DIZZY REED: New GUNS N' ROSES Album To Arrive In February

GUNS N' ROSES keyboardist Dizzy Reed recently spoke to Richmond.com about playing with Axl Rose and his recent tour with his solo project, HOLLYWOOD BULLDOZER. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

Richmond.com: What's the status with [the long-awaited GUNS N' ROSES album] "Chinese Democracy"?

Dizzy Reed: "Actually, 'Chinese Democracy' is very close to coming out. I've heard a few of the tracks and it sounds amazing. There are a few more things to do then it'll be ready. They were originally shooting for November, but it may be February now. It's gonna be great."

Richmond.com: Do you do any GN'R covers with HOLLYWOOD BULLDOZER?

Dizzy Reed: "We do songs from the '70s. Every now and then we'll do one, but it's pretty hard to do a GUNS song without Axl. He's one of the best, one of the greatest."

Richmond.com: Why a cover band? What appealed to you about that?

Dizzy Reed: "What I'm doing now is fun. There's something very romantic about it. There's no pressure. You know, when you're doing GUNS there's pressure."

Richmond.com: How were you the only member of GUNS to stay on Axl's good side?

Dizzy Reed: "I believe in him, and I believe in what he's doing. I don't know what happened to the other guys. They quit one at a time. That's something I want people to know. They weren't kicked out of the band. They made the decision to leave and they had plenty of opportunities to come back. They walked out on us. And I didn't. I chose to stay, for a lot of reasons. I was at the point where I had put so many years of writing into it. I wanted to see it through. Axl gave me the chance to be in that band, and I am always going to be grateful for that."

Richmond.com: You rehearsed right next to GUNS N' ROSES back in the day, right?

Dizzy Reed: "Yeah, we had a rehearsal space next to them. We lived there and would have crazy after-parties. This was before they had even gotten signed, but you could see GUNS N' ROSES were gonna be huge. Being around them you could tell. Axl had told me he wanted a keyboard player and he wanted it to be me. People talk like that all the time … but he kept his word."

Richmond.com: Do you ever get nostalgic for the good ol' days on Sunset Strip?

Dizzy Reed: "When I moved out to the suburbs, I stopped going to Hollywood for years. Recently I started playing at the Cat Club with the STARF**KERS, so now I'm up there a lot more. I'm next to the Whiskey. It's so different. It's so dead. People who weren't there during the '80s don't get it. You can't explain it to them. There were thousands of bands from all over the world trying to make it there on the Sunset Strip. 'Cause that's what you had to do. It was crazy. But going back to your original question, yeah, sometimes I get nostalgic. But it was tough. None of us had jobs, we were constantly having to find a place to sleep and something to eat. But you had nothing to lose. Everyone was going for it."

Read Dizzy Reed's entire interview with Richmond.com at this location.