Aron Magner

Aron Magner (born April 23, 1976) is a Philadelphia-based musician best known as the keyboardist and founding member of The Disco Biscuits. Magner and The Disco Biscuits have been instrumental in bringing live and studio improvisational, electronic-based music to the forefront of the live music scene and, increasingly, to popular culture.^[1]

Personal life

Magner grew up in Lower Merion, PA, the son of Alan Magner, a tuna fisherman,^[2] and Adele Magner, a philanthropist and educator. Magner has one sister, Jana. From a young age, Magner was classically trained on the piano.^[3] Magner was enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania before more aggressively pursuing a career as a musician.^[4]

On October 16, 2010 Magner married Angelika Bekerman, formerly of New York, NY, in Brighton Beach, after a proposal earlier that year at New York City’s “public piano” in Herald Square that was featured in New York Magazine.^[5] They live in Philadelphia, PA.^[6]

Career

Magner’s early musical influences included jazz and classical music, and led him to formal piano training.^[7] Soon after, he discovered David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Doors, and similar artists. All of these influences remain present and noticeable in Magner’s style to this day and, ultimately, help steer the various bands and projects he is involved with.^[8]

After graduating from Lower Merion High School, Magner enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania, where Marc Brownstein and Jon Gutwillig had begun casually playing in musical jam sessions together. As a Philadelphia native, Magner’s reputation as a talented jazz keyboardist preceded him,^[9] and it was not long before the three began playing fraternity parties and other social events, often under different names each night such as “Party Tent.” This was the beginnings of The Disco Biscuits.^[10] To date, Magner is the only member of The Disco Biscuits to perform in all of the band’s public performances.

In 1999, Magner and The Disco Biscuits founded the now-annual Camp Bisco music festival, which began with an attendance of 900 and had grown to a sold out capacity of 25,000 in 2011. It now features a number of headlining U.S. and international acts, and was featured in The New York Times and other publications as a model for bands in the changing music industry.^[11] The Disco Biscuits, through the creation of Camp Bisco, by headlining events at famed venues such as Red Rocks Amphitheater amidst national touring, and by creating destination festivals such as Caribbean Holidaze, have been instrumental in bringing live and studio improvisational, electronic-based music to the live music scene and to popular culture.^[12]

Magner has also contributed to, and been a member of, other bands such as: Conspirator, Electron, Brain Damaged Eggmen, The Join, and Acoustic Again.

In 2011, Magner and other partners formed Aorta, Inc., a management label with the goal of signing established, as well as promising and emerging musical talent.^[13] Magner and The Disco Biscuits also began renting out the studio space they own in Center City Philadelphia in hopes of giving local musicians a cutting edge place to work.^[14]

In late 2014 Magner joined Bill Kreutzmann's band Billy & the Kids. This was following performing with Kreutzmann at the 2014 Lockn Festival with a band billed as Bill Kreutzmann's Locknstep Allstars.

Charitable

Magner serves on the Board of Directors of Philadelphia Young Playwrights, along with his father Alan, an organization that his mother Adele founded. The program features a "groundbreaking" curriculum to inspire students’ literacy, learning, and creativity through playwriting and a love of the arts.^[15]

Magner has been active in supporting a number of nonprofit organizations tied to the live music scene, including HeadCount. In March 2010, Magner and The Disco Biscuits performed a benefit concert at Brooklyn’s Brooklyn Bowl which generated the revenue needed to fund and install a $30,000 solar energy system at Greenfield Elementary, a public school located in Center City Philadelphia. Magner and The Disco Biscuits were very involved with selecting the Greenfield project, and helped ensure its completion. The project was orchestrated by HeadCount.^[16]

References