photo: Marc Mennigmann
Bass player Bryan Beller fount the time to have a chat with Echoes And Dust in the midst of The Aristocrats' European tour. On reconnecting with the fan base:
Well, I think we have it a lot better than a lot of the pop acts out there! [Laughs] The good news about being in our little muso ghetto is that, once you get some fans, you have them for life. And we appreciate that and are very grateful for that. I always feel like we actually carry our brand with us, as opposed to [being a ] ‘flavour of the month’. So, I don’t necessarily see it as a hindrance that we’re playing weird music. I think it’s a feature, not a bug.
Being on tour is a 24/7 job, so there isn't much time to listen to music. However, Beller heartily recommends checking out T H I S C L O S E , the new album from Janet Feder:
I’m ashamed to say I’m not listening to much music at all right now, because I’m so inundated with music all the time. I have some music that I listen to when I work out which is constant: Nine Inch Nails, Animals as Leaders. But as far as new stuff, the album that’s most important to me right now that’s new is by an artist named Janet Feder. She’s a prepared baritone guitarist and a song-writer, and a very interesting artist who is doing something somewhere between Bill Frisell and Nine Inch Nails and indescribable avant-garde stuff. It’s simple and it’s melodic, but she plays with her right hand classically based, but it’s not classical at all. Her song-writing sensibility is infused with folk and a sense of mission, but it’s not folk music. It’s avant-garde in the sense that it’s not classifiable, but it’s not noise, it’s melodic. And she sings on three songs on her new album, called This Close. I think it’s extraordinary. I think that people who dig our kind of muso universe would be really, really interested to hear a woman doing something that is muso, but not frenetic.
The Aristocrats continue their European tour to promote latest album Tres Caballeros.
European dates (1st leg):
- 12/04 Larvik, Norway @ Bolgen
- 12/06 Istanbul, Turkey @ Garajistanbul
- 12/07 Bucharest, Romania @ Silver Church
- 12/09 Zoetermeer, Netherlands @ De Boerderij
- 12/10 Verviers, Belgium @ Spirit of 66
- 12/13 Edinburgh, Scotland @ Liquid Room
- 12/15 Manchester, England @ Club Academy
- 12/16 Birmingham, England @ Temple
- 12/17 Bristol, England @ Bierkeller
- 12/18 London, England @ Heaven
- 12/19 Brighton, England @ The Haunt
- 12/20 Paris, France @ La Maroquinerie
European dates (2nd leg):
- 01/13 Espoo, Finland @ Sellosali
- 01/15 Äänekoski, Finland @ Painotalo (band clinic + concert)
- 01/16 Espoo, Finland @ Sellosali
- 01/18 Lisbon, Portugal @ RCA Club
- 01/20 Sevilla, Spain @ Custom
- 01/21 Murcia, Spain @ Garaje
- 01/22 Madrid, Spain @ Caracol
- 01/23 Valencia, Spain @ Rockcity
- 01/24 Barecelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz 2
- 01/26 Nice, France @ Le Palace
- 01/27 Genova, Italy @ La Claque
- 01/29 Athens, Greece @ Athina Live
- 01/30 Athens, Greece @ Athina Live
- 02/02 Milan, Italy @ Blue Note
- 02/03 Zurich, Switzerland @ Moods
- 02/04 Rubigen, Switzerland @ Muhle Hunziken
- 02/06 Verona, Italy @ Officina degli Angeli
- 02/07 Bologna, Italy @ Zona Roveri
- 02/08 Pordenone, Italy @ Il Deposito
- 02/10 Florence, Italy @ Teatro Puccini
- 02/11 Terni, Italy @ Auditorium Gazzoli
- 02/12 Malta, Malta @ Ir-Razzett l’Ahmar
- 02/14 Siracusa, Italy @ Venue TBA
- 02/16 Roccaforzata, Italy @ Saloon Public House
- 02/18 Rome, Italy @ Planet Live Club
- 02/20 Tel Aviv, Israel @ Reading 3
HCTF review of Tres Caballeros.
