Planet 22 has seen different members come and go, only to return again, since the band started playing in 1996, but the four-member core group is still creating its unique tunes and ready for whatever, or whomever, comes to them.

"We focus on who we can have with us, but it's best when everyone is there to contribute," drummer Josh Gwinn said.

Bassist Joe Speers agreed with Gwinn's "the more the merrier" attitude, saying that the group has played with up to 14 members at times.

Gwinn referred to Phyrst as a "superb venue" and said it was his favorite in State College because of the intimacy it creates for the group.

Planet 22's style may often be thought of as simply jam band material, but perhaps this intimacy that Phyrst creates is required for listeners to hear that the group really has quite a bit more going on.

"It's jazz from the future, psychedelic funk, it's compositional. We write movements and orchestrate them tightly," Gwinn said, while Speers described the band's music as "electric classical music."

The group fits in "soaring" solos and will often go into polyrhythms, but meets up again at the end of a tune.

Though Gwinn said there is time for jams, the group isn't all about improvisation.

"It is inspired by the moment, but it's also framed in tightly," Gwinn said.

Though Planet 22 is mostly an instrumental band, it does have some lyrics that are comical or insightful, he said.

"You know, peace on earth and all that stuff," he added.

Planet 22 was in the works when Gwinn and his brother Caleb used to play together while growing up as a form of entertainment.

In 1996, Gwinn was a junior at Penn State, and his brother also attended. They would often play music in their apartment and eventually realized they had a bass player living next door to them.

"The group had a kind of snowball effect. Everyone who could make music started coming to play just for the love of music and people started coming to watch and telling us we should start playing in bars," Gwinn said.

The no-name group brought a tape to Phyrst and got a gig, which is when they came up with their name.

Gwinn said there were songs forming all along; he and Caleb had come in with songs, and with each new member more material was added.

"With new people came new concepts and we started playing in new places," Gwinn said.

Since then the group has played throughout and near State College at The Brewery Inc., 233 E. Beaver Ave., Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave., Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave., Chuck's Farm, Speers' personal favorite, Tussey Mountain and at a couple of annual festivals as well. The band has also toured all over the Midwest, Southern California and even Tijuana, Mexico.

"They have a unique sound that's rare in the State College music scene. They play around a lot with exotic styles and rely heavily on moments of improvisation. The crowd loves them, they just need to get the word out," said Joe Chirum (senior-philosophy), a fan and friend of the band.