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- Mikkamakka
- Rep: 217
Re: Dizzy Reed:"I’m very proud of Chinese Democracy"
Dizzy Reed:"I’m very proud of ChineseDemocracy"
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/features … Democracy#
JODY MACGREGOR asks long-serving Axl Rose comrade Dizzy Reed the big questions about Gun N’ Roses, Chinese Democracy and golf.
I’ll admit it, I’m one of the people who likes Chinese Democracy. We should have a support group, meeting weekly in a room next door to the people who still liked Black Sabbath after Ozzy left. What makes Chinese Democracy interesting is that it veers between genres and sounds – industrial, nu metal, Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, ’70s metal tribute – like Guns N Roses having mood swings. It’s as if they’d recorded 10 albums in the time it took to make that one and then thrown together a smattering of songs from each. But obviously the best songs. Chinese Democracy may be a mess, but it’s a glorious one, a trashed hotel room in the finest rockstar style.
The band’s keyboardist, Dizzy Reed, features prominently on Chinese Democracy. He gets co-writing credits on three songs and is partly responsible for the string sections that suddenly rise up behind guitar solos all over the place, in case they didn’t sound bombastic enough already.
Reed joined the band in 1990, in time to be part of Use Your Illusion, and apart from Axl Rose is the longest-serving member of the current line-up. I asked him about the accusation that the band in its current form isn’t the real deal, as well as their infamous Calder Park Speedway gig in Melbourne – but first I asked him about golf.
I’ve heard that you play golf. Have you ever played with Alice Cooper? Is there a rock star golf club?
No, I haven’t. But many years ago, Guns were playing a show in Phoenix where Alice Cooper resides. He came to the show and I looked over to the side of the stage and there’s my mom and dad, who’d come down from Denver to see our show, hanging out with Alice Cooper – which I thought was kind of ironic because I got grounded when I was in the eighth grade for sneaking out and going to see Alice Cooper. I kind of wanted my week back. But they were talking [about] golfing, since they both golf as well. I was just a little sore they were on a first-name basis after grounding me, many years before.
That doesn’t seem fair.
It wasn’t fair at all.
Guns N’ Roses are heading out to Australia this year, but back in 1993 there was an infamous concert here at the Calder Park Speedway – do you know about that? Do you remember that?
I remember that quite vividly actually. I remember the night before the show I was having all these crazy dreams about tornadoes and stuff and then we had to take a chopper out there, a helicopter, and there were some stormy skies. When we landed I remember some of the crew telling us there had been tornadoes, which was kind of weird. If I’d known they even had tornadoes down there I probably wouldn’t have got on the helicopter. That’s what I remember about the show, but what do you remember about the show?
I wasn’t actually there but the show is famous for the heatwave, torrential downpour, water shortage and public transport failures.
You know, I guess I missed all of that. I never really heard any of that stuff. I remember it being really hot and that there was a lot of people needing water. But that sucks, it sucks when things aren’t planned out that way with regard to the crowd, because I know when we’re on stage it’s Axl’s and it’s our number one priority for everyone to be have a good time and be safe. If anyone throws anything, if there’s anyone being obnoxious or causing any sort of harm or uncomfortable situation with anyone in the crowd that we can see we’ll stop playing until that gets taken care of.
You first joined Guns N’ Roses in 1990 but you’d met them five years before that, right?
Yes, that is true. I was in a band out here in LA, we were called The Wild and we shared a rehearsal space. They lived next door to us and it was just the most insane amount of energy of any place that I’ve ever experienced. We became friends, Axl and the guys. Axl right away, he heard me play the piano and he said, “We’re gonna add a keyboard player some day and it’s gonna be you.” You hear stuff like that all the time, but they went on to be gigantic and he stuck to his word.
When he actually got in touch with you and said, “OK, you’re in the band now”, did you think twice about saying yes?
I always joke about that because a friend of mine, James, who still works for Guns N’ Roses, he’s the one who called me. I’d already recorded with the band, I think we’d recorded ‘Civil War’ and we talked about taking it on tour and stuff, they started to make me an actual member of the band – James called me and said, “Congratulations, you’re in Guns N’ Roses. How do you want your name to read in the official press release?” And I said, “Hang on, let me think about that … OK, yeah, I’ll do it.” It took me about half a second. So obviously it had been in the works for a while, it was something we would always talk about, so there was always a chance it might actually happen, and when it did I didn’t have to think twice. I mean, they were the biggest band in the world at that time.
The guys who’ve joined the band since then, when they come on board do you have any advice for them?
Most of the guys that have come on board have been through the mill in other bands. They’re all professional, they’ve all worked with so many other bands or they’ve come from situations similar to mine. I’ve been doing this my whole life and so they come to me sometimes with some questions but a lot of it you just gotta figure out on your own. My main thing is I always say, “Hey, don’t get mad at me if I’m late.” That’s my advice.
Do you think that they know what they’re letting themselves in for?
I think it’s impossible to really know that because every day is still – to me, there’s always surprises around every corner. Nothing’s average, nothing’s like it should be. A lot of that can be frustrating sometimes but it keeps things exciting. There’s just a certain lure about the name and the band and the songs and the chance to play those songs.
I wanted to ask about a couple of the songs on Chinese Democracy you’ve got co-writing credits on: ‘Street of Dreams’ and ‘There Was a Time’. They’re two of my favourites, and they’re very big and theatrical.
Thank you. I’m very proud of those songs and, yes, I did have some co-writing on that. You know, I think ‘Street of Dreams’ especially was definitely a group effort: everyone contributed to that song along the way. I had a blast putting together the string arrangements for that. I think that, and with ‘There Was a Time’ as well, I think that probably might be what lends itself to the theatrical feeling that you’re talking about. It was just a great opportunity to take ideas and songs and just make them as big and as strong as they could possible be. It was a blast doing it, I’m very proud of those songs. I love them, and I love the record.
When we mention Guns N’ Roses on our our Facebook, there’s always someone who complains that this Guns N’ Roses isn’t the “real” Guns N’ Roses. How do you feel about that?
You know, I think that no matter what you do you can’t please everybody. Those people obviously haven’t seen the band and I think people who do feel that way, when they come see the band they definitely change their tune. This is Guns N’ Roses, therefore it is the real Guns N’ Roses. There’s not two Guns N’ Roses out there playing anymore. People can choose to live in the past as much as they want, it’s not going to change anything. This band is the best band I’ve ever been in, and we go out and we kick ass every night, give a thousand per cent. That’s what I would say to them.
Re: Dizzy Reed:"I’m very proud of Chinese Democracy"
Pretty good Dizzy interview. Loved his story about Coop. So funny there, total rockstar moment, haha! 
In fairness to Dizzy about "the best band", he joined GN'R at a time of intense internal strife. The cliques had already been formed with Slash, Duff & Matt (because of his time with The Cult being on tour with GN'R), and Dizzy was out of place. Even some of those 1993 interviews with Dizzy and the rest of the band looked obviously uncomfortable. Dizzy looked like a nice guy (maybe too nice?) that was NOT apart of Slash & Duff's clique at all, and he looked uncomfortable in those interviews. The band looked stiff around him.
I don't blame Dizzy for thinking this is the best band he's ever been in. It's THE MOST STABLE version of GN'R he's ever been with. Dizzy has seen these guys, and hanged with these guys, and just been bandmates with these guys longer and more consistently then he EVER WAS with both the UYI lineup, and the CD-studio lineup performing from 2001-02 with sproadic shows and a cancelled doomed 2002-03 tour.
I've seen these guys live. Not only do they ALL have chemistry, they ALL seem to LOVE being around each other. I've seen that. Even the shirt Russ picked up from the Hard Rock for me, it oozes off the shirt the guys all liking each other.
Don't blame Dizzy at all for making that comment. From his perspective, I would agree too it's probably the best band he's ever been in.
I've seen the band (and enjoyed the show) and I don't consider them to be GnR.
I don't either. Show wise, Axl was vocally there enough, and with an extended set (with Estranged) in 2011, that I got a better show and thus got to see these guys perform together. Ron (believe it or not) seemed to be the one guy in the show I saw that was phoning it in (yes, Ron). He looked in TONS of pain, and uncomfortable. I felt bad for him. I wanted to throw him some dope from the stands, like Popeye spinach and turn Ron into SuperBumble.
The band I saw in 2011 had TONS MORE chemistry than the band I saw in 2006. Robin stuck out like a sore thumb, because the chemistry wasn't there. At least not at the two shows I saw. Tommy stayed far away from Robin, Ron was new, and Richard was distant. Only Axl seemed to kinda acknowledged Robin.
Yada yada yada, anyways, I don't consider this band Guns N' Roses, or ANY version of new GN'R to be Guns N' Roses, because Axl never ever gave these guys a chance to be Guns N' Roses. He can blame it all on the label, but alot of Axl being strong-armed by the label come from his attitude and Team Brazil. Don't blame the label because you decided to be a dick. Axl said one honest thing in his last interview... "ultimately it'll still be my fault regardless". True words.
- Me_Wise_Magic
- Rep: 70
Re: Dizzy Reed:"I’m very proud of Chinese Democracy"
Pretty cool Dizzy interview. Loved the Cooper story as well. I agree with Axlin's points on the band's chemistry and enjoying each other's company. I can understand the 2006/2007 touring because even though 
performances were awesome, it just seems that everyone wasn't on the same page in terms of band chemistry there. So I can agree with that tidbit as well. Especially when I re-watch those performances.
Re: Dizzy Reed:"I’m very proud of Chinese Democracy"
I remember being there in 2006, and Robin's chemistry with the band was S-T-I-F-F. Robin seemed to be in his own world, Axl sometimes embraced him, and Tommy looked like he hated his fucking guts. Tommy just stayed by his mic, played his bass, and didn't move at all like he wished he was somewhere else.
- Me_Wise_Magic
- Rep: 70
Re: Dizzy Reed:"I’m very proud of Chinese Democracy"
I see. Yeah...I've seen some proshots from those days that are similar to where you are getting at. It's strange because when I watched the 2012 HOB show with Robin making a performance on Better, it seemed that Tommy looked to be enjoying Robin's presence for that amount of time or it might of been just digging the performance of the whole band or just going with the flow. 
seemed to have alot of issues with the band during the 2006 shows from the articles and things I saw online.
- Mikkamakka
- Rep: 217
Re: Dizzy Reed:"I’m very proud of Chinese Democracy"
In fairness to Dizzy about "the best band", he joined GN'R at a time of intense internal strife.
The funny thing is that he said exactly the same about the 2002 line-up back then.
Let's be real: he'll never say that his favourite/best GN'R line-up consists Slash. Dizzy knows who signs his cheques.
Re: Dizzy Reed:"I’m very proud of Chinese Democracy"
I see. Yeah...I've seen some proshots from those days that are similar to where you are getting at. It's strange because when I watched the 2012 HOB show with Robin making a performance on Better, it seemed that Tommy looked to be enjoying Robin's presence for that amount of time or it might of been just digging the performance of the whole band or just going with the flow.
Tommy is an underrated headcase. Based on what we know now, there's been alot of coddling to keep him in the band over the years. He can be as much of a rock diva as Axl. Probably because other than Axl, he's the only other guy on stage with the rock pedigree to be a dick when he wants.
Axlin12 wrote:In fairness to Dizzy about "the best band", he joined GN'R at a time of intense internal strife.
The funny thing is that he said exactly the same about the 2002 line-up back then.
Let's be real: he'll never say that his favourite/best GN'R line-up consists Slash. Dizzy knows who signs his cheques.
He said the best he's PLAYED with. And although 1991 will always be GN'R to me, any of those guys from that period were a fucking trainwreck live. They fucked up constantly. It's in-perfection is what made it perfect and sleazy.
But to Dizzy's ears, again, I see his point. Especially post-Finck suckage and broken solos (Russ calls it "re-imagining" 
), musically this is the best outfit GN'R has had in Dizzy's tenure. Frank is a better drummer, Rich plays notes more accurately than Slash, and Ron is a technical guitarist, plus a CLEAN Tommy Stinson not bloated from adema and near-dead like Duff on the UYI tour... yeah I can see why Dizzy feels they're a better outfit in comparison to his time with the original band. I don't see where DJ fits into the mold of the old band in my analogy, but maybe Dizzy's a fan, I dunno.
- Me_Wise_Magic
- Rep: 70
Re: Dizzy Reed:"I’m very proud of Chinese Democracy"
I can see where you are coming from with Tommy and I'll agree on that. Seems like it since DJ loves to be near the drum riser and keyboard set ups are during parts of the show. Maybe him & Dizzy like to have some laughs over a few drinks as friends after the show.
