GUNS N' ROSES Keyboardist Dizzy Reed - "The Booze And The Drugs And Whatever Else, That's Not As Much A Part Of It Now"
December 30, 2011, 12 years ago
In an interview with Las Vegas Review-Journal's Jason Bracelin, GUNS N' ROSES keyboardist Dizzy Reed. An excerpt follows:
As Reed notes, many things have changed within the GN'R camp in addition to the lineup, particularly the temperament.
"When I joined the band, it was almost self-destructive," he says. "It was just consume, consume and do whatever the hell we wanted. It's not really like that any more. It's more of a business, but we're still a band. That's what people need to realize. I've mellowed out quite a bit. The booze and the drugs and whatever else, that's not as much a part of it now."Of course, some of the band's old habits remain intact, such as Axl Rose's peculiar habit of making fans wait for hours before taking the stage.
Reed, who does a fair amount of press, is in the somewhat challenging position of always being asked to answer for someone else, namely Rose, a mercurial figure who rarely grants interviews. Reed knows there's a disconnect between the public perception of Rose and the guy he's been palling around with for more than two decades now as the longest tenured member of the band after the singer himself.
"He's a good friend, and he's pretty funny, man," Reed says. "A lot of times before we go onstage, he'll tell us a joke he just heard or something that he read that was really funny, then it's like, 'OK, let's go play'."Read more at this location.
