Bryan Beller (The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani) on Making It at 42

Bryan Beller — bassist for The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Dweezil Zappa and Mike Keneally — on why it took him until 42 to make it.Recorded face-to-face in Eindhoven, the morning after The Aristocrats played to their biggest European crowd yet, in week nine of a van tour across Europe.Bryan is the fulcrum: the guy holding it together while Guthrie Govan and Marco Minnemann go crazy around him. But there was no early-prodigy story. He picked the upright bass at 12 purely to annoy his parents, switched to electric at 13, and describes himself at 15 as "nothing." At Berklee he found out what real players sounded like. At 27 he was broke, in debt and depressed, and took a job testing amplifiers at SWR — which turned into eight years and, eventually, running a $10 million division of Fender. Then his best friend died at 34, and Bryan gave his notice with no plan whatsoever.We talk about:- Groove over chops, and why he never tried to be Billy Sheehan or Victor Wooten- Berklee, ego, and getting outplayed by European jazz majors- Joe Travers, Dweezil Zappa, and meeting Frank Zappa three times- Mike Keneally's solo catalogue and why more people should know it- Eight years in the music industry, and the "poor man's MBA" that later ran The Aristocrats- Quitting at 35, moving to Nashville, and why the Steve Vai gig killed his session career there- LA vs Nashville vs New York, in one sentence each- Scenes from the Flood: ambition, loss, and getting Joe Satriani and John Petrucci to play on it- The new solo album — 43 minutes, six songs, Joe Travers on drums throughout- Why every song needs its title before the musicFor anyone who thinks they started too late, or who plays with people far more technical than they are — this one's for you.Follow Sixty Scales and the Truth for more face-to-face conversations with world-class players.#BryanBeller #TheAristocrats #GuthrieGovan #MarcoMinnemann #JoeSatriani #SteveVai #BassPlayer #GuitarPodcast #SixtyScalesAndTheTruth