Instrumental progressive rock and fusion trio The Aristocrats has a new live album titled Freeze! Live In Europe 2020. The Aristocrats includes Guthrie Govan on guitars, Bryan Beller on bass and Marco Minnemann on drums. The album includes performances recorded throughout Spain in February 2020, just weeks before the pandemic put a stop to live concert activity.
A large part of the concern featured live versions of material from the The Aristocrats most recent studio album, You Know What…? (Boing, 2019). It also contains an epic version of the band’s classic “Get It Like That”, with a drum solo by Minnemann specially dedicated to Rush’s Neil Peart, who passed while the band was on tour.
Bassist Bryan Beller talked about Freeze! Live in Europe to Progressive Rock Central.
- Your new album “Freeze! Live in Europe 2020” was recorded throughout Spain. How was the experience?
Well, don’t tell anyone in Europe but personally Spain is my favorite European country to visit. 😉 I just love the climate, the scenery, the people, everything. But band-wise, it’s also great because the crowds in Spain are really, really loud and enthusiastic. That kind of energy makes touring a lot of fun, and we had a great time there.
- Your sound is very appealing to me. It is powerful, technical, and melodic at the same time, without the tiresome heavy metal riffing of prog metal bands. What kind of audiences did you attract?
I’m not sure that’s for me to classify who our audiences are, because I think Aristocrats fans come from a variety of different backgrounds and listen to lots of different kinds of music. Obviously people who are interested in instrumental rock-based music will find their way to us sooner than, say, fans of 1950s crooners. But we’re grateful to have anyone who enjoys our particular flavor of weirdness along for the ride.
- This set of live recordings sounds splendid. What kind of equipment did you use to record the album?
All praise is due to Dimitris Karpouzas, who ran front of house sound for us on tour and also captured the recordings – and Forrester Savell, who mixed and mastered the album. We didn’t have any particularly fancy kind of recording set up. We just miked everything, put a couple of room mikes here and there, captured it in ProTools, and then sent it off for mixing. We’re grateful to have Dimitris and Forrester on our team.
- One of the songs on the album, “Spanish Eddie,” has a very Spanish flavor. It reminds me of the great Spanish Flamenco rock bands of the 1970s. What kind of Spanish music are you attracted to or influenced by?
Guthrie wrote that song so I can’t speak for him in full. But I think this was more of a slightly wink-and-a-nod pastiche-y take on Spanish music than anything, meant with no disrespect but rather an affectionate tribute. We’re always looking to take a particular style of music and have a little fun with it in our own way. This time it ended up being traditional Spanish flamenco music. I don’t think it was one any artist who brought us there – more of the genre as a whole.
- The band has members from three different countries. How do you get together to rehearse and plan tours?
Well, we don’t rehearse much! Because Guthrie lives in the UK, and Marco and I live in California, USA, we have to plan our time together wisely and try to be as efficient as possible. Fortunately we have a plethora of digital communication tools to help us with all of this. 😉
- “Freeze! Live in Europe 2020” was recorded right before the pandemic. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the band in terms of work and livelihood?
Of course, not being able to tour during the COVID era doesn’t help any band. But we’re all keeping busy in our own ways. I think folks know that musicians like Guthrie, Marco and me are usually on the road and not always available for remote recordings. But now, they know we’re home, so we’re able to do a lot more of that kind of work, which has been rewarding for all of us. It’s also good to slow down for a bit and not try to fill every second with work. We’ll be back out there again soon enough, one way or the other.
- What have you been doing these past months while there were frequent lockdowns and social distance restrictions?
It’s quite a long period of time to summarize, but here’s a highlight from each of us: Guthrie has been doing a good deal of work for movie film composer Hans Zimmer, I have been tracking an album for Joe Satriani, and Marco has been recording and releasing albums for his new McStine & Minnemann project. I think we’ve all also taken a bit of time to relax, as we’re used to being exhausted from so much touring!
- Did you ever consider inviting musicians or ensembles to collaborate with? Who would it be?
In regards to The Aristocrats…no, not really up until now. We find that the chemistry of the three of us works very well and we don’t want to unbalance that. But you never know what the future might bring.
- What advice would you give to beginners who are anxious and want to make music outside of pop and trendy mainstream music?
Play what you love. It just doesn’t work when you don’t do that, in my view. There are enough barriers to success and fulfillment in this business as it is. You don’t want to have your own inner conflict be an additional burden. Play what you love, and let the chips fall where they may.
- What are the plans for the next months?
Everything is still in a bit of motion, with the state of COVID and re-openings around the world varying from country to country. So I’d say, just stay tuned to our social media for updates, which hopefully will be coming soon. 🙂
(headline image: The Aristocrats – Photo by Manu Haeussler)