Rock-fusion trio The Aristocrats bring their The Duck Tour to The Academy, Dublin on 3rd June. We asked them the BIG questions . . .
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The Aristocrats are guitarist Guthrie Govan (Steven Wilson, Hans Zimmer, Asia/GPS), bassist Bryan Beller (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Dethklok), and drummer Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, Joe Satriani, Steve Hackett).
They play a fusion of rock, jazz, pop, metal, country, and they released their self-titled debut album in 2011, followed by three more studio albums over the next decade.
Their fifth LP, Duck, is a concept album that tells the story of a web-footed Antarctic island native fleeing a penguin policeman all the way to New York City . . .
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
Bryan: In this case "yourself" being "The Aristocrats" because we are indeed a band, I'd say….1. We play *all* the notes; 2. We like taking the piss out of things; 3. We do things our own way and always have.
How would you describe your music?
Guthrie: I think part of our motivation as a band is to do things which aren’t easily pigeon-holed but… we’ve settled on the term "instrumental rock-fusion" for the purposes of interview questions such as this one. Ultimately, we would of course prefer for people to listen to some of our music and draw their own conclusions ;-)
Who are your musical inspirations?
Marco: Queen, Led Zeppelin, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Kate Bush. Many others of course, but these are some important ones for me.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Marco: That was Queen in 1982 on the Hot Space tour.
What was the first record you ever bought?
Bryan: The Wall by Pink Floyd.
What’s your favourite song right now?
Bryan: Ghost by Karnivool.
Favourite lyric of all time?
Marco: "Am Tag war ich dein Killer, Für Geld vom Glaspalast, Manche fallen auf die Knie, Ich hab' sie tot gemacht, Am Tag war ich dein Killer, Und nachts war ich bei dir, Blind und kalt und schön vom Hass, Ich weiß nicht mehr wofür, Einmal wollt' ich leben, Und wusste nicht mehr wie".
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Translation would be sort of like: "During daylight I was your killer, for money from the glass palace. Some fall to their knees, I made them dead, During daylight I was your killer, and at night I was with you. Blind and cold and beautiful from hate, I don’t know anymore what for, Once I wanted to live and didn’t know anymore how."
Herwig Mitteregger, excerpt from the song Glaspalast from the album Herzlichen Glückwunsch by Spliff, 1983. The entire lyrics of the song are incredibly deep and meaningful.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Guthrie: The premise of this question is perhaps open to interpretation. If it implies that my remaining time here in the land of the living will only be long enough for me to listen to one more song, I would find it darkly amusing to opt for Bach’s Air on a G String, in reference to those old Hamlet Cigars commercials from the '70s. Conversely, If the idea is that my lifespan will remain unaltered but my playlist options have been heavily restricted, I honestly think the only way to retain sanity would be to pick 4’33" by John Cage.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Guthrie: I’m sure that any of the leading search engines or streaming platforms would be delighted to assist people in the noble quest for more information about our music… as a supplement to such conventional research methods, I can add that our official band website welcomes all visitors most enthusiastically.
Alan Corr
