2014.05.11 - Sight of Sound - Interview with Dizzy

Transcript:

Matt Christine: Matt Christine here from Sight of Sound with Dizzy Reed on the phone. What's up, man?

Dizzy: Not much man, just hanging out in sunny California. Getting ready to come and rock Pennsylvania.

MC: Yeah, next week at the Sands Betlehem Center for the big two year anniversary show.

Dizzy: Ah, it's an anniversary?

MC: Yeah. Second year the venue has been open and I guess Guns N' Roses is this year's anniversary act. Last year it was two nights of Mötley Crüe.

Dizzy: Awesome. It's always great to [?] people celebrate me for any reason at any [?].

MC: Yeah, I'm sure it'll be great. Well, you guys now are on a little bit of time off. You just had a successful South America run. Tell me a bit about that. I know it was a different run for you guys because Duff was back in the band.

Dizzy: Yeah, you know, all around it was great. It's always great to to head down south. They definitely dig the rock'n'roll music down there. And they treat us great. And you can get past the language barrier and the, you know, some of the strange foods and whatnot. Pretty fun. And yeah, Duff did join us, Paul had some shows with his old band The Replacements, and so Duff was kind enough, and luckily enough, he was available. He was kind enough to come fill in. And that was a lot of fun. It was good to see him again and good to be on stage with him. A treat for all of us and for all the people down there.

MC: Yeah, I bet. Was there any bit like a learning curve with him with the new material at all or did he pick it up right away?

Dizzy: Duff's... He's an amazing musician. He's a perfectionist. He's a consummate professional, so, you know, definitely... You know, we hit the rehearsal studio a little bit and... But he came through and it sound great.

MC: Awesome, awesome. Well, I know that tour ended and then you guys came back to the States for a very special performance at the Golden Gods this year. How was that?  What was that crowd like compared to the Latin American crowd?

Dizzy: Actually, you know, it was great. You know, I'm always a little skeptical and a little... [?] worried, but, you know, doing live TV sometimes can be a little stressful and that turned out great. And there was a great crowd there and just, you know, a great night. A lot of great bands. Really cool. The guys from That Metal Show were hosting, [?] Jim and Don and Eddie, which was really cool. And we had a good time. It sounded great. And Axl got a wonderful award for his lifetime achievement. And so that was fine. It was the exception, like I said, I'm using a little bit worried about live TV but that turned out great.

MC: Yeah, there's always that, I don't wanna say nervousness, but that feeling of uncertainty with things that are live. Everything went great on our end, on the streaming end, so nothing to worry about there.

Dizzy: I heard it sounded great. I'm just... to me it's just, you know, there's more restricting than we're used to, you know, starting times and whatnot. [laughter] [?] And just, you know. you never know how it's really gonna sound. Apparently it sounded great. I haven't seen it yet, but I might check out.

MC: Yeah, I think it's going to re-air on VH1 Classic, maybe at the end of the month. I'm not quite sure on the date of that, but-

Dizzy: That's good to know because everyone's been asking me.

MC: Yeah, I'll post it when we post the interview. I'll post the date. I know... man, you guys are so busy. You have the show next week in Bethlehem, you have Rock on the Range coming up and then after that you have Vegas residency round two.

Dizzy: Yes. [?] Go ahead.

MC: I was just going to say, how did the second residency come about? Were you guys planning that from the time of the last one, or did that just spring up recently?

Dizzy: You know, it's... Well, I was told about it recently. I'm not sure how long it's been in the works, but I do know that the first one we did was great, it was a lot of fun. They really put on a great production there. And, you know, they created this great... And I enjoyed it a lot. And I enjoyed not having to the travel. Sometimes it gets [?] just being in the same place for a month was cool so I know we were talking about doing it again. So I'm glad they're having us back. I think it's a wonderful idea. And I'm totally into it.

MC: I know just the practicality of it, you guys can bring a bigger stage show because it stays built. You don't have to break it down every night. It makes a lot of sense for a band like Guns N' Roses to do a residency just for that fact.

Dizzy: There were definitely.... it's good having that [?]. But we can totally put on a great show ever, we have the top of the heap when it comes to production crew and guys that can make that happen no matter where it's at. But I guess it's probably a little bit easier for them to, they don't have to... It's definitely [?] for the crew. They'll have to tackle [?] out like that, so. It's just a great thing, but you know, rock and roll has to keep traveling and has to keep moving on, though, so it's good to, you know, go there for a little bit and camp out and then go back on the road and now we gotta bring it to the peeps [?].

MC: That you do. So, speaking of on the road. What's next after these? You have the residency, like I said, you have Rock on the Range coming up, so is this going to be part of a bigger US run or you just doing these few, just a couple of one offs?

Dizzy: I think, you know, there's nothing little solid planned after that. I know that I'm gonna be going out with a band called The Dead Daisies for a little bit, for a month or so. And so [?], you know, it would be great to hit the States again. It is always great to hit the States. And keep it [?].

MC: So for your Last Vegas residenc there were a couple surprises, and I'm sure fans who are traveling at this time can expect an equal amount of surprises. What are the odds the fans might hear some new material? Any chances of that sneaking into the set?

Dizzy: You never know. You just you never know, if [?] cover songs. I know that we've all been working hard, just trying to get some stuff shored up. So it is a possibility. Anything's possible. Anything is possible. With Guns N' Roses, anything is possible.

MC: There you go. That's a great answer. That is a great answer. Well, that is all I have for you. I'll let you go because I know you have a busy list of interviews to get through. I'm looking forward to seeing the show next week in Bethlehem. It's sold out. I would tell people to go buy tickets, but they already took care of that.

Dizzy: Great, awesome, man. I'm looking forward to it, it's great to get back to the keystone state.

MC: Yeah. Well, we're looking forward to it. Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it.

Dizzy: You bet, man. Thank you.

MC: Thanks.

Done.