you have this new segue that's never kind of been done before. And then therefore, we're trying to create more infinite possibilities. And what's cool is we're still discovering different parts of songs to use as launchpads. Maybe that jam comes out of the bridge, and it's a whole new set of chord changes that you've never done before. Maybe it's not that point in, after the second chorus is the jam. What the Disco Biscuits have always done since we were kids is, we find different moments at different points of songs, different springboards to jump off of. And you get to that section of the song where it opens up into that improvisational section, and then you get to the point of the song where the that improvisational section is over and it's capped by a chorus or a musical lick that says, that was the end of the jam, and then you finish the song. If it's a jam band, that jam can be rooted in lots of different genres of music, including the Disco Biscuits.

MAGNER: What I love about the Disco Biscuits, and this has been at our ethos, at our core since we were kids is, rather than doing what is customary in the jam band or any improvisational world, be it jazz or something like that, is, you have the song, and then you have the section of the song that you open up into some form of improvisation rooted in whatever genre of music- You know, if it's jazz, it’s typically jazz. They’ve amassed a dedicated following over the years with their unique combination of beat-heavy electronic music paired with elements of jazz-fusion, funk, and prog. Over 2022, the band unveiled over a dozen new songs, announced a three-day Tranceatlantic event in Iceland coming up in May, and began releasing singles from their forthcoming studio album, their first since 2011’s “Otherwise Law Abiding Citizens.” As with many acts in the jam band scene, the Biscuits are best known for their sprawling, improv-heavy live performances. The Disco Biscuits, formed in Philadelphia in 1995, start 2023 with a surge of momentum. We’ll talk with Aron Magner about the Biscuits’ new suite of songs, upcoming trip to Iceland, and much more. But really, you're missing that one piece- Which is the fans.” So, we can rehearse it all we want in a band room. “We're a jam band, right? So, our art is frequently formulated on stage, right, because there's that symbiosis between fans and band, and there's that component that kind of needs to be there in order for the planets to align. The Philadelphia quartet brings its kaleidoscopic brand of trance fusion improvisation to the Palace Theatre in Albany on February 3 rd. Coming up this hour, a special conversation with keyboardist Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits. This is Josh Landes and you’re listening up WAMC. To hear the fully produced piece, including samples of the Disco Biscuits and Spaga tracks referred to in the text below, hit the play button above.

Disco biscuit setlist