What happens when the world’s most raucous rock/fusion instrumental power trio decides to make a concept album? You get "DUCK", the story of a web-footed Antarctic island native fleeing a penguin policeman all the way to New York City…where considerable misadventure and danger await. The Aristocrats – Guthrie Govan/guitar, Bryan Beller/bass, Marco Minnemann/drums – have created a kaleidoscopic musical universe, employing both trademark genre pastiches and inventive new arrangement explorations – some surprisingly emotional and sensitive – to move the story along to its frantic conclusion. And while their obvious virtuosity and inherent absurdity are present as always, it’s now employed in service of the band’s most ambitious compositional and sonic production to date.
“We’ve always been writing with a storytelling aspect in mind, and our live shows always include our stories behind the songs,” says the band, speaking as one. “But the stories had mainly been about us. Then Marco came into the studio with a song about a duck, and we were all looked at each other and said, ‘What if all of stories for the songs on this album…happened to a duck? What’s that story about?’ And suddenly we had a concept album on our hands.”
The wildly diverse music follows the protagonist duck into a big city dance club (“Aristoclub”) to being forcibly ejected from a dive bar (“Hey, Where’s MY Drink Package”) to a dark-riffed theme for his penguin pursuer (“Sgt. Rockhopper”), eventually concluding with the action-packed, Balkan-fusion finale “This Is Not Scrotum”, featuring violinist Rusanda Panfili (Hans Zimmer Live) as a rare Aristocrats album special guest.
Mixed by Australian sonic guru Forrester Savell, and with original character artwork by Lance Myers (Space Jam), "DUCK" is The Aristocrats’ first new studio album in five years. And it’s clear that Guthrie Govan, Bryan Beller and Marco Minnemann have taken their collective artistry to a whole new mindblowing – albeit ridiculous – level.
GUTHRIE GOVAN played guitar and wrote “Sgt. Rockhopper”, “Here Come The Builders” and “Slideshow”
BRYAN BELLER played bass and wrote “Aristoclub”, “Muddle Through” and “This Is Not Scrotum”
MARCO MINNEMANN played drums and percussion and wrote “Hey, Where’s MY Drink Package?”, “Sittin’ With A Duck On A Bay” and “And Then There Were Just Us/Duck’s End”
The Aristocrats give special thanks to RUSANDA PANFILI, who plays many beautiful violins on “This Is Not Scrotum”
PRODUCED BY THE ARISTOCRATS Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9 recorded by Jason Mariani at Carbonite Sound, Ojai, CA, January 10-23, 2023 Tracks 6, 7 and 8 recorded by Guthrie Govan, Bryan Beller and Marco Minnemann wherever they happened to be in 2023
Special thanks to Bear McCreary The Aristocrats hereby thank: Riccardo Cappelli, Kris Claerhout, Mike DeMonte and Hostile City Distro, Tom Price, Darran Charles and Rhiannon Jenkins, Tim and Karen Dam
Guthrie Govan thanks Charvel Guitars, Victory Amps, D’Addario, Fractal Audio, tc electronic, Pigtronix, Providence, Red Bear, Xotic, GruvGear and Nathalie B.
Bryan Beller thanks: Mike Lull basses, Spector basses, Gallien-Krueger amplification, D'Addario strings, Dunlop/MXR, Xotic Effects, tc electronic, my dear friends and family, and Liz Teisan and Ellie.
Marco Minnemann thanks DW, Zildjian, Pro-Mark, Evans, Audix, Steinberg, Jens and Alina Minnemann, Phoenix Minnemann.
*2024 PRESS RELEASE* The renowned rock-fusion supergroup The Aristocrats – Guthrie Govan/guitar, Bryan Beller/bass, Marco Minnemann/drums – has produced and released their most ambitious studio album ever, and their first new music in five years.
The trademark Aristocratic musical mayhem is rowdier than ever, but their concept album DUCK is truly like nothing else in their catalogue. It was released physically on March 8 to music retail outlets across the UK and Europe, and is available for download purchase via The Aristocrats’ Bandcamp. (The streaming release will follow later this year. A private download link is available upon request to accredited press outlets.)
This being The Aristocrats, it’s no ordinary concept album. Of the inspiration for DUCK, the band explained, “It is the story of a web-footed Antarctic Island native fleeing a penguin policeman all the way to New York City...where considerable misadventure and danger await.” Of its genesis, they elaborated, “We’ve always been writing with a storytelling aspect in mind, and our live shows always include our stories behind the songs...But the stories had mainly been about us. Then Marco came into the studio with a song about a duck, and we all looked at each other and said, ‘What if all of stories for the songs on this album...happened to a duck? What’s that story about?’ And suddenly we had a concept album on our hands.”
Official band quote for Drink Package: "The DUCK saga leads off with Marco's song 'Hey, Where's MY Drink Package?", and it's got an aggressive, swinging, ‘here comes trouble' attitude that we felt really set the tone for both the music and the story of the album. It has all of the elements of an Aristocratic tune - it's fun, it's loud, it's tricky in a few spots, and it takes some unexpected turns into open space and improvisation. And it's a good soundtrack to set the opening scene for the protagonist of our Duck story...who's trying to figure out how he got himself into such a mess, over a few stiff drinks.” Official band quote for Aristoclub: “In keeping with the concept album’s narrative, the Aristoclub is also one of the first places our DUCK protagonist lands upon arriving in the big city, thousands of miles from his Antarctic island home. It’s loud and crazy in there, and he just wants to have a good time after such an arduous journey - but is he being followed?”
Official band quote for Sgt. Rockhopper: “Guthrie had been fascinated with the idea of a police penguin ever since we had one appear on the cover of our live album “FREEZE! Live In Europe 2020”. So he wrote this angular-riffed, hard-driving rock tune as a soundtrack for our penguin’s patrolling duties, which Guthrie imagined he performs on a snowmobile, because, of course. Now Rockhopper has become a central figure of the DUCK story – after all, someone has to keep the peace on the island when things get dicey. But is that all Sgt. Rockhopper is up to?”
DUCK’s standard edition features the original CD, whilst the deluxe edition contains the original CD along with a USB DUCK drive with alternate takes video-captured live-in-studio, behind-the-scenes footage, demos and more; a DUCK pass laminate; and a custom Aristocrats-branded lanyard. DUCK is also available in 180-gram double vinyl. DUCK is mixed by Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Twelve Foot Ninja, Dead Letter Circus) and contains original character artwork by film animator Lance Myers (Space Jam, Anastasia, Quest For Camelot).
To celebrate the release, The Aristocrats played five select shows on the United States West Coast in mid-to-late February. The DUCKLING Tour was completely sold out. A full international touring cycle will follow, with details to be released as they are available.
Over the past 12 years, The Aristocrats – 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) – have established themselves as one of the most musically original, refreshingly irreverent, and astoundingly entertaining instrumental rock-fusion acts on the planet. Global media have gushed with the UK’s Rhythm Magazine declaring them “More fun than fusion has a right to be...” and The San Diego Union Tribune avowing, “If there is a more accomplished, empathetic and versatile all-instrumental trio in rock than The Aristocrats, I’ve yet to hear them...”
The buzz from their supposedly one-off debut gig at the Anaheim NAMM show in 2011 led to The Aristocrats self-titled debut album. Tracked in just eight days, THE ARISTOCRATS (2011) was hailed as an instant classic in leading music publications worldwide, appearing on many of that year’s top ten lists. The Aristocrats then proceeded to make three more critically acclaimed studio albums over the next decade, two of which landed in the Billboard Top 10 Jazz Chart. (Jazz? Ok, sure.) Four world tours and three live albums later, the band is known on five continents as a must-see whirlwind musical experience.
