2018.02.14 - Wall Of Sound - Dizzy Reed : ‘Nearly ‘Crestfallen’ But Sticking To His Guns’ (Audio Interview)

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Dizzy Reed – ‘Nearly ‘Crestfallen’ But Sticking To His Guns’ (Audio Interview)

By Genevieve Fellmoser

Guns ‘N Roses’ (GNR) keyboardist Darren “Dizzy” Reed certainly has many things to be proud of, having been a rock musician for over three decades.

Born in Illinois, then growing up in Colorado and moving to Los Angeles at 20, Reed started out on the club circuit with his own band The Wild in the ‘80s. It was in 1985 when he met GNR while recording at a nearby studio, joining five years later.

27 years on, and Reed is now well-known for his work on classics including ‘Live and Let Die’, ‘Pretty Tied Up’ and ‘Civil War’. He’s also been busy – if that’s possible – elsewhere, co-founding side project Hookers & Blow in 2004 with Quiet Riot guitarist Alex Grossi, and working on upcoming solo record Rock ‘N Roll Ain’t That Easy, releasing on Friday.

Having recently arrived in Sydney for a one-off album launch show at Frankie’s Pizza, Reed sat down at Golden Robot Records for an in-depth interview.

Here were some of the interesting insights from the chat, one that sheds light not only on the keyboardist, but the band whose records Use Your Illusion II (1991) and Chinese Democracy (2008) sit in my vinyl collection – the first two I ever got.

Some of the best things come when his back’s against the wall

For Reed, Rock ‘N Roll Ain’t Easy marks a time when the musician was pushing through constant touring with GNR, along with work on Hookers & Blow. He admitted, “There were a lot of obstacles and barriers that I had to overcome. Guns N’ Roses is my priority, and with Hookers & Blow there was a sudden demand for us… There were times where I just wanted to give up with this record, but I persevered.“

Reed revisited his work on a movie soundtrack with ‘Fragile Water’

The record’s fourth song is a personal favourite, with the songwriter’s vocals and piano coming together to create a powerful track. Of the train of thought behind that song, Reed explained, “It’s actually a remake of a song called ‘The Air’, on a movie soundtrack called The Still Life, and Adrian (Young) from No Doubt came in and played drums to it after we recorded it. He said, ‘If you ever record this song again for real, I want to play drums on it’. So we called him up, and he had a game of golf but he showed up (laughs). He nailed it and shot his round. But yeah, we ended up changing the lyrics a little bit and re-titling it”.

The musician has plenty of praise for fellow keyboardist Melissa Reese

Melissa Reese, widely known for her work with Bryan “Brain” Mantia, first joined GNR as the second keyboardist and backing vocalist in 2016. Her first performance with the band was during the Not in This Lifetime… Tour, and since then she’s been ripping it up, letting her anger at having to (still) break gender stereotypes fuel her live energy.

“She’s just got a phenomenal voice, and also got classical training on keyboards and piano. Having her on the other side of the stage, knowing she’s making us sound better, is a pleasure. She gets along with everybody great, and when you’re on tour with somebody, you’re around each other all the time… So you have to have the right personality to fit in, and it’s not an easy thing. People who can’t do that don’t last long in the business, and she does. She’s incredible, fun to be around and just so talented. She adds to the overall scheme of everything, and she’s got a modern take on things too,” Reed concluded, smiling.

His favourite American football team is the Denver Broncos

The late part of our chat turned to the places the musician loves to visit while touring, leading him to bring up some recent experiences. “We played Mile High Stadium in Denver last year… My favourite football team The Broncos play there. It’s a new stadium now, but I grew up following them, so to play there was pretty cool. It was a homecoming of sorts. I also just played Herman’s Hideaway with Hookers & Blow last month in Denver – a little club on Broadway – and the first time I played there I was 17 years old. 40 years later it was exactly how it was back then. It was pretty trippy.”

Grab your copy of Rock ‘N Roll Ain’t Easy here and check out the rest of our interview.

https://wallofsoundau.com/2018/02/14/dizzy-reed-nearly-crestfallen-but-sticking-to-his-guns-audio-interview/

More excerpts from Blabbermouth:
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Longtime Guns N' Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed was recently interviewed by Australia's Wall Of Sound. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net):

On whether it's difficult to go from playing stadiums with GN'R to club shows as a solo artist:

Dizzy: "I think it's just part of the whole experience. I think it's good to play to intimate crowds. To get ready for that, I just did a tour of, like, 18 shows in a row with my other band, Hookers & Blow, in the States. We took a bus and did clubs all the way across America. I like to get back to that. It's not intimidating at all. I enjoy it. I like being able to talk to the crowd, being able to ask them to put their cell phones down for a minute. [Laughs] I enjoy it."

On his new solo album, "Rock 'N Roll Ain't Easy":

Dizzy: "You have to stick to your guns, and do what's true to yourself and how you feel. You can't give in. There were a lot of obstacles and barriers that I had to overcome. A lot of it was schedule. Guns N' Roses is my priority – I'm always going to do that — and with Hookers & Blow, there was a sudden demand for us. It's a business, so you have to do what's right for you in that respect. There were times, I think with this record, where I kind of just wanted to give up, but I didn't, and I persevered. That's part of the whole... it's amazing that it's called 'Rock 'N Roll Ain't Easy', because it wasn't easy to make this record and put it out. I'm proud of the fact that we were able to pull it off, and be able to bring in all these different musicians to play on it and make it sound like a record. We did it old-school — it was all done in the studio; everything was recorded in a live sort of situation. It's something I've always wanted to do, and we did it. It was always in the back of my mind, and it really sort of dragged me down for a long time. There were financial issues, and there were scheduling issues, and then trying to find the right guy to mix it. We shopped it to a few labels, and right away, we got the feedback that they weren't interested, which was kind of weird. They didn't know how to market it, and I was like, 'What about Guns N' Roses?' I don't know. Just a suggestion. [Laughs] When we met Mark [Alexander-Erber] at Golden Robot [Records], he had the right ideas for it. He looked at it as a new record, not as something that was sort of connected to a fallback, nostalgia thing. It was a new thing, and that was important."

On the origins of the album's song "Fragile Water":

Dizzy: "Most of the tracks I wrote on guitar, and that's one of the few I actually wrote on piano. It's actually a remake — there's another version of that song called 'The Air', and it was on a movie soundtrack called 'The Still Life', and Adrian [Young] from No Doubt came in and played drums to it after we had recorded it. He said, 'If you ever record this song again for real, I want to play drums on it.' So we called him up, and he had a game of golf, but he showed up and nailed it and went and shot his round. We ended up changing the lyrics a little bit and re-titling it 'Fragile Water'."

On whether he still feels any pressure playing with GN'R:

Dizzy: "I think you just get used to it. I've chosen to do this for a living, and that's part of it. I don't think it's any more pressure than having to get those papers to your boss on Friday, or get your story done by a deadline, because I've worked other jobs before, too. I kind of thrive on it, really. I think when my back's against the wall, I'm going to do a better job. Being in front of all those people, you've got no choice — you've got to kick ass, or it's going to be embarrassing as hell. I try my best."

On GN'R's other keyboardist, Melissa Reese:

Dizzy: "She's just got a phenomenal voice. She's a great singer, and she's got classical training on keyboards and piano. Having her on the other side of the stage, knowing that it's making us sound better, is just a pleasure. It really is. She gets along with everybody great, and when you're on tour with somebody, we're all in the same bus. You're around each other all the time, backstage, onstage, on the bus, so you have to have the right personality and the right attitude to fit in, and to know how to deal with that. It's not an easy thing. People who can't do that, they don't last long in the business. That's a big thing, and she does. She's incredible — she's fun to be around, and just so talented. She just adds to the overall scheme of everything, and she's got a modern take on things too, which is fantastic. I think she fits right in, and it's a pleasure to perform with her each night on stage."

On his 27-plus years with GN'R:

Dizzy: "I think the most rewarding thing is, Axl gave me an opportunity early on, and he didn't have to do that. My dedication is to him and to that band. I'm lucky to be able to squeeze this kind of [solo] thing in here and there. That within itself is a reward, of just being able to be a part of it and perform with them and get the recognition from the fans, and to be able to use it as a vehicle to have met other great musicians and done other things, like this, Hookers & Blow and The Dead Daisies. It's been fantastic — it really has."

https://blabbermouth.net/news/guns-n-roses-keyboardist-dizzy-reed-on-playing-stadiums-youve-got-to-kick-ass-or-its-going-to-be-embarrassing-as-hell