Bryan Beller

After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 1993, Bryan Beller's first big gig was with Ahmet and Dweezil Zappa's band Z, which is where he first met Mike Keneally. In 1996, after two albums and a tour, Keneally decided to leave Z for a solo career and Beller decided to stick with Keneally, beginning a musical partnership that's still going strong. Beller has also played and/or recorded with Wayne Kramer (MC5), Dream Theater's James LaBrie, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Beller appears on several Vai albums, and was asked to be bassist for Vai's 2004 shows with the prestigious Metropole Orchestra (their performance of "Lotus Feet" was nominated for a 2005 Grammy). In 2002, Beller began work on View, his debut as a leader. Financed, composed, and produced by Beller, the critically praised View was released on his own Onion Boy label in the fall of 2003. A 2007 tour in Steve Vai's band was documented on Vai's 2009 release, Where the Wild Things Are. Beller's second album, Thanks in Advance, came out in between in 2008, followed by the live document Wednesday Night Live in 2011. Also in 2011, Beller formed The Aristocrats, a modern day power trio, with Guthrie Govan on guitar and Marco Minnemann on drums. He also performed and toured with Dethklok, the band from Adult Swim's show Metalocalypse. He's been Joe Satriani's touring bassist since 2013, playing on Shockwave Supernova and logging several world tours with Satriani. Beller is also a freelance writer and educator whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including a long-running column in Bass Player magazine. He's interviewed many heavyweight bass players like Lee Sklar, Neil Stubenhaus, Billy Sheehan, Bill Laswell and Miroslav Vitous. In 2019, The Aristocrats released their fifth album, You Know What? Later that year, Beller released Scenes from the Flood, which featured noted players like Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Guthrie Govan, and Mike Keneally.
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