2004.08.18 - Glam Metal - Another Spin (Dizzy)

Thanks to @Surge for sending us this interview!
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Another Spin

Interview with Dizzy Reed of Guns n' Roses

By Debbie Rao

Dizzy Reed is one of rock's premier keyboard players. Dizzy has been a member of Guns 'n' Roses for 14 years. He joined the band in 1990 and played the first concert with GNR in 1991 at the Rock in Rio concert. By age 6, Dizzy formed his first band and was taught by his grandmother to play organ. Dizzy moved to LA in 1985 and formed a band called the Wild. The band had a rehearsal studio right next to the original Guns 'N' Roses. Axl Rose and Dizzy soon became friends.

Dizzy says, "From early on Axl said,” I want to add a keyboard player and you are the one." The rest is history. Dizzy Reed recently formed a solo band in early 2004 called Hookers ‘N’ Blow. The band features New England natives Matt Starr (Beautiful Creatures, Bang Tango), on guitar, Alex Grossi (Beautiful Creatures , Bang Tango, Kevin Dubrow) on guitar, drummer Troy Patrick-Farrell, and bass player Curtis Roche. Dizzy recently changed the band’s name and his upcoming East Coast Tour will be billed as Dizzy Reed’s Hollywood Bulldozer. The band will be stopping in Philly, New York, and playing a return engagement to the legendary Lucky Dog Music Hall in Worcester, Ma Sept 10, where the Rolling Stones once performed a surprise gig in 1981. Dizzy says, "Mainly we want to go and have a good time as always. We want to make everyone feel good and rock'n'roll. Axl Rose is wonderful. He is great. He is the reason I do this. Guns 'n' Roses, the new version of the band, is the best band that I have ever been in absolutely." Guitarist Matt Starr says,” We are going to be playing a lot of colleges. The kids are going to love it. We are playing a lot of music that everybody loves.“ I recently had the opportunity to talk with Dizzy about his upcoming solo tour, his return to Worcester, and the latest news on best band in rock’ roll history GUN"N"ROSES.

Hi Dizzy. So you are getting ready to embark on an East Coast Tour. Where will you be playing?

Well, I think it starts on Sept 9. It is pretty much the East Coast. We are going to start up in the Northern part in Burlington, VT Sept 9 at Club Metronome and play a few warm up shows in California. We will be playing Johnny Foxxs Aug 20, The Pound in San Francisco Aug 26, McKinley Ville, CA Aug 27 at the Six Rivers Brewery. Then we make our way to Worcester Sept 10. Then we go down to New York and Philly, which is cool because I like Philly.

Philly is such a great city to play. I was just down there to see my friends Dokken play at the Trocadero, a few weeks ago. The fans are really cool there.

You are going to be playing a lot of colleges this time around. How do you feel about that? Is this going to be something different for you?

Yeah, I think it is going to be a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it. Ya know if there is one thing college kids know how to do, that is Rock and Roll.

They know how to party too...

Oh yeah, a little bit of partying here and there.

Matt Starr said that you are changing the name of the band from Hookers ‘n' Blow to Dizzy Reed's Hollywood Bulldozer. Is that true?

Yeah, we are going to be going out as Dizzy Reed's Hollywood Bulldozer. As much as I love the name Hookers 'n' Blow, there were some establishments that couldn't handle that name, so it is going to be the Hookers 'n’ Blow tour, but the name of the band is Dizzy Reed's Hollywood Bulldozer. We have a new website that is called Hookersnblowme.com. It has info about the band and pictures and stuff. There is also a message board, and a link to my website called Dizzyreed.com. You can get all the tour dates on those sites.

You are in rehearsal in LA right now. What will the band are playing this time around?

A little bit of the same, mainly we just want to come out and have a good time as always. That is what it is all about. We want to make everyone feel good and rock and roll.

Will you be playing any new original tunes?

Ya know, we will just be playing cover songs this time around. My new material, we are demoing it out. I just want to make sure it is right. My new material is like GNR and The Stones. They are big influences on me, and that certainly comes out in the sound. I wouldn’t go as far to say it is metal, but is sounds like Guns 'n' Roses.

I can hear a little bit of country influences in your acoustic playing, too. Do you listen to different types of music?

I do. I listen to everything, I think it is important as a musician to listen to whatever you can. It is pretty easy when you are younger to be close-minded and say metal rules, country rules, hip-hop rules. You should listen to everything and incorporate that into what you are playing. It is going to appeal to more people, but at the same time, you are learning more about the music. It is going to make your stuff better. I kind of always have been that way. My parents were always listening to music. They loved music. My dad and mom had a big record collection. My dad listened a lot to Neil Diamond. He got into rock in the seventies, when the band Boston came out with their first record. He fell in love with the song “More Than a Feeling.” He used to crank that song. Before I joined Guns ’n’ Roses, I told him you gotta check out this band, they are friends of mine. They checked out the video Paradise City. They freaked out. They went out and bought the album. Then I ended up joining the band. That was really cool. They were fans before I joined the band. . .

Now back in the day, when you had your band The Wild, did you ever open for GNR?

No, we never did. I am not sure why, we had a lot of parties together. We lived in this place that had a studio and Guns lived right next door. We use to have a lot of after hours parties.

Axl seems like a nice guy to work for. Tell me about him.

Axl is great. He is wonderful. He is the reason that I still do this. You know the new band that we have now is in my opinion the best band that I have ever been in absolutely!

Buckethead is gone, right?

Yeah. But, you know Axl sounds better than ever. I support everything that he has been doing. I think the new guys really put in a lot of what eventually will come out. I think it is amazing that we are going to pull this off. Because we are all coming from different backgrounds. .

Who else is in the new GNR lineup? I know you and Axl are, but who is the new guitarist?

We have Robin Finck, he was in Cirque de Soliel, before he was in Nine Inch Nails. We also have this guy named Richard Fortus, who is phenomenal playing guitar. He actually just sat in with me at the Cat Club Thursday night with the Starfuckers. Brian plays drums. Tommy Stinson, who plays bass, was in the Replacements. That is the core of the GNR lineup now. Oh, and we have this cat named Mother Goose. He plays keyboards and does a lot of computer programming.

Wow, there are a lot of new guys in the band. Will GNR be touring anytime soon?

When the new album comes out, we will have to tour. I haven’t gotten any word yet as to when that will happen.

Now you are getting ready to do your own solo tour, which is great.

Yeah, it keeps me from going crazy, it gets me from point a to point b.

You are returning to Worcester Sept 10 to play the legendary Lucky Dog. Did you know that the Rolling Stones once performed there in 1981? They did a surprise club show to kick off their world tour.

Yes, I did. They told me when I got there and I saw all the pictures. This made me feel a lot cooler about playing there. After I got done playing, I realized that this is one of the coolest places that I have played. The people were great. I am looking forward to going back there Sept 10.

Last time you played Boston, you said that you were from Chicago and that you are a big Cubs fan. I am from Boston and I am a big Red Sox fan. How do you feel about the Cubs getting Nomar Garciaparra in the Red Sox trade?

You know, I am pretty happy about it, that is phenomenal. Hopefully he will win them the Worlds Series.

What kind of music do you listen to today? Do you like any newer bands or are you stuck in the 80's genre like me?

I listen to the Black Eyed Peas, and the new Tommy Stinson album. That is phenomenal.

You played on Tommy’s album, right? Have you heard the new Velvet Revolver? There seems to be so much hype with this band.

I only heard the single.

Dizzy, what has the highlight of your career been?

When I played the Lucky Dog last time. I am hoping to top that this time around!

Dizzy, anything else that you would like to say to your fans?

After the tour we will be back here in October. Then I hope to finish recording my solo CD. Then I will be getting ready to go out with Gun 'n' Roses at some point. HANG TIGHT! THE NEW GUNS 'N' ROSES RECORD IS ON THE WAY. IT IS FANSTASTIC. AXL SOUNDS AMAZING. WE AS A BAND ARE 100 PERCENT READY TO COME OUT AND KICK SOME ASS!