Sixty Scales and the Truth with Niels Guns

Bryan Beller — bassist for The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Dweezil Zappa and Mike Keneally — on why it took him until 42 to make it.

Recorded face-to-face in Eindhoven, the morning after The Aristocrats played to their biggest European crowd yet, in week nine of a van tour across Europe.

Bryan is the fulcrum: the guy holding it together while Guthrie Govan and Marco Minnemann go crazy around him. But there was no early-prodigy story. He picked the upright bass at 12 purely to annoy his parents, switched to electric at 13, and describes himself at 15 as "nothing." At Berklee he found out what real players sounded like. At 27 he was broke, in debt and depressed, and took a job testing amplifiers at SWR — which turned into eight years and, eventually, running a $10 million division of Fender. Then his best friend died at 34, and Bryan gave his notice with no plan whatsoever.

We talk about:
- Groove over chops, and why he never tried to be Billy Sheehan or Victor Wooten
- Berklee, ego, and getting outplayed by European jazz majors
- Joe Travers, Dweezil Zappa, and meeting Frank Zappa three times
- Mike Keneally's solo catalogue and why more people should know it
- Eight years in the music industry, and the "poor man's MBA" that later ran The Aristocrats
- Quitting at 35, moving to Nashville, and why the Steve Vai gig killed his session career there
- LA vs Nashville vs New York, in one sentence each
- Scenes from the Flood: ambition, loss, and getting Joe Satriani and John Petrucci to play on it
- The new solo album — 43 minutes, six songs, Joe Travers on drums throughout
- Why every song needs its title before the music

For anyone who thinks they started too late, or who plays with people far more technical than they are — this one's for you.

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#BryanBeller #TheAristocrats #GuthrieGovan #MarcoMinnemann #JoeSatriani #SteveVai #BassPlayer #GuitarPodcast #SixtyScalesAndTheTruth

Andy Timmons — guitarist's guitarist, known for instrumental rock, jazz, bossa nova and his Chopin-influenced nocturnes — joins us backstage on his European tour, recorded one hour before he walks on stage.
In this episode, Andy Timmons explains why he treats every gig as the most important one he'll ever play, how he recovers when things go wrong mid-set, and why he believes "the gift is the hard work." He breaks down the difference between shredding and intentional note choice, introduces his concept of the "auralect" (learning music by ear rather than theory), and traces his path from a shy kid with three older brothers to the University of Miami and beyond.
We also get into his obsession with Chopin's nocturnes and Django Reinhardt, the role of jazz in shaping even his rock playing, his daily practice routine, and how an hour with coffee and a guitar became essential to his mental health and his album "Recovery."
Topics: Andy Timmons, guitar, jazz guitar, instrumental rock, guitar technique, Pat Metheny, Django Reinhardt, Chopin, songwriting, practice routine, music and mental health.
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A note for the Spotify text: I've written it to front-load searchable terms (the guest's name, "guitarist," genre keywords) in the first lines, since Spotify weighs early description text and title/show consistency. The most reliable algorithmic levers on Spotify are completion rate, save rate and follows — copy alone can't move those, so I kept the claims accurate to the episode rather than over-promising.

Yes, you're listening to this on Spotify, Apple Music or one of the other big boys probably. Alex Machacek's music, however, is not here — and in this episode he explains exactly why.
The Austrian-born, LA-based fusion guitarist quit school at 16 for the Vienna conservatory, got his break when Shawn Lane started telling everyone about his debut album, and went on to play with Terry Bozzio, Marco Minnemann and Chad Wackerman. He once composed an entire album over a 51-minute improvised drum solo.
We talk about discovering Joe Pass at 14, why Allan Holdsworth sounded like "an alien landed on Earth," what big band taught him about staying in your lane, moving to LA knowing nobody, the economics of being a fusion guitarist in 2026, and his life mantra: question everything.
Recorded on tour with Chad Wackerman & The LA All Stars (Jimmy Haslip, Steve Hunt).
🎸 Find Alex's music on Bandcamp.

This episodes guest is Drew Goddard, guitarist and songwriter of the Australian band Karnivool. The conversation takes place during their tour, after the release of In Verses (2026) – the band's first album in thirteen years, following Asymmetry (2013).
Goddard talks about his life in Coolgardie, a small former gold-mining town about six and a half hours east of Perth, and about the trips that took him out to the Ngaanyatjarra Lands, where he works with young musicians. He looks back on his childhood: moving around Western Australia, the influence of the Kimberley region, his parents' records (CCR, Elton John) and his father's twelve-string folk playing. Nirvana was the moment the spark caught for him.
For the first time publicly, Goddard shares that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2021 and how it forced him to make changes, particularly around stress. The interviewer shares the same experience, and together they add a short message encouraging men to check themselves.
The conversation also covers the difficult process behind In Verses: taking over Foxhole Studios in Perth, producer Forrester Savell's role in structuring the work, Guthrie Govan's guest solo on "ReAnimation," and the emotion and relief around the release.

Kiko Loureiro spent almost nine years as the lead guitarist of Megadeth, co-wrote the Grammy-winning album Dystopia, and composed over 15 songs with Dave Mustaine. In this conversation, recorded backstage during his European solo tour, Kiko shares the full story of why he decided to step away — and what came next.
We talk about the reality of touring five months a year with newborn twins at home, the moment he knew it was time to leave, and why freedom over his schedule became more important than the biggest stage in metal. Kiko walks through his entire creative process as a composer: how he collects ideas, when he puts on "the judge hat," and why he tells his students that creating your own music is more fulfilling than playing fast.
He also shares the story of being rejected from school because he wrote a metal festival essay, his first guitar — a Brazilian-made Giannini SG — and what it was like having dinner with Allan Holdsworth. We explore how Brazilian music quietly influenced everything from his Angra compositions to his solo work, and what Dave Mustaine's focused approach to songwriting taught him about the difference between creative freedom and creative discipline.
Whether you play guitar or simply care about the choices that shape a creative life, this conversation delivers.
Topics: Kiko Loureiro interview, why Kiko left Megadeth, Dave Mustaine songwriting, Megadeth Dystopia, Angra guitarist, creative process, guitar composition, Allan Holdsworth, Brazilian guitar music, instrumental guitar, guitar podcast, Kiko Loureiro solo career, prog metal, Kiko Loureiro tour 2026, guitar academy, music and family