Bryan Beller

After earning his degree from Berklee College of Music in 1993, Bryan Beller landed his first major professional engagement alongside Ahmet Zappa and Dweezil Zappa in the group Z, an experience that introduced him to Mike Keneally. When Keneally exited the band in 1996 following two studio albums and an extensive tour to pursue solo projects, Beller chose to continue working with him, forging a creative alliance that has endured for decades. Additional recording and performance credits include sessions with Wayne Kramer of MC5, Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie, as well as guitarists Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Multiple Vai projects feature Beller on bass, and he was selected for Vai’s 2004 concerts with the Metropole Orchestra, whose reading of “Lotus Feet” earned a Grammy nomination the following year.

Beller initiated work on his first solo effort, View, in 2002. Self-financed, written, and produced, the album appeared on his Onion Boy imprint in autumn 2003 and received strong critical notice. Live dates with Vai’s band in 2007 were captured on the 2009 release Where the Wild Things Are. Beller’s sophomore studio album, Thanks in Advance, arrived in 2008, with the concert recording Wednesday Night Live following in 2011. That same year he co-founded the power trio The Aristocrats alongside guitarist Guthrie Govan and drummer Marco Minnemann. He also joined Dethklok, the fictional ensemble from the Adult Swim series Metalocalypse, for performances and touring.

Since 2013 Beller has served as Joe Satriani’s regular touring bassist, appearing on the album Shockwave Supernova and completing multiple global tours. Parallel to his performing career, he maintains an active role as a freelance writer and educator, contributing to various outlets and sustaining a long-running column in Bass Player magazine. Among the bassists he has interviewed are Leland Sklar, Neil Stubenhaus, Billy Sheehan, Bill Laswell, and Miroslav Vitous.

The Aristocrats issued their fifth album, You Know What?, in 2019. Later that year Beller released Scenes from the Flood, which included contributions from Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Guthrie Govan, and Mike Keneally.