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  • LEGEND'S CORNER: Bryan Beller



    Bryan Beller


    This month’s bass legend, is Bryan Beller. Like many professional players, he has more than one oar in the water (or is that pots on the stove?) and his regular contributions to Bass Player Magazine, as well as his session and touring work, keep his name at the forefront of any serious discussion about the bass, bassists, and bass playing. The introduction is from his website, followed by his TR interview. Enjoy! Ed.

    "Brain maintained a frenetic, multi-faceted career as a bassist, composer, writer and clinician for nearly twenty years. On his own, Beller released his debut solo album, the jazz/rock-flavored View, in late 2003 to widespread critical acclaim, earning the monthly feature review in Bass Player Magazine ("...it's a thrill to witness an artist like Beller find his voice with such a self-assured debut..."). His second album Thanks In Advance, a deeply personal narrative set to advanced jazz/rock compositional confidence, was released in late 2008, again to rave reviews ("...a bonafide entry for bass album of the year" - Chris Jisi, Bass Player Magazine.)

    "As a sideman, he's earned a reputation as a uniquely talented yet supremely tasteful hired gun bassist for adventurous rock guitarists and singer/songwriters alike. He was Steve Vai's choice on bass for the live CD/DVD Sound Theories - a collaboration with Holland's renowned Metropol Orchestra - and toured worldwide with Vai throughout 2007, resulting in the 2009 live CD/DVD Where The Wild Things Are. Showing his range, Beller's also in the live "band" Dethklok, a tongue-in-cheek extreme metal band borne of the hit Cartoon Network "Adult Swim" show Metalocalypse; work with Detkhlok includes a track on The Dethalbum II and three nationwide tours (one co-headlining with Mastodon). He's also been a musical partner of freak/genius guitarist/composer Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa) for fifteen years, eleven albums, countless tours, and millions of notes. Other sideman experiences include tours with Wayne Kramer (MC5) and Dweezil Zappa, as well as more intimate duo performances with Keneally and, more recently, his wife, Nashville-based R&B/soul singer/songwriter Kira Small. (http://kirasmall.com/?section=home)

    "Beller's work as a freelance writer includes cover stories and articles on bass luminaries such as Justin Chancellor (Tool), Christian McBride, and Chris Wolstenholme (Muse), as well as interviews with Jonas Hellborg, Victor Wooten, John Patitucci, Lee Sklar, Neil Stubenhaus, Jay DeMarcus (Rascal Flatts), Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, Nine Inch Nails), Bill Laswell, Jimmy Haslip, Stefan Lessard (Dave Matthews Band), Matt Garrison, Adam Nitti, Oteil Burbridge, Roy Vogt, Dave LaRue, Miroslav Vitous, Billy Sheehan, Emmy-award winning television scorer W.G. "Snuffy" Walden (The West Wing), and myriad others.

    "As a pure player, a masterclass clinician (sponsored by Mike Lull Custom Guitars, SWR Amplification and D'addario Strings), a Contributing Editor for Bass Player Magazine, and a former Vice-President of SWR Sound Corporation, Beller brings a global perspective to the world of bass, and sits at the intersection of many of its current pathways. After thirteen years in Los Angeles, he now lives in Nashville, TN with his wife Kira (and their cat Lucian), and continues to travel often."

    TR: When and why did you start playing bass?

    Bryan Beller: I actually started on upright at age 10, simply because I wanted to play the most obnoxious instrument in the orchestra. Of course, I confused size with obnoxiousness, and the joke ended up being on me when I realized what a pain it was to carry that thing around. I switched to electric at 13.
    TR: I found the trombone an effectively obnoxious instrument. In fifth or sixth position you could unobtrusively goose the girls in the sax section. Ah, romance! To the more recent past, is there a bassist or other musician you look to as a mentor?
    Bryan Beller: I look at Mike Keneally (www.keneally.com), a genius singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist/ producer who I’ve had the privilege of playing with for nearly 20 years, as a mentor in terms of musical inventiveness and fearlessness, as well as in terms of making a “record” as opposed to a collection of songs. I have bass influences as well, but I wouldn’t consider them mentors like I do Keneally.
    TR: Seems every successful musician has a Mike Keneally in their past. Mine was a guy named Walter Chapin, also an incredibly versatile fellow. I wish I’d been good enough to jam with him. Speaking of which, what’s the most memorable gig you ever played?
    Bryan Beller: I have a few. The 24 Hours Of LeMans motorcycle race gig I did with Wayne Kramer at midnight on a hillside dotted with bonfires and Euro bikers was a good one. Dethklok, on the Fall 2009 tour, at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom, L.A.’s Palladium, and the San Jose Events Center were all over-the-top crowds and exercises in sheer adrenaline-fueled mayhem. There’s also my own record release gig for my last disc Thanks In Advance at the Baked Potato in L.A. And I can’t forget doing the Conan O’Brien show with Dweezil & Ahmet Zappa when I was only 23; I don’t think I breathed in the entire performance. I’m fortunate to have so many gigs I consider memorable.
    TR: Without a doubt. How would you describe the perfect gig?
    Bryan Beller: Any gig in which the band is communicating openly, the audience is fully engaged in that communication, and everyone’s having a great time.
    TR: It’s also nice if the check doesn’t bounce. Continuing in that vein, what was your first paying gig?
    Bryan Beller: I think it was with an R&B cover band called the Landlords Of Soul (with the Rent Control Horns, mind you) in Boston around 1990. We did all the standards: “Knock On Wood,” “I Feel Good,” “Dock Of The Bay,” “Brick House”…you know the drill.
    TR: What bass were you playing in those days?
    Bryan Beller: My 1984 Aria Pro II P/J knockoff that ultimately got stolen out of a locker at Berklee College Of Music. It wasn’t much to speak of. What I’d call my first real bass was an Ibanez Soundgear 1000, the first year they made them (1986). It was a great starter bass – you could play pretty quickly with weak hands.
    TR: I’ve got an Ibanez, and love it. Very few musicians start out with a passion for bass. I wanted to play drums. Do you remember what your first choice was?
    Bryan Beller: Piano was my first instrument, but even that wasn’t my first choice. I wanted to be a drummer, too. I asked when I was 8, and my parents gave me the NO that – ever as an 8 year old - I actually understood really meant NO.
    TR: Of course, that was before electric drum pads with headphones. Wise parents. What musician (not necessarily bassist) do you admire most, and why?
    Bryan Beller: As a musician, I’d say John Scofield. Such a unique, fluid, effortless sound all his own; such a great improviser, making accessible things that are actually very complex; and an amazing composer as well. But I also have a special place for bandleaders who’ve had many of their musicians go on to have their own careers, guys like Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Chick Corea. It says something when what they did is recognized by so many people that just being associated with them is enough to have people pay attention to their sidemen musicians in their own projects.
    TR: Who do you think is the greatest bassist ever, and why?
    Bryan Beller: I can’t name just one. Lots of players made a huge impact – but I don’t think there is a “greatest ever.” This isn’t a sporting competition, there aren’t stats. Jaco and Jamerson were biggies, but they’re just two of many. It’s also influenced by the kind of music you like to listen to.
    TR: The players you’ve mentioned cover a lot of styles. If you could only play one kind of music, what would it be and why?
    Bryan Beller: Again, I don’t go along with the premise that there’s just one “style” of music to play, even if I were to choose one. All styles are mixtures of other styles, and morph as time goes on. Music is a kaleidoscope, not a still portrait.
    TR: Well said. I’m going to introduce that in conversation one day, and pretend I made it up. What would you say is the best professional advice anyone ever gave you?
    Bryan Beller: Go for it, whatever it is you want to do. Trite, but true. It also makes it so you declare your intentions ahead of time, which is the key, I think – intentionality.
    TR: It’s great advice. It’s also surprisingly difficult for most of us. How about the best personal advice?
    Bryan Beller: Relax. Nothing is as significant as it seems at the moment.
    TR: You should have an amanuensis foIlowing you around to take this stuff down. It’s good! If the bass scene doesn’t work out, you could have a career as a philosopher. I understand the hours are fairly flexible.
    Bryan Beller: I think that if I couldn’t be a musician, I’d opt for journalist, columnist or blogger in either music or politics before I’d try my hand at professional philosophizing. Does it pay?
    TR: Minimum wage, I think. Which bassist do you think is the best vocalist?
    Bryan Beller: Not to belabor the point, but I don’t think anyone’s “best” – I really like Paul McCartney, though.
    TR: Come one, I get these questions right out of Seventeen! Which is not to say I’m inflexible. If you’d rather get technical, how about describing the perfect combination of equipment for the following:
    Studio:
    Bryan Beller: Without totally getting into specific brands, I think three channels as follows: one, a clean signal comprised of a high-end tube preamp (UA, API, Neve, etc.) and compressor (Distressor or UA 1176; I like solid-state compressors for bass; I think the quickness counts for a lot); two, a miked cab depending on what sound you’re going for (vintage = Ampeg SVT or B15 or Fender Bassman, clean = any number of modern rigs); three, an affected dirty channel, usually involving a solid-state overdrive or distortion. Blend to taste.
    TR: Stage?
    Bryan Beller: Any SWR preamp with as much power as possible, driven into as many Goliath 4x10’s and Megoliath’s as possible. Plus, on some gigs, a nice set of in-ears to complement it.
    TR: Rehearsal
    Bryan Beller: Any decent-powered SWR rig.
    TR: Do you have a preference in strings?
    Bryan Beller: D’addario ProSteels – great sounding, long-lasting bright stainless steel strings.
    TR: What's the most exotic or interesting place you've ever played, and why?
    Bryan Beller: Moscow, with Steve Vai in 2007. I’d always wanted to go there. The story of Russia is pretty incredible when you think about it – they’ve just had so much happen in their country in the last 100 years.
    TR: If you could play with any drummer in the world (past or present), who would it be, and why?
    Bryan Beller: John Bonham, because he pretty much invented modern rock drumming and his groove is amazing.
    TR: You’re not the first to mention him. Let’s get a little philosophical again. What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you were first starting out in music?
    Bryan Beller: Not to take myself too seriously, or anything too seriously. Work hard, sure, but don’t get too caught up in the seeming significance of things. Just do what you want and things will take care of themselves.
    TR: If I were to say, “the worst gig I ever had was…” would anything in particular come to mind?
    Bryan Beller: Absolutely. A corporate gig I did around 2000. If you want the whole sordid story, you’ll find it here: http://www.bryanbeller.com/cms/index...C10loveofmoney
    TR: What would you say is the best bass tip anyone ever gave you?
    Bryan Beller: Mike Keneally once told me something like, “There is nothing that’s not made easier to execute by relaxing more while playing it.” Sure, it’s a double negative, but I got it, and it works.
    TR: If you could relive one day of your life, what day would it be and why?
    Bryan Beller: Probably the day I met Frank Zappa, if I could do it with the brain I have now. I would have asked him a couple of things instead of just staring at him and going “bah bah bah bah…”.
    TR: On a scale of 1 - 10, where do you rate yourself as a bass player?
    Bryan Beller: Oh, I don’t know. Probably lower than others would rate me, but I think that’s healthy. You never want to be totally satisfied. But I’m at peace with who I am as a musician.
    TR: What do you hope to achieve in your life?
    Bryan Beller: I’d like for people to get from me what I got from so many other musicians – the desire to play and make my own music for themselves.
    TR: Let’s try another riff on the same theme. If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
    Bryan Beller: Here lies a man who once asked a gas station attendant where he could get some spark plug fluid for his car, because his friends told him that, without it, something bad could happen to the engine.
    TR: Right. Well, that’s a tombstone they could mass-produce. Speaking of being alone (these segues don’t make themselves!) What kind of music do you listen to when there’s nobody else around?
    Bryan Beller: Guitar-driven, textural fusion (think Bill Frisell, Micahel Landau, John Scofield) and hard rock/metal. Sometimes some progressive stuff, too. And funk. And R&B. See, this could go on.
    TR: Whom do regard as the greatest musician of all time and why?
    Bryan Beller: Whoever invented the vibraslap.
    TR: Again, that’s what everybody says … that and the kid who coined the playground favorite: “Na, na, na, na, na!” (Public Domain). Okay, I won’t make the mistake of saying “Favorite” again, but who do you consider a “particularly impactful” composer?
    Bryan Beller: I think John Lennon and Paul McCartney have a pretty strong claim on the pop side of that question. The rest – classical, jazz, etc. – who knows.
    TR: I think we’d be amazed to know how many of us owe our musical careers to those two. Their impact on modern music is incalculable. Is there a teacher who had a powerful impact on your life?
    Bryan Beller: A man who shall remain nameless got me to understand that what I thought was reality was actually only my perception of reality based on my view of events in the past of my own life, and that everyone’s view of reality is unique in the same way and exists unto them – and therefore couldn’t be “wrong” unless I made it so. That shook me, and altered my view of myself and those around me – not to mention how I related to my instrument – forever.
    TR: What advice would you give someone who is just picking up bass for the first time?
    Bryan Beller: Don’t think, just practice and play. Play what you love. Learn what you love by ear. Take lessons to learn basic technique and theory, then just go for it.
    TR: Tell us about your most recent project.
    Bryan Beller: I’m about to embark on a tour with my own band for the first time ever (May 2010), opening for Mike Keneally’s band. We’re sharing musicians and calling it the “They’re Both The Same Band” tour. So clever.
    TR: Can you list some of the musicians/singers you've performed with?
    Bryan Beller: Steve Vai, Dethklok, Mike Keneally, Dweezil Zappa, Wayne Kramer (MC5), James LaBrie (Dream Theater)…and my wife Kira Small, a really amazing soul/R&B singer/songwriter. We’ve been doing duo shows together for over a year now, and it really keeps my feet on the ground in terms of music that’s not totally wacky.
    TR: Lifting our gaze, for a moment, beyond the musical horizon, who strikes you as the greatest person in history?
    Bryan Beller: Gandhi was a pretty amazing dude. Talk about another way of thinking. He may not have had satisfactory answers to every problem in mankind, but he sure wasn’t afraid to apply his worldview to any question at hand. He gave his life for an idea, ultimately. That’s huge.
    TR: What’s the one thing you want people to know about you that they might not know?
    Bryan Beller: I’m not nearly as smart or clever as I pretend to be in this interview.
    TR: Thanks for your time, Bryan – and we look forward to your future visits to Thunder Row.

    TR: Bryan endorses these great products. Check ‘em out and see why!

    Mike Lull Custom Basses: www.mikelull.com
    SWR Amplification: www.swrsound.com
    D'addario Strings: www.daddario.com

    Next month's legend: Bunny Brunel
    Comments 2 Comments
    1. Elmeaux's Avatar
      Elmeaux -
      I love these interviews.
    1. SilverFlame46's Avatar
      SilverFlame46 -
      Great interview!!!
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