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A dingy rehearsal studio, the exposed brick walls lacquered with thick painted skulls and roses, Dizzy Reed sits on a large lounge of red carpet and gold trim filigree, a seat fit for a rock star king. Yet Reed’s manner is quite the opposite—softly spoken, somewhat shy, Reed perches on the lounge’s edge and flicks the nails on his thumbs.
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Since 1990, Dizzy Reed has been keyboardist and backing vocalist for Guns N’ Roses, the longest serving and only continuous member after frontman Axl Rose. His career is ordained with collaborations and appearances with some of classic rock’s greatest names. Now Reed is striking out on his own with his debut solo album Rock ‘N’ Roll Ain’t Easy, an assaulting body of work that paints a picture of the rock ‘n roll lifestyle.
Faced with the task of recording a solo album and having no budget to do so, Reed enlisted the help of several good friends in the business–Thin Lizzy’s Ricky Warwick and long-time friend to G N’ R Del James and more, all lend their talents to the album. “We had some great players that were willing to come down and add their talents and their performances to the record,” he says.
“It was supposed to be on a spec deal but then the guy at the studio that recorded it sort of held the stuff hostage and… There was a lot of times when I just wanted to give up. But we created such a great record. I knew that we had a great record and we had good performances and good songs and so I didn’t give up.”
“Del James, who co-produced the record with me in particular said, ‘We should go record this stuff for real.’ But we didn’t want to do it like with a band and we thought we’d just get different people to come in.”
You don’t do drugs by the pool. It’s dangerous. You might drown
[ Dizzy Reed ]
Where many people can listen to an album and relate to much of its content, Rock N’ Roll Ain’t Easy is entirely Reed’s story, an autobiography in sound, an insight into his personal struggles. “Some of the songs I drew from personal emotional experiences,” Reed begins carefully, “And I said to Dell on a couple of songs, I said, “If I have to sing this every day for the rest of my life I’m going to kill myself, so can you make it about something else?’ And so he just sort of fudged the words around a little bit and even though I know what it was originally about—it helps.”
“I did the majority of the writing on the record. This Don’t Look Like Vegas, Ricky and Del brought that in and basically took me on their twisted ride to Vegas, I jumped in.”
Before writing the album Reed found himself in dire circumstances–in writing the song Rock ‘N’ Roll Ain’t Easy, Reed found a way to turn things around and to tell his story simultaneously. “I’d sort of gone full circle and I was sort of like, my first marriage had broken up and I was … Things had come to a standstill with G&R and I was sort of like … Stuff was in my truck and I was living in a shitty apartment in North Hollywood and it was raining out and I started feeling sorry for myself.
“I said, ‘You know, I’m going to put this to work.” And I grabbed my guitar and sat out on my balcony and I came up with that song. So it is about my personal experiences but, you know, I really want people to understand that, it’s like we make this look easy and it’s a lot of fun and everything but it’s not easy. We go through a lot.
“But at that point in my life, there was nothing … What else am I going to do? I was way past the point of no return and the good thing out of that was I met my current wife who was living in that apartment and we ended up getting married, so it all worked out.”
Some of us might think of the world’s rock stars as glamourous and blessed, all about heavy music, groupies and drugs by the pool. “You don’t do drugs by the pool. It’s dangerous. You might drown,” Reed says with a lopsided smirk. The realities of the life are unforgiving, mentally and physically draining. “The shows make it [all] worthwhile, they really do,” says Reed, “But it’s a lot of hard work. The bands that work the hardest are the bands that stick around the longest, the bands that have the most success.
“Most of us get into this because we don’t want to work. We don’t want to have that 9 to 5 job, but it’s like, I work now more than I ever would have. We [Guns N’ Roses] have gone through a lot to get to where we are, and a lot of that’s well documented, but for some people it still sort of goes on 9 to 5. This is a 24 hour gig and it has to be.”
Most of us get into this because we don’t want to work. We don’t want to have that 9 to 5 job, but it’s like, I work now more than I ever would have.
[ Dizzy Reed ]
The life of a musician it seems, can be a thankless job, but as Reed attests, the measure of thanks people like him find is in the rate and longevity of their success, and of course the dedication of the fans that have followed him for his some 30-year career. “Audience reaction is a big deal, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
A man who has spent years playing countless stadiums and arenas, Reed is giving back to his Sydney fans with an intimate gig at Frankie’s Pizza this weekend, choosing an intimate venue for his album to make its live Australian debut–but why? “It’s just going back to where it all began. That’s part of it, I think. But also just that audience reaction. You can actually talk to the audience.
“I played at a solo gig in Argentina one time and I went up there with my acoustic guitar and I started to play Patience or something and my clothes got ripped off. Everything just torn off and I was like, ‘Okay. Maybe that wasn’t a good idea to go out there.’ So that’s a little bit much. I don’t need that any more, not at my age.
“But no, just being able to talk to the audience and get a vibe off that it’s pretty cool. You can really see and read what’s going on and there’s a certain amount of energy there that doesn’t exist in big stadiums.”
Reed’s album imitates in part the vibe of a dingy jazz club and in further part, grimy rock bar, merging together an atmosphere unheard. A lot of that is achieved through Reed’s talent on the keys, and even more can be put down to the unabashed, raw and honest nature of his song writing which it seems, has given Reed a confidence in himself he was for a time, lacking. “I think once we had the bed laid down with the guitars and everything and the bass, I just … wanted it to be sort of an open palette. I wanted to have no limitations like I have in the past with other things I’ve done since I was sort of in charge.
“I was like, ‘I’m going to do this and we’re going to use them all, goddammit! And I’m going to sing and if I want to add all these instruments and beats, then we’re going to do that.’
“I think they kind of blew the engineers mind because I don’t think he was expecting that. But I didn’t want to sell myself short. And even the percussion stuff. I’m like, ‘I’m going to put some percussion stuff on this now and lay down some conga stuff and that’s that. So mic it up. Let’s go.’”
Dizzy Reed’s debut album Rock ‘n Roll Ain’t Easy is out February 16, pre-order here.
DIZZY F’N REED ALBUM LAUNCH
Sunday, 18 February | Frankie’s Pizza | Sydney
Doors 4pm | Free Entry
Supported by: The Velvet Addiction, The Kids (single launch), The Desert Sea, Two Headed Dog, Junior Danger, A Basket of Mammoths
