2014.05.11 - Front Row Report - Interview with Dizzy

Transcript:

Reggie Edwards: What's up, everybody? Reggie Edwards from the Front Row Report. I am honored today to have the one, the only, Dizzy Reed from Guns N' Roses. Dizzy, how are you, my friend?

Dizzy: I'm doing great, man. Just hanging out at home for a rare brief moment and getting ready to to pack my suitcase once again and head back East and play some rock and roll music.

RE: Outstanding, man. Yes, Rock on the Range next week. It doesn't get any better than that here in the United States of America. Rock on the Range. How excited is Guns N' Roses to be playing the biggest rock festival in the country?

Dizzy: Well, very excited. And I didn't realize until just now that it was the biggest rock festival in in the country. So now I'm even more excited.

RE: Awesome. Yeah.

Dizzy: And you know what? You know, it's, you know, in Ohio, which is, you know, that's the first place, you know, that's where Rock'n'roll was born. So we're ready, man. We're gonna come, and we're gonna bring it.

RE: Awesome. Yeah. I can't wait to see it. This will be my first Guns N' Roses show. My mom, the first concert she went to, I believe, was Guns N' Roses. And so it's going to be awesome for me to be able to finally see you guys. I'm really looking forward to it.

Dizzy: We transcend generations.

RE: You do, absolutely. And you guys played the Golden Gods a couple weeks ago, the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which is basically rock and metal's Grammys. You know, it's a pretty big deal. And Axl got the Lifetime Achievement Award. Can you tell me a little bit about the experience that you guys had with the Golden Gods and what that show meant to you guys?

Dizzy: You know, it was, it was a great experience all around. It was a wonderful night. They did such a great job, you know, with the whole production and it was really cool that Jim and Don, Eddie, were hosting because those guys are awesome. And just, you know, a lot of great bands. It was really cool to see Slayer. That was amazing. And so it was a great experience. I'm usually a little nervous doing live TV, but that went off without a hitch and apparently it sounded great, I haven't seen it yet. So, but it was just, it was a great night for everybody. And yeah, you know, it's like, they keep it real, so it's good to, you know, to support the....And not to, you know, some of the other awards are just a little... I don't know what their criteria is these days for a Grammy or whatnot, but you know, it was a good fit and I'm glad we did it.

RE: Awesome, yeah. And it also gives, you know, gives you guys a chance to see some of the bands, especially with Rock on Range and festival season. Some of the bands are gonna be playing that show with and some of the, you know, some of the newer acts and the newer bands as well like The Pretty Reckless, 12 foot ninja. Some of the, you know, bands that they say is quote/un-quote, "The future of rock and roll," it gives them a platform as well. Brings both generations together, which is really cool to see. So yeah, it's great, it's a great show. Your other band, the Dead Daisies, actually you guys played Uproar Festival. I actually got to catch you guys at Uproar last year here in Indianapolis and gotta say that you guys have a killer band with Dead Daisies. It's outstanding.

Dizzy: Thank you. I think it's a lot of fun to go out and play with those guys.

RE:  Awesome. What's going on with the Dead Daisy? Anything new on the horizon? It is you and Richard and Marco and a lot of other, you know, great, talented artists in that band.

Dizzy: Well, we are finishing up on some songs we wrote in [?]. And I think we have put out an EP or something along those lines and we're actually gonna be back that way in July, August with [?] Bad Company and Lynrd Skynrd [?] and Def Leppard and KISS.

RE: Nice, nice. That KISS and Def Leopard Tour is going to be hitting here at the end of August, I believe.

Dizzy: We will be there.

RE: Awesome. I was not aware that you guys were gonna be on that bill. That makes that bill even more impressive and more of a  reason for people to come out and see that show because you guys kill it on stage in the Dead Daisies.

Dizzy: Thank you.

RE: Yeah.

Dizzy: Yeah, looking forward to that.

RE: Awesome. With Guns N' Roses, you guys are getting ready at the end of this month to do your second Las Vegas residency at the  middle of May to the end of May, or the beginning of June. Let's talk a little bit about how the how the Las Vegas residency originally came about and what leads you guys to do a second one.

Dizzy: Well, you know, I think it was just a matter of time. I think it's just a good fit for a lot of rock bands including Guns N' Roses to go there and just, you know, camp out for a little bit and, you know, put on a great show for people because this is about entertainment and that's what we are about, you know, with a rock and roll edge, a rock and roll twist. And, you know, I don't know the exact details, as far as the first residency and how it came about, but I do know that it was amazing. They treated us great there. The show was awesome and people came from all over to see one or two shows. And you know, before it was over, we were talking about doing it again, how great it would be. And now we are, and looking forward to it.

RE:  Awesome. And there's really no better city to have a rock'n'roll show than Las Vegas, NV, Sin City itself. I mean, that's it's like the epitome of rock'n'roll right there, I think. And I assume the level of insanity just kind of gets taken up to another level when you play shows out in Vegas, I would assume.

Dizzy: Yeah, just it certainly can. You know, it's right for that. But, you know, I don't know about the whole 'what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' thing these days, but, you know, a lot of times, you know, these days it's like we get done with the show and I'm like, "You know what? I'm gonna go to bed now." Maybe twenty years ago there's no way that would happen, but, you know, we all get older but still we're ready to rock'n'roll all the time and I can't wait. It's gonna be great.

RE: Awesome. Alright. How does a a show on the the Vegas residency compare to the typical Guns N' Roses show, you put anything special into the preparation, maybe visually or sonically or anything for those Vegas shows or is it pretty much, you know, what you're going to see on a normal GN'R tour?

Dizzy: Well, the last time that we played there we did have a few features that are more exclusive to Vegas, could only be really... we had some incredibly long and high ego ramps for the guitarists to run out on. You're really, like, above you playing if you're down on the floor. And we had a flying grand piano that actually fly up in the air and play November Rain, and so we can't really bring that with us everywhere. And I'm not sure what we're gonna have this time. Unfortunately, we can't have the flying pianos at festivals and whatnot. But the good thing about Guns N' Roses is if you take away any gimmicks and explosions and the lights, that you just strip it down, you know, it's a big band playing great songs, and that's what really counts when it comes to music of any kind. And playing it for people.

RE: Awesome. As far as Rock on the Range, I know festivals can be, especially when a band has a catalog and discography as impressive as Guns N' Roses has, it can be very difficult to figure out what songs you want to play, but especially when it comes to the stage show, a lot of man's will put a little bit extra into the festival sets as well. Have you sat down to really think about what you're going to be bringing to the bringing to the stage, you know, as far as the stage show for Rock on the Range? Can fans expect anything special at Rock on the Range next week?

Dizzy: You know, we have a list, and I wouldn't call it a setlist. It's a list of songs to choose from and it's a lot, it's probably about at least four hours worth of music. So once we get past the first couple songs, it's usually, you know, sort of anything goes. If we ever do fall into sort of a groove, I always tell people, "Don't get used to it because it's gonna change." So you never really know what's gonna happen. But as far as... it's gonna be some kick-ass rock'n'roll from beginning to end and we're gonna play the classics, of course you have to. And shame on any band who have a hit song and they don't want to play it anymore because that's not who they are, well, that's how they got to be who they are. So, you know, you always gotta play the big hits and the classics and if you have too many, then now that's a problem most people would like to have it. We're gonna play most of them. And we're just gonna whatever feels right.

RE: Awesome. Now I was doing some reading. I read, and I don't know if it's true or not, did you do a project with Christian artist Larry Norman back in the day?

Dizzy: I certainly did.

RE: I wasn't sure-

Dizzy: And that's-

RE: -if it was real or not. It's like, is it just the Internet or did it really happen? How did that come about and how was that experience like for you, because he is a legend.

Dizzy: Which I didn't know at the time. I found out later. But his younger brother, Charles Norman is a very dear friend of mine and we have met many years ago in Hollywood. He was playing bass for the time for a band called Jetboy. We met out of the club one night and we just kind of hit it off, and we started recording, you know, listening to Larry, they lived in LA at the time, they had a studio and we started just writing and they told me that Larry played some, you know, some gospel rock'n'roll and had like a bit of a following when he was younger, he kind of downplayed it. But then we went to a... I started bringing up his name in conversations and a lot of people would just start freaking out, "You know Larry?" "Yeah." It was, you know, it was a great experience just to write with him and just see, you know, how he does his thing, everything, and he was a wonderful man and just it was always great to to be around, I had a good time.

RE: Awesome.

Dizzy: And I'm very honored that I was able to experience that in my life.

RE: Awesome. Yeah, I was reading about that. It just sounds like it would be very, very fun and cool experience to be a part of anything that Larry was a part of, especially now-

Dizzy: He was funny and he was [?]. He was a big Axl, a big Guns N' Roses fan. He came to a few shows. He was really, really impressed. So, yeah, I'm just, you know, I still talk to Charles, sometimes [?]. [?] a museum out here to honor Larry and my wife and I attended, and I [?] devastated [?]. So we miss him and yeah it was very, very cool to be able to work with Larry.

RE: Absolutely. Now finally I have to ask, can we look forward to a follow up the Chinese Democracy? Anytime in the maybe the next, the near future?

Dizzy: Yes, there's gonna have to be. And no, it's not gonna be another 14 years because I don't know, you know, eventually some of us can start, you know, go away. [laughter] I don't know if I can make it another 14 years or whatever it's going to be. So yeah, [?]

RE: Awesome. Yeah, definitely looking forward to that because I absolutely love Chinese Democracy. It was-

Dizzy: Thank you very much, [?].

RE: It was a great album and a great release for GN'R and definitely looking forward to some new music in the near future and had to ask if we can look forward to that because I know a lot of people are ready for some Chinese Democracy follow up.

Dizzy: Definitely.

RE: Absolutely. Dizzy, thank you so, so much for taking time to talk to me today. It's been fun. It's been an honor for me, and I'm looking forward to the show next weekend.

Dizzy: Awesome. Thank you very much, man. I appreciate it.

RE: Awesome. We'll see you at Rock on the Range.

Dizzy: Okay

RE: Alright, see you. Thanks, Nina.

Done transcribing.