Gearing up for Disc Jam 2019 with Escaper! - UPDATED WITH DAILY LINEUP!

It’s another year, another festival season, and we at A Perfect Mess are gearing up for Disc Jam! Three years ago, Eric and I made our way up to our first Disc Jam and found not only some incredible new artist experiences, but we found new friends and a favorite place to land every summer. The great layout and seamless stage transitions showed us what could be done with the right components in place, and we look forward to this festival now every single year. Our last two Disc Jam experiences have been simply epic for us and we are so excited to see what is in store for us come June 2019 in Stephentown.

The lineup dropped in three parts this year, bringing us some exciting new acts as well as returning champions that we can’t wait to enjoy. Favorites like Kung Fu, Aqueous, Consider the Source, and Lotus are back this year, including the return of the very missed and much anticipated DOPAPOD! (did you hear me scream that? Because I totally did...) Mihali will be there sans Twiddle to wow everyone with his solo efforts, and being a fan - I’m super excited for that. The Floozies are headlining, The Breakfast will be there (holy cow!), Ghost Light is back, The Elovators are coming to give everyone a grooving good time, Funky Dawgs Brass Band is back and they are SO good, the super fun Muscle Tough are coming out, Catullus, Cypher, and I can seriously go on and on like this. There will be nightly takeovers with Rezinate X Sermon, powered by Hennessey Sound with artists like Face Plant, Mindset, Detox Unit, The Widdler, and a ton more. This year’s late night silent disco is sure to get everyone moving in the moonlight as well with Backpack, Smokestax, Jack the Human, and Dice Man, just to name a few. The lineup this year is nothing short of stacked. I mean, just look!

I even heard our favorite food vendors, Bees and Thank You, will be back with their INSANELY DELICIOUS grilled cheese spot again (and it helps the bees!) And then there is the DISC GOLF! Disc Jam has a 9 hole wooded course. The festival will have both a Singles and Doubles tournament. There are prize pack for everyone who signs up for the tournament. But maybe you're brand new to the sport (like me) and don't want to hop into the tournament and get in everyone's way. You don't have to! All attendees are free to play, so why not try it out? You might find your favorite new pass time in all this music awesomeness!

So the only question is…why don’t you have tickets yet?

One of our favorite returning artists to Disc Jam 2019 is Brooklyn’s own ESCAPER, who will be taking the stage on Sunday. These guys might just be 2019’s hardest working band in the scene! It seems like every festival lineup that drops has their name on it, in addition to their already bustling schedule playing up and down the east coast. I have genuinely enjoyed watching the Escaper wave start to take over this last year or so as these guys are genuine in their efforts and just incredible in their sound. Their blend of spacey funk rock and cool stage presence makes for a really fun performance. Don’t take my word for it though, you can check out packed rooms all over the tri-state area with folks coming out to see what they have going on. Their last release, Edge Detection (you can read my review of that record HERE) was recorded with all band members playing simultaneously, but in isolated spaces, creating a polished yet still very organic flow in their sound. They take this to other realms in their live performances, and we are super excited to see what they bring out at Disc Jam. Plus they are some of the nicest guys in the scene, agreeing to answer some questions for me about the upcoming Disc Jam festival! Thanks to guitarist Will Hanza and bassist Jay Giacomazzo for taking the time to let us know what’s going on, and what’s coming our way with them this June in Stephentown :

APM: This will be your return trip to Disc Jam for 2019. What is it that you love the most about the festival?

E: We are excited to return to DJ for the second year in a row! So many great bands on this line-up, it's an honor to be part of it all. "Disc Jam Fam" is a real thing and the people are the best part of the fest. There is a lot to look forward to including one thing we love very much, which is the collaborative aspect of the event.

APM: Any great memories from your performance last year?

E: Last year we were joined by Shira Elias of Turkuaz for a cover of Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" which was beautiful. Shira brought a great energy to the stage and we loved seeing everyone dancing out there. In addition, the Turkuaz horn section sat in with us on our original "Rare Form". It was truly a transportive experience and so great to collaborate on one of our own songs with those talented players (Josh Schwarts, Greg Sanderson, and Chris Brouwers)!

APM: Is there anyone else performing that you guys are really excited about seeing yourselves?

E: We're excited for so many of the acts! We recently had a short tour with JEDI, which featured Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein of The Disco Biscuits. Getting to know them better as musicians and people has us particularly looking forward to seeing them with John K. & West Philly Fadeaway, as well as Marc with Star Kitchen.

APM: Will you be sticking around for the whole weekend, throwing some disc golf, hanging out tent-side?

E: We will be hanging out for the whole weekend! Beyond our performance, we love to connect with as many people as possible and to show love to the amazing artists on the bill. Fest life is best life.

APM: You guys are all over the place this festival season! What are you most excited about this year?

E: We are excited for all our upcoming appearances but in all honesty, DJ holds a special place in our hearts. This festival believed in us when we were still a very new band and we are excited to be growing with it.

APM: Do you have any new music releases on the horizon?

E: We sure do! We are currently doing pre-production for our upcoming third album. We will be playing new songs from this forthcoming release at DJ this year! Thanks for having us!

So there you have it.

If you have not already, head on over to the Disc Jam website and take a look at what is in store! Tickets are on sale, so get yours! Don't wait too long as last year SOLD OUT. If that is any indication of what is in store for us this year, you are going to want to be there. You can get your ticket info right now, right HERE.

See you there, friends!