From frat parties to a top national act
Jon "The Barber" Gutwillig, Marc Brownstein, Sam Altman, and Aron Magner
met on the University of Pennsylvania campus and formed Disco Biscuits there
in late 1995. They started out with frat party gigs all over Philly, but
quickly moved to the nightclub scene. In 1996 they released their indie
debut Encephalous Crime. In addition to their own shows, they toured in
support of Merl Saunders, the Black Crowes, the Jerry Garcia Band, and Morphine.
Their music, a crazy quilt mixture of rock, techno, jazz, soul, blues, and
classical, quickly took them to the upper echelon of the jam/groove scene.
Guitarist/lead vocalist Jon Gutwillig has declared that the goal of the
group is to create the wildest — or craziest — music of all time. Their
highly danceable style has been dubbed "Trance Fusion" and has drawn some
comparisons to Frank Zappa (even though the band members themselves don't
hear it). They've been known to break into a classical piece — or a slice
of classic jazz — in the middle of an extended rock jam. Disco Biscuits
songs are written for the live show and a record then results — not the
other way around. The band was signed to Hydrophonics Records in 1998 and
then released their second CD The Uncivilized Area. Their third, They Missed
the Perfume, hit the streets in 2001. ~ Ann Wickstrom
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