The Aristocrats | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Genres | Instrumental rock, progressive rock, jazz fusion |
Years active | 2011 | –present
Labels | Boing! |
Members | Guthrie Govan Bryan Beller Marco Minnemann |
Website | the-aristocrats-band |
The Aristocrats are a rock group formed in 2011. [1] The instrumental power trio consists of Guthrie Govan, Bryan Beller, and Marco Minnemann. The group name is inspired by the Aristocrats joke and consequently the song titles on their eponymous debut album are rife with salacious double-entendres. [2]
The band was formed after a wildly enthusiastic response to a concert performance at The Anaheim Bass Bash during the Winter NAMM show in January 2011. The trio had just one rehearsal before the concert but still performed well and amazed the audience as well as themselves. Originally the guitarist for that one-off show was to be Greg Howe, replaced by Guthrie Govan at the last moment. Guthrie later stated: "The chemistry was so great, that when we came offstage we all said to each other: 'This is working. We should record this.'" The band would later get together and meet in Chicago to record their debut album, which took just under two weeks. The music album reflected their respective influences, ranging from 70s fusion (Return to Forever), to progressive (King Crimson), to instrumental rock (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani), to rap metal (Rage Against the Machine) and to just plain absurdity (Frank Zappa). Bassist Bryan Beller stated, "We ended up using our different influences to write for each other. I wrote "Sweaty Knockers" specifically for Guthrie to have fun with, while Guthrie wrote “I Want A Parrot” with bass leads in mind. As for Marco's material, we're just lucky to be able to keep up with it!”. [3]
After releasing their debut in September 2011, the trio toured for the year 2012. Later in the same year the band released its first live album, Boing, We'll Do It Live!. Footage and sound for this release were recorded in two concerts held at Alvas Showroom in Los Angeles, California. During those concerts the band played material from their debut album as well as songs from each band members' solo projects.
In July 2013, their second studio album Culture Clash was released, which was followed by a supporting tour; first in North America in 2013 and then in Europe, South America, and Asia in 2014. After the tour, the band compiled excerpts of performances from six different venues for their upcoming second live album, Culture Clash Live!, to be released on CD and DVD on January 20, 2015. [4] [5] On the same day, the band releases their "official bootleg" of the tour, a limited edition 2CD set titled Secret Show: Live in Osaka. [5] During their January 2015 tour, the band debuted material for their third studio album Tres Caballeros. The album was recorded in February and released on June 23, 2015. [5] [6] [7] [8] In support of the album, the band toured in North America in summer 2015 and in Europe from November 2015 to February 2016. [7] [9]
In 2016 they took part in the G3 tour, along with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. [10]
September - October 2016, the band toured India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan & Australia booked by their Asian agency jellybeard.
After this tour, The Aristocrats decided to take a long sabbatical, focusing on their own solo endeavors and touring with other acts (BB/MM Joe Satriani, GG Hans Zimmer) throughout 2017 & 2018.
In December 2018 The Aristocrats announced they were going into the studio again early March 2019 to record their 4th studio album. The 4th album, You Know What? was recorded in the Brotheryn Studios in Ojai California and released in June 2019.
On November the 14th, 2023, The Aristocrats announced their next studio album release date, planned for february 2024, during a concert in Bilbao.
Studio albums
Live albums
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Guthrie Govan is an English guitarist and guitar teacher, known for his work with the bands the Aristocrats, Asia, GPS, the Young Punx and the Fellowship, as well as his solo project Erotic Cakes. More recently, he has collaborated with Steven Wilson and Hans Zimmer. He is a noted guitar teacher, working with the UK magazine Guitar Techniques, Guildford's Academy of Contemporary Music, Lick Library, and formerly the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. Govan was named "Guitarist of the Year" by Guitarist magazine in 1993.
Marco Minnemann is a German multi-instrumentalist and composer who primarily plays drums.
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Bryan Beller is an American bass guitarist known for his work with Joe Satriani, The Aristocrats, Dethklok, Mike Keneally, Steve Vai, James LaBrie of Dream Theater and Dweezil Zappa, as well as his four solo album releases, View (2003), Thanks In Advance (2008), Wednesday Night Live (2011), and the progressive double concept album Scenes From The Flood (2019). He has been Joe Satriani's touring bassist since 2013, encompassing the Unstoppable Momentum tour (2013–14), the Shockwave (2015–16) world tour, and the G3/What Happens Next tour (2018), in addition to featuring on the Shockwave Supernova record. Beller is also the bassist of the rock/fusion super-trio The Aristocrats, and he managed the band from 2012 to 2018. The Aristocrats have released four studio albums, along with two live releases documenting the band's world tours in support of their debut album The Aristocrats and sophomore album Culture Clash. Their most recent studio album You Know What... was the focus of their world tour that began in the summer of 2019 and extended through to 2020.
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The Aristocrats is the debut album of rock trio The Aristocrats, released on September 13, 2011.
Boing, We'll Do It Live! is the first live album of The Aristocrats, released on December 10, 2012. Footage and sound for this release were recorded in two concerts held at Alvas Showroom in Los Angeles, California. During those concerts the band played material from their debut album as well as songs from each band members' solo projects. The album was released on double-CD and DVD. The deluxe edition consists of both the DVD and the two CDs including two bonus tracks not featured on standard editions.
Culture Clash is the second studio album by The Aristocrats, released on July 16, 2013. Alongside a standard CD edition, there was also a deluxe edition available, with a bonus DVD called Accept the Mystery: The Making of The Aristocrats' "Culture Clash", including studio footage and interviews. In its first week of release, the album reached number 8 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz albums chart and number 16 on the Jazz Albums chart. On September 24, 2013, a double vinyl edition was released, pressing limited to 1,000 copies.
Nili Brosh is an Israeli-American guitarist. She has performed and/or recorded with Danny Elfman, Cirque du Soleil, Dethklok, Steve Vai, Tony MacAlpine, Paul Gilbert, Andy Timmons, Guthrie Govan/The Aristocrats, Stu Hamm, DragonForce, Jennifer Batten, Gretchen Menn, Alphonso Johnson, Jeff Loomis, Bryan Beller, and The Iron Maidens.
Culture Clash Live! is the second live album by The Aristocrats, released on January 20, 2015. The material for this live release was recorded at six different venues in six countries during the 2014 world tour supporting the band's second studio album Culture Clash. The album will be released as a CD/DVD package. Only three tracks are the same performance on both discs, all others are "unique, giving fans a chance to hear how the songs evolved while on tour".
Tres Caballeros is the third studio album by The Aristocrats, released on June 23, 2015. The album was recorded in February 2015 during a period of ten days at the Sunset Sound Recorders studio in California. Alongside a standard CD edition, a deluxe edition is available, with a bonus DVD including studio and live footage, demos and alternate takes.
Shockwave Supernova is the fifteenth studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released on July 24, 2015 through Sony Music Entertainment. It features bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Marco Minnemann of The Aristocrats, as well as progressive rock multi-instrumentalist Mike Keneally.
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Nick Johnston is a Canadian guitarist and songwriter who records as a solo artist. As of 2019, he has released five solo records. His albums have featured the work of notable artists such as Paul Gilbert, Marco Minnemann, Guthrie Govan, and Bryan Beller. He has also played on songs by other artists including Intervals, Scale the Summit, Periphery, Polyphia, David Maxim Micic, and Mike Dawes. He has toured extensively with artists including Plini and David Maxim Micic. In May 2019 he went on a North American tour with Between the Buried and Me and The Contortionist.