Bryan Beller’s Bandcamp Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n(was available in limited signed\/numbered CDs, now sold out)<\/p>\n
Featuring the following musicians:<\/p>\n
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GUITAR<\/strong>
Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa, Joe Satriani, Devin Townsend)
Rick Musallam (Mike Keneally, Ben Taylor)
Griff Peters (Mike Keneally, Billie Myers)<\/p>\nDRUMS<\/strong>
Joe Travers (Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Zappa Plays Zappa)
Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats, Steven Wilson, Adrian Belew)
Toss Panos (Larry Carlton, Michael Landau)<\/p>\nKEYS<\/strong>
Jeff Babko (Jimmy Kimmel Live, Steely Dan, Sheryl Crow)
Mike Keneally
Bryan Beller<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/bryanbeller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Calm-Before-The-Storm-Cover-Final-scaled.jpg” title_text=”Calm Before The Storm – Cover Final” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ max_width=”370px” z_index_tablet=”500″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ text_font_size=”16px” text_orientation=”center” z_index_tablet=”500″]<\/p>\n
Watch the mini-documentary video about “Calm Before The Storm”.<\/p>\n
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Watch another mini-documentary video about “Calm Before The Storm”!<\/p>\n
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TRACK LISTING<\/strong><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Album Text” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ text_font_size=”16px” z_index_tablet=”500″]<\/p>\n
Greasy Wheel
Cave Dweller
Love Terror Adrenaline\/Break Through<\/p>\n
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CALM BEFORE THE STORM
<\/strong><\/em>(the long version)<\/strong><\/p>\nBassist Bryan Beller \u2013 widely known for anchoring The Aristocrats (Beller + Guthrie Govan\/gtr + Marco Minnemann\/dr), Joe Satriani, Dethklok, Steve Vai and Mike Keneally \u2013 revisits and reimagines parts of his last solo album before both the birth of The Aristocrats and his seminal work Scenes From The Flood<\/em> (2019), with the remix EP Calm Before The Storm<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\nReleasing digitally, it focuses on three compositions that represent the core journey of Beller\u2019s 2008 release Thanks In Advance<\/em><\/strong>. Those songs \u2013 \u201cGreasy Wheel\u201d, \u201cCave Dweller\u201d and \u201cLove Terror Adrenaline\/Break Through\u201d \u2013 also all contain Aristocratic lineage of some kind, which makes for an interesting look back.<\/p>\n\u201cIn the very first gig with Guthrie Govan and Marco Minnemann at the NAMM show in 2011,\u201d says Beller, \u201cwe each brought two solo compositions for a six-song set. Those songs ended up on our 2012 live album, so lots of folks heard the live trio arrangements of those pieces. Meanwhile I was a very young and inexperienced producer back in 2008, and while I was proud of the studio versions of those tunes at the time, I recently thought, \u2018Man, I\u2019d like another crack at mixing those. I think there\u2019s more there.\u2019 Also, 2008 is a million years ago in today\u2019s \u2018forever now\u2019 culture, and there\u2019s probably people out there who don\u2019t even know this stuff exists. So why not reintroduce it with a fresh take?\u201d<\/p>\n
Beller once again called upon sonic sherpa Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Bear McCreary) to remix the three tunes. After mixing Scenes From The Flood<\/em> and the latest Aristocrats album DUCK<\/em> (2024), Savell was clearly the right choice to set the soundstage for a new experience.<\/p>\nWith \u201cGreasy Wheel\u201d and \u201cCave Dweller\u201d appearing on The Aristocrats\u2019 Boing, We\u2019ll Do It Live<\/em> (2012), \u201cLove Terror Adrenaline\u201d contained a unique marker in Beller\u2019s solo catalog: It\u2019s the only work featuring then-future Aristocrats drummer Marco Minnemann.<\/p>\n\u201c\u2019Love Terror Adrenaline\/Break Through\u2019 was an intensely complex and emotionally charged 10-minute piece,\u201d Beller explains, \u201cabout experiencing and getting beyond a panic attack caused by all sorts of inner demons. I wanted the song to reflect that struggle, and it\u2019s a beast. I didn\u2019t know Marco that well back then, but I\u2019d played a couple of gigs with him for ex-Frank Zappa guitarist Mike Keneally. There was an intensity and aggression in the way Marco tackled the most difficult passages that instinctively felt right to me. So I brought both Marco and Mike onto this nightmare piece, and they really did incredible things with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EP also features performances by drummers Joe Travers (Zappa Plays Zappa, Eric Johnson) and Toss Panos (Michael Landau, Larry Carlton); guitarists Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor, Carly Simon) and Griff Peters (John Mayer, Billie Myers); and keyboardist Jeff Babko (Jimmy Kimmel Live, Steely Dan, Sheryl Crow).<\/p>\n
The title Calm Before The Storm<\/em><\/strong> references Beller\u2019s own personal journey at the time, an emotional whipsaw over several years. \u201cI moved to Nashville in 2006 and started working on \u2018Thanks In Advance\u2019 right away. The album\u2019s story chaotically worked towards a calm and peaceful vibe in the end, symbolized by the \u2018Break Through\u2019 moment after eight minutes of terrorized adrenaline. That\u2019s where I left the narrative, sitting in a space of optimism and gratitude. Then, life went on and\u2026well, a lot of things happened. And The Aristocrats suddenly exploded out of nowhere a couple of years later.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cThen, in 2013 my marriage failed and I moved from Nashville back to Los Angeles, with a somewhat infamous stop at a crazypants gas station in Texas occurring along the way. I also learned some things about both myself and human nature that were not exactly aligned with my original \u2018Thanks In Advance\u2019 vibes. Working through that cognitive dissonance was the origin of Scenes From The Flood<\/em>, even though it took six more years to bring it to fruition. And the very first idea for that album was \u2018The Storm\u2019, a metaphor for what had swept through my life.<\/p>\n\u201cSo the calm moment before everything went nuts \u2013 that\u2019s where this EP ends. And I thought the material it took to get there deserved a fresh look.\u201d<\/p>\n
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