The Aristocrats are a rock

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

formed in 2011. The instrumental

power trio A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quartet ...

consists of

Guthrie Govan Guthrie Govan (; born 27 December 1971) is an English guitarist and guitar teacher, known for his work with the bands the Aristocrats, Asia, GPS, the Young Punx and the Fellowship, as well as his solo project Erotic Cakes. More recently, he ha ...

Bryan Beller Bryan Beller (born May 6, 1971) is an American bass guitarist known for his work with Joe Satriani, The Aristocrats, Dethklok, Mike Keneally, Steve Vai, James LaBrie of Dream Theater and Dweezil Zappa, as well as his four solo album releases, ...

, and

Marco Minnemann Marco Minnemann (born 24 December 1970) is a German drummer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. Career Marco Minnemann has released over a dozen solo albums as drummer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist, and performed on over 100 studio alb ...

. The group name is inspired by the Aristocrats joke and consequently the song titles on their debut namesake album – a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

compilation – are rife with salacious double-entendres.

Formation and history

The band was formed after a wildly enthusiastic response to a concert performance at The Anaheim Bass Bash during the Winter NAMM show in January 2011. The trio had just one rehearsal before the concert but still performed well and amazed the audience as well as themselves. Originally the guitarist for that one-off show was to be

Greg Howe Gregory Howe (born December 8, 1963)Malusardi, Guglielmo (October 2006) Guitar Nine Records. Retrieved 2012-10-14. is an American guitarist and composer. An active musician across four decades, he has released ten studio albums in addition to co ...

, replaced by

at the last moment. Guthrie later stated: "The chemistry was so great, that when we came offstage we all said to each other: 'This is working. We should record this.'" The band would later get together and meet in Chicago to record their debut album, which took just under two weeks. The music album reflected their respective influences, ranging from 70s fusion (

Return to Forever Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhun ...

), to progressive (

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

), to instrumental rock (

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for ...

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

), to rap metal (

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

) and to just plain absurdity (

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

). Bassist

stated, "We ended up using our different influences to write for each other. I wrote "Sweaty Knockers" specifically for Guthrie to have fun with, while Guthrie wrote “I Want A Parrot” with bass leads in mind. As for Marco's material, we're just lucky to be able to keep up with it!”. After releasing their debut in September 2011, the trio toured for the year 2012. Later in the same year the band released its first live album, ''Boing, We'll Do It Live!''. Footage and sound for this release were recorded in two concerts held at Alvas Showroom in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. During those concerts the band played material from their debut album as well as songs from each band members' solo projects. In July 2013, their second studio album ''Culture Clash'' was released, which was followed by a supporting tour; first in North America in 2013 and then in Europe, South America, and Asia in 2014. After the tour, the band compiled excerpts of performances from six different venues for their upcoming second live album, ''Culture Clash Live!'', to be released on CD and DVD on January 20, 2015.The Aristocrats: ''"Culture Clash Live" Drops On JANUARY 20 – Plus "Secret Show: Live In Osaka" Comes Out Same Day!''
/ref> On the same day, the band releases their "official bootleg" of the tour, a limited edition 2CD set titled ''Secret Show: Live in Osaka''. During their January 2015 tour, the band debuted material for their third studio album ''Tres Caballeros''. The album was recorded in February and released on June 23, 2015.The Aristocrats: ''The Aristocrats’ Third Album Title: “Tres Caballeros” – Plus North America Tour Dates!''
/ref> In support of the album, the band toured in North America in summer 2015 and in Europe from November 2015 to February 2016. In 2016 they took part in the

G3 tour G3 is a concert tour organized by guitarist Joe Satriani featuring him alongside two other guitarists. Since its inception in 1995, G3 has toured most years and has featured many guitarists, including Steve Vai (Satriani's former student), Er ...

, along with

and

. September - October 2016, the band toured India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan & Australia booked by their Asian agency jellybeard. After this tour, The Aristocrats decided to take a long sabbatical, focusing on their own solo endeavors and touring with other acts (BB/MM Joe Satriani, GG Hans Zimmer) throughout 2017 & 2018. In December 2018 The Aristocrats announced they were going into the studio again early March 2019 to record their 4th studio album. The 4th album, ''You Know What?'' was recorded in the Brotheryn Studios in Ojai California and released in June 2019.

Discography

Studio albums *'' The Aristocrats'' (2011) *''

Culture Clash Cultural conflict is a type of conflict that occurs when different cultural values and beliefs clash. Broad and narrow definitions exist for the concept, both of which have been used to explain violence (including war) and crime, on either a mic ...

'' (2013) *'' Tres Caballeros'' (2015) *'' You Know What...? ''(2019) *''The Aristocrats With Primuz Chamber Orchestra'' (2022) Live albums *''

Boing, We'll Do It Live! ''Boing, We'll Do It Live!'' is the first live album of The Aristocrats, released on December 10, 2012. Footage and sound for this release were recorded in two concerts held at Alvas Showroom in Los Angeles, California. During those concerts the ...

'' (2012) *''

Culture Clash Live! ''Culture Clash Live!'' is the second live album by The Aristocrats (band), The Aristocrats, released on January 20, 2015. The material for this live release was recorded at six different venues in six countries during the 2014 world tour support ...

'' (2015) *''Secret Show: Live in Osaka'' (2015) *''FREEZE! Live In Europe 2020'' (2021) *

Band members

– guitar *

– bass *

– drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aristocrats, The American instrumental musical groups American progressive rock groups American jazz ensembles Jazz fusion ensembles Musical groups established in 2011 American musical trios Rock music supergroups 2011 establishments in the United States