Bryan Beller has maintained a multi-faceted career as a bassist, composer, solo artist and clinician for over 25 years, earning his reputation as a uniquely talented yet supremely tasteful team player for instrumentally-minded artists. In the power super-trio The Aristocrats (with uber-players Guthrie Govan on guitar and Marco Minnemann on drums) he’s a part of one of the hottest acts in rock/fusion today; their 2019 release You Know What…? debuted at #2 on the Billboard Jazz Chart. He’s been Joe Satriani’s touring bassist since 2013, and also tracked Satriani’s complete 2022 album The Elephants Of Mars. World touring with both Satriani and The Aristocrats continues presently. He was Steve Vai’s choice for the 2009 live CD/DVD Where The Wild Things Are, and he also toured and recorded in the “band” Dethklok, a tongue-in-cheek extreme metal band borne of the hit Cartoon Network “Adult Swim” show Metalocalypse. He’s been a musical partner of freak/genius guitarist Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa) for over 20 years and 10 albums.
On his own, Beller’s solo album catalog includes 2003’s View, 2008’s Thanks In Advance, and 2011’s Wednesday Night Live, as well as an Alfred instructional DVD, all released to widespread acclaim. His 2019 solo release – the progressive concept double album Scenes From The Flood featuring Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Guthrie Govan, Mike Keneally, Gene Hoglan (Dethklok), Ray Hearne (Haken) and many more – was hailed by multiple outlets as an instant classic: “A colossal artistic statement and a career triumph…one of the year’s most intriguing and staggering albums, it will for sure end in our 2019 best of lists.” (Scott Medina, Sonic Perspectives)
As a pure player, a composer, a masterclass clinician, a former Contributing Editor for Bass Player Magazine, and a former VP of SWR bass amps, Bryan Beller brings a holistic perspective to the world of bass, and music.
Ahead of The Aristocrats February/March tour of Australia, editor of Australian Musician Greg Phillips caught up with Bryan Beller at the 2025 NAMM Show to chat about his career and the upcoming trip down under.
The interview was also recorded for NAMM’s fabulous Oral History program. The NAMM Oral History Program is an archive of recordings of interviews with people from all aspects of the music industry and includes everyone from Les Paul, Carol Kay, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock to Robby Krieger, Robbie Robertson, Hal Blaine, to Judy Collins and thousands more. The NAMM Oral History edit will be posted within the next couple of months.
MORE ABOUT THE ARISTOCRATS 2025 AUSTRALIAN TOUR

What happens after the world’s most raucous rock/fusion instrumental power trio releases a concept album about an Antarctic duck fleeing a penguin policeman all the way to New York City, where further misadventures and danger await? They launch the DUCK World Tour, of course.
The Aristocrats – Guthrie Govan (guitar), Bryan Beller (bass), Marco Minnemann (drums) – bring their trademark musical virtuosity and inherent absurdity to stages across AUSTRALIA, where they’ll be playing (and perhaps even explaining) a sizable chunk of their new album DUCK as well as classic cuts from their five-album catalogue. Coming off a wildly successful 9-week North American run, the DUCK Australian tour kicks off in Perth on Monday February 24 and visits Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne before concluding in Sydney on Sunday 2 March.
Of the new record The Aristocrats’ guitarist Guthrie Govan commented, “Our new concept album tells the tale of a Duck who travels thousands of miles from his home on a small island and ultimately finds himself in the US…”
The DUCK saga is being documented via The Aristocrats’ website…bassist Bryan Beller expounded,
“It’s a novel concept, to be sure – an instrumental concept album about a wayward duck. The music gives some hints, but also leaves a lot to the imagination. So, for the curious who want to dig deeper into our duck’s journey, we thought it would be fun to provide a nine-chapter novella, with each chapter correlating to a song on the album. Can he find his way home again?”
Click here to access the tale.
“Additionally, it’s been eight long years since we last toured Australia, so we can’t wait to come back and bring our DUCK with us!”
Of the North American dates, drummer Marco Minnemann added, “It was exciting experiencing the great response and equally great fun we had taking our newest ‘Duck’ material out on the road for a test drive. I cannot express more how much I look forward to presenting our most recent offerings to all of you wonderful people around the globe.”
The Aristocrats’ concept album, DUCK, is out now. DUCK is available in both standard and deluxe edition formats as well as 180-gram double vinyl via BOING Music.
Over the past 12 years, The Aristocrats – guitarist Guthrie Govan (Steven Wilson, Hans Zimmer, Asia/GPS), bassist Bryan Beller (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Dethklok), and drummer Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, Joe Satriani, Steve Hackett) – have established themselves as one of the most musically original, refreshingly irreverent, and astoundingly entertaining instrumental rock-fusion acts on the planet. Global media have gushed with the UK’s Rhythm Magazine declaring them “More fun than fusion has a right to be…” and The San Diego Union Tribune avowing, “If there is a more accomplished, empathetic and versatile all-instrumental trio in rock than The Aristocrats, I’ve yet to hear them…”
The buzz from their supposedly one-off debut gig at the Anaheim NAMM show in 2011 led to The Aristocrats self-titled debut album. Tracked in just eight days, THE ARISTOCRATS (2011) was hailed as an instant classic in leading music publications worldwide, appearing on many of that year’s top ten lists. The Aristocrats then proceeded to make three more critically acclaimed studio albums over the next decade, two of which landed in the Billboard Top 10 Jazz Chart. (Jazz? Ok, sure.) Four world tours and three live albums later, the band is known on five continents as a must-see whirlwind musical experience.
Joining The Aristocrats on all shows as opening support will be Toehider performing in solo mode. Toehider is a collaboration between multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Mike Mills and illustrator Andrew Saltmarsh. Beginning in 2008, the project has become Australia’s most prolific progressive rock act, with over 30 releases spanning prog, metal, folk, pop, rock, funk, spoken word and more. Singer Mike Mills has also featured significantly in the Ayreon universe both in studio and on stage. Following a successful world tour in support of latest record ‘I Have Little To No Memory, Of These Memories’, Mills will perform solo sets on tour with The Aristocrats in February.
THE ARISTOCRATS ‘DUCK’ AUSTRALIAN TOUR
With special guest Toehider (solo)
Monday 24 February – Rosemount Hotel, Perth
Wednesday 26 February – The Gov, Adelaide
Friday 28 February – Princess Theatre, Brisbane – on sale Thu 12 Sep
Saturday 1 March – Max Watts, Melbourne
Sunday 2 March – Manning Bar, Sydney
Tickets from birdsrobe.com
For more information, please visit:
http://the-aristocrats-band.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@thearistocrats
https://www.facebook.com/aristocratsband
https://twitter.com/acratsband
https://instagram.com/thearistocratsband/
https://the-aristocrats-band.bandcamp.com/