How do the Disco Biscuits fit into the amorphous culture of jam rock? Find out below.
As a casual observer of jam bands and the culture that supports them, one finds it easy to lump them all into the same subgenre of rock ‘n’ roll.
“Oh, Widespread Panic? They’re a jam band . . . And ? They’re a jam band, too.”
Of course no two bands sound exactly alike, and sometimes bands take it upon themselves to separate their work from that of their peers. They cleverly self-brand annual music festivals and events, and they actively engage their fans in discussion about where their music falls on the spectrum.
Fans will see these trends in the jam band world more than its rock or hip-hop counterparts. Many jam bands have their own annual music festivals, and even more will have annual events where tradition — and fan base — is built and nurtured. have their game on lockdown, and they’re looking to build on an annual Colorado event — — to solidify their standing as one of the most innovative and genre-defying jam bands in America.
The Disco Biscuits will headline on Saturday night at their third and largest Bisco Inferno, and we spoke with the band’s guitarist/keys man, Jon Gutwillig, about his progressive bill of electronic music, the need to brand their events and his band’s unusual take on improvised music.
Question: Let’s talk Bisco Inferno. What’s the idea behind the festival?
Answer: We found a bunch of artists that were the founders and premiere artists of electronic music, in the different types of electronic music that they made, and asked them if they wanted to play. All these dudes playing the show are continuing on their path as artists in one way or another.
What do you mean “premiere artists?” It’s a pretty eclectic bill.
At one point or time, they were the Michael Jordans of what they did. We were fortunate enough to assemble a bill that had that kind of vibe. (Paul) Oakenfold was playing stadiums at one point, and he was instrumental in the electro house movement of the ’90s, the first huge mainstream electronic movement. Z-Trip singlehandedly invented the mash-up. RJD2 was one of the first guys to ever walk on a stage with just a computer and blow your mind. The Biscuits make electronic dance music without computers by using instruments and re-creating the vibe and the intensity by improvising around it.
The Disco Biscuits are one of these nu-model jam bands, a group that doubles as an electronic group. How do you guys fit into the jam culture?
We’re an improv thing, and we’re also the beginnings of a transfusion thing that we like to call super-jam bands. Normal jam bands — Grateful Dead and Phish and Panic — are country jam bands. We’re starting something called super-jam bands, where we’re jam bands but what we’re doing is different.
So while they’re more rooted in country and folk, you’re more rooted in electronic?
Yeah, and it’s got a new edge to it. As far as the new jam band that is playing super-modern music like the Biscuits, who goes in there and who goes in the category of jam bands? That’s what we’re striving to figure out.
You’ve done Bisco Infernos before, but never on this scale, right?
Yeah, this might be the third one. It started small and grass roots, but the Biscuits have gotten a lot bigger over the years and so has the scene. The number of people who are enjoying this kind of jam band electronica-improv has increased over the last five years, and a lot of these bands on this bill are big enough to play Red Rocks at this point.
You guys also have a weekend festival in New York called Camp Bisco, and you aren’t alone in the world of self-branded music festivals and events. Can you tell me the importance of branding these annual shows and keeping them going?
The great thing about having your own festival is you know you’re going to get an offer next year. It’s nice to always have this. You know what you’re planning your life around. So in 2010, we know we’re doing a Camp Bisco, a Caribbean Holidays. We know we’re doing a Bisco Inferno and special stuff on Halloween and New Year’s. As a musician there are so few things you can rely on in the world. You don’t have a reliable paycheck or business model. But it’s nice to have a couple things that you can rely on to get you through the year.
Ricardo Baca is the founder and co-editor of and an award-winning critic and journalist at The Denver Post. He is also the executive director of the , Colorado’s premier festival of local music. Follow his whimsies at , his live music habit at and his iTunes addictions at .
