2018.05.07 - Sirius XM's Trunk Nation - Interview with Dizzy

Transcript:

Eddie Trunk: And I am very happy to track this guy down to come into the studio to kick off the week because I've been talking for the last couple of weeks about his new record, which is called Rock'n'roll Ain't Easy and it is a really, really good straight up kick-ass rock'n'roll record. He is Dizzy Reed. Good to see you, brother.

Dizzy: Good to see you, Eddie.

ET: How's things, man?

Dizzy: Things are good. I just got back late last night. Was in Texas with Hookers & Blow, my band.

ET: The greatest name ever for a band.

Dizzy: Thank you.

ET: You guys were doing dates? Was it a one off thing or rehearsing?

Dizzy: It was like three, like a long weekend, three shows.

ET: OK.

Dizzy: And a good excuse for me to go visit two of my daughters in Oklahoma City before that. Just in time for the tornadoes and thunderstorms and everything, it's great.

ET: Yeah, I know, did some stuff go down there while you were there?

Dizzy: Lots of sirens and stuff, but we still managed to have a good time.

ET: Yeah, I spend a lot of time in Oklahoma, in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, because I work with a couple of promoters there. And Rocklahoma, which you guys played, Guns played, a few years ago, I host every year. That's coming up in a couple weeks. So I've had - for like 10-11 years - I have a friend that book shows there, every month I go and host them. Well, around this time of year, man, you will get some weather unlike anything. [?] and it comes out of nowhere.

Dizzy: Out of nowhere and they're kind of used to it. But if you're not it's a little, you know, you start thinking about Wizard of Oz and stuff like that.

ET: Oh yeah, without a doubt. And the other thing they got going on in Oklahoma which you guys know well here in southern California are earthquakes.

Dizzy: Right.

ET: You know that that's-

Dizzy: The fracking earthquakes.

ET: I have heard that it wasn't necessarily caused by fracking but it may - it could be something else - but they got earthquakes there like constantly now.

Dizzy: They do. I mean, they've sucked a lot of stuff out of the ground there. So, I mean, it's bound to have some sort of effect, I think. But earthquakes are not exclusive to California. They are in Missouri... there's like a long history of earthquakes all over this great country.

ET: How long have you lived in southern California?

Dizzy: I've been stuck out here since 1984-1985.

ET: You came from where? Where did you move here from?

Dizzy: From Boulder, CO.

ET: Is that your home?

Dizzy: I grew up there, I was born in Chicago. My family moved to Boulder when I was eight, so I could sort of have like a dual allegiance.

ET: Did you move from Colorado to LA to chase the rock'n'roll dream, so to speak?

Dizzy: I came out here with the best band in Colorado at that time.

ET: Who was? What they were called?

Dizzy: They were called Gauntlet. We eventually changed our name to The Wild.

ET: OK.

Dizzy: And we were a fixture in the club scene for a while until I joined GN'R.

ET: Playing originals?

Dizzy: Oh yeah. Yes.

ET: And you were playing keys? And were you singing as well or just playing keys?

Dizzy: You know, that was up until that point. You know, I started playing when I was like 12 years old, started my first band, and I was always the singer for that band sort of by default because no one else could sing. The first show we did ever, we played Smoke on the Water [laughs]. Had a talent shows in the 6th grade and I had this little synthesizer thing. We wanted that to be featured so they gave me the only microphone. And we were all singing but since I had a mic they could hear me sing and so I became a singer. I did that till I was 20 but I kind of got burnt out on it and I, you know, been playing keys the whole time as well and I figured I might have a better shot as a keyboard player. There would be like more of a demand and I think I made a good choice. But, you know, singing was always sort of something I can add to the music if it if possible.

ET: Well, I love your voice. I love your voice on this new record and we're gonna talk about the record in a second. But I mean, I love you. I mean, I love your lead singing on this record. I think it's great.

Dizzy: Thank you. Thank you very much.

ET: And of course, you sing in Hookers & Blow as well. But I'm curious about the keyboard thing because the band's called The Wild and you're putting it together. Did you start out on another instrument or was it always keys? Like, what drew you to keys?

Dizzy: That's what I started on. My grandparents lived with us, like in an apartment upstairs, and my grandma had an organ. And my brother now go beat on that and make noise just for fun. And one day I went up there by myself and she asked me if I would like to learn how to play a song, because I loved listening to her play. And I watched her play like a Christmas, Silent Night or something, and I played it back. So she saw that I had this like talent, this ear for music. And so she kind of nurtured that.

ET: And did you ever learn other instruments? Can you play guitar or anything?

Dizzy: I picked up guitar early on because all the bands that I liked were guitar based bands.

ET: Like what? What were the bands for you as a kid?

Dizzy: Stones, Aerosmith. Pretty much every band that I liked was a guitar based band and all the bands that I would be in eventually were guitar sort of based bands. So in order to express... If you have an idea in your head and you're trying to show a guitar player something on a piano that you hear, it's not going to translate. So I picked up a guitar basically to write.

ET: And did you have a role model as far as for keyboards? Like was that, I mean, there's a million guitar players that people are influenced by. Was there a keyboard guy that you kind of looked up to that influenced you as far as playing or just performing, that was the guy for you?

Dizzy: Well, there's a few, there's a few. I mean, everyone who played with the Stones, amazing. Billy Powell from Skynyrd for the piano stuff and you know John Lord for the organ stuff. And Booker T as well because that's how I kind of discovered that that's the instrument that I could play. Well, wasn't involved in, you know, rock and pop music by listening to Booker T.

ET: Right. So you come here from Colorado in '84.

Dizzy: Came in '84-

ET: -with The Wild.

Dizzy: Ran out of money. Moved back, joined The Wild. Came back '85 to stay.

ET: OK. And did The Wild come back with you or you come back on your own when you come back? Did the whole band come or did you come?

Dizzy: I moved out here with them.

ET: With them. And then you start gigging around here with that band?

Dizzy: We started gigging like right away. We needed a bass player. We found a bass player. But yeah, I mean, basically when I joined that, when I auditioned for that band, sort of, I just came down and recorded with them and the singer said, "When can you go to LA? When can you be ready?" And I said, "Now. I'm ready to go down." So that was how I knew I had the gig.

ET: And how did it go for you at that point? You're '85-'86, you're at the height of the Sunset Strip stuff going on here. And all the glam rock and everything that was going on. What was that band like? The Wild? Did you fit in? Were you off that scene?

Dizzy: Yeah, I think we fit in. You know, we were the the biggest thing in Denver and moved out here and it's like a rude awakening because all the great bands from their own hometowns were in LA. So-

ET: Poison's from Pennsylvania.

Dizzy: You go from the top to the bottom.

ET: -and they are, yeah.

Dizzy: And then you have to work your way back up again. So, I mean, our first gig was like a Tuesday night at the Troubadour. At 9 slot, you know? But it changed pretty fast. We worked hard.

ET: What was the band like, though? Was it like that sort of scene at that time or was it a little different?

Dizzy: At that time we were-

ET: Did you have the big hair, Dizzy?

Dizzy: Of course we had the big hair.

ET: You did?

Dizzy: Yes. We used to use the [?] for the big hair and also to create a flamethrower to kill the cockroaches in our apartment.

ET: Did you do makeup? Did you guys go down that road, too? Was there eyeliner going on, that stuff? Your wife laughing, right?

Dizzy: Yeah.

ET: So that means a yes.

Dizzy: Because she's thinking of the picture that's hanging on the wall.

ET: Oh, is there a picture?

Dizzy: Yeah.

ET: Is there stuff online? Are there videos?

Dizzy: Yes. We definitely did a little bit of makeup here and there.

ET: There's no shame in it. That was the scene then, man.

Dizzy: We were definitely a pop band at first. And then we sort of transitioned into more of a rock band, I think. And then we kind of we found this groove that was very sort of danceable. You know, I wanna say punk rock, but there was a groove there and I think that sort of took off. I think we were like one of the first bands to really sort of find that niche.

ET: Did you get label interest?

Dizzy: We did. We actually were in the studio a couple times, but, yeah, those those fell through. I'm not exactly sure why, but yeah.

ET: And then what happened? By the way, there's a band now called The Wild out of Canada. I don't know if you know that. You wanna go after him for the name?

Dizzy: No. Good luck, guys. Good luck.

ET: I think they actually opened shows for Slash when I saw him a couple of years ago. They're from Canada. Yeah.

Dizzy: Get a little confusing.

ET: Exactly. How does The Wild end? What's the end story there? Did you guys break up or what happened?

Dizzy: You know, I got the call from Axl one day.

ET: Where did you meet him? How did you meet him?

Dizzy: We met in... The Wild had moved into a rehearsal studio space right off Sunset Blvd, behind where Guitar Center is now. And there was two other rooms and Guns N' Roses moved into one of the rooms next to us. So we were neighbors for a while.

ET: You're talking what, '86-'87?

Dizzy: That would have been '85.

ET: Really?

Dizzy: Yeah.

ET: And it was the original five guys at that point or?

Dizzy: -it was he original five guys at that point.

ET: So the Appetite lineup-

Dizzy: Yeah.

ET: -living next to you?

Dizzy: Living next door to us. And there was like one way into this parking lot and it was all closed off. So there was a lot of energy in that little area for about.... I think we were there for two years, I think they were there for about three or four months that seemed like 10 years, because so many things happened. So every night that was the place to be, pretty much.

ET: So you guys became friends, basically, you befriended those guys?

Dizzy: Yes, we became friends. You know, Axl and I became, you know, pretty close. And, you know, we had a lot of fun, had a lot of adventures, a lot of mishaps, a lot of crazy, crazy stuff. But he heard me play the piano one night and I think he, you know, he said - because he had, you know, a plan in his head, a long term plan about adding a keyboard player at some point - and he heard me play and he said, "You're going to be the guy in the future."

ET: Wow. Even back then?

Dizzy: Even back then.

ET:  Before Appetite, before anything?

Dizzy: Before all of it. And he stuck to his word. And you know, a lot of conversation happens, especially in Hollywood, and it just goes by the wayside, but that was, you know, that was real and he stuck by his word and here we are today.

ET: 28 years later.

Dizzy: Yeah.

ET: So would he come in or they come in and watch you guys play a little bit? Would you go watch them? Was there like that going on? Or was it just kind of like a wave and then you kind of gravitated, Axl just kind of gravitated towards each other.

Dizzy: When we actually rehearsed, you know, it was pretty much closed off, but.... It was kind of like our doors were open. You know, it was all one big sort of thing and, you know, a lot of fun. We shared a phone line. It was like a pay phone, but you would get incoming calls and we shared that and so we'd steal each other's dates, a lot.

ET: "Are you calling for The Wild or Guns N' Roses today?" "I'd like to talk to Axl today." And then the next person, Dizzy.

Dizzy: Yeah. So. Well, you know, "You don't want to talk to Steven, you wanna talk to me."

[laughs]

ET: Was there any talk about you joining the band around Appetite then? I mean, there's not a lot of keys on that record obviously, but-

Dizzy: Not really, but when... They did like a short tour at one point and asked if I could, you know, join them. Just around California and stuff, but I got into a car accident and broke my thumb. I got hit by a drunk driver out of the 210. Going out to this girl's house for like homemade Mexican food and I was really excited and almost died.

ET: Really?

Dizzy: Yeah.

ET: That bad, huh?

Dizzy: Yeah, it was. It was really, really bad. But, you know, I guess things happen for a reason. I'm not sure. Somewhere there is... So I went to the show, that was one of the shows I was supposed to play, a place called The Music... What was that? Music Machine? No. A place up on Sunset. My memory escapes me. It was a famous place. But anyway, I went to that show that I was supposed to play at, I was in the cast and there's a a recording somewhere of Axl going on, "This next song goes out to Dizzy," and it was Nightrain, I think. What was the name of that place?

ET: Coconut teaser?

Dizzy: No, it was club something. Club.... It was done at Sunset. It'll come to me eventually. But yeah, so that never happened. But later on, you know, when things got more serious and they got huge and he stuck to his word.

ET: As a guy that was, like, literally next to Guns N' Roses as they were sort of getting this whole thing together and forming more or less, were you able to recognize and see what was going to happen? Like could you pick up on even at that early point that this band was going to become what it was and make this game changing record?

Dizzy: I went and saw them at the Troubadour for the first time. The loudest thing I'd seen at that point, I couldn't really hear the vocals. But I looked up on stage and, "I want to join that band." Absolutely.

ET: Because you just liked them so much or because you knew that they were gonna blow up, or both?

Dizzy: I knew that they had everything. They had everything that it took to become what they are. What they became.

ET: Right. And when did you officially get the call then to join? For the Illusion record like just before that started getting recorded or-

Dizzy: 1990, I'm thinking. They were recording Civil War for some benefit record, and I got the call to go do that. So that was before Use Your Illusions. Steven was still playing drums.

ET: Because I think that's the last track he played on it, I think?

Dizzy: Yes.

ET: The Civil War, that is on that. Well, of course the story goes from there, as you mentioned that, you know, not to gloss over it, but 28 years is hard to believe. You're still kind of the new guy, though, aren't you?

Dizzy: You know, I guess I've always kind of felt that way.

ET: But you know what I said about you and I meant this and I didn't mean this in a derogatory sense, but you're a low key guy and you're not somebody that - and I don't know you extremely well, but I've known you over the years - that you don't seem like you're somebody at all that seeks the spotlight or anything or seeks attention. Again, your wife is laughing. So you are about as low key of a personality as can be in a band as massive as Guns N' Roses. I mean, and I don't mean this as a dish, but you can probably still pretty much go to the convenience store and buy a carton of milk and not be bothered, right?

Dizzy: For the most part. You know, it's just, I see the big picture. I mean those guys are very recognizable, you know, internationally, you know. So in the big picture, I'm just the keyboard player, that's what I do.

ET: But it's bizarre that you could be in a band [?] magnitude of Guns N' Roses for 28 years and you can pretty much go down on Wilshire right now and probably walk and not be hammered by people. There are certainly Guns N' Roses fans that go, "There's Dizzy!" but it's not like... My question is, do you like that? Because there's a lot of guys that love that, they just want to do their gig and be happy. And then there's other guys that, you know, they're going to walk down the street and have three goons with them to make sure they get all the attention even if people don't care about them.

Dizzy: Right. No, I love it the way it is. It's good. I mean, I've seen what it's like, you know. I mean-

ET: I'm sure on the road when you're touring and your part and you're in the group, in the hornet's nest, it's a whole different world. But-

Dizzy: That environment, it's can be dangerous actually, depending. So yeah, things are cool the way they are.  

ET: And you're not the only guy. I mean every band has that dynamic. You've got the guys that are, what I call, like, the secret weapons, that are just so vital to the sound and bring so much to the table. But they're not the big personality people and that's a needed aspect of so many bands.

Dizzy: Yeah, I mean, I just, I don't know if I have the energy to keep that up all the time. I really, I don't know, man.

ET: I didn't have the energy to wake up and be here today barely, so I could still be in bed. That's me talking. We're probably around the same age. So I get it. Trust me.

Dizzy: I got in late last night, a little bit hungover today and you know, but we're here.

ET: I want to talk a little bit more about Hookers & Blow. You also, and I want to talk about again, Dizzy has a phenomenal record that I just love out now under his own name, Dizzy Reed, called Rock'n'roll Ain't Easy. So be sure to check that out and we'll give you a little clips of it going in and out of the the breaks that we're going to do here. But we got a little more time, we got another at least another half an hour to go here with Dizzy. [?] and Alice in Chains are going to be by towards the last half of the show too, around with about 30 minutes left, we'll have all four members of Alice in Change dropping by in the New York studio and joining us here on the air. So we got a lot going on, but more with Dizzy, and Dizzy just came back from playing some shows with Joe Perry, which is crazy. We got to touch on that. And Hookers & Blow just announced doing some shows with the band Dizzy was in, the Dead Daisies. So lot of Dizzy Reed stuff to cover. Coming right back with more on Trunk Nation.

[cut]

ET: [...] But as we continue with Dizzy, again, the new album is called Rock 'n' Roll Ain't Easy and I can talk about a million things forever, but I do want you to get the word out about this record because I think it's a really, really good record. And what's the origins of it? How long were you working on it? I was looking down the credits and it's kind of a mix of a lot of different people that you have guesting on it, and it looks like there's some guys from previous lineups of Guns N' Roses that are on on it, I think Bumble was on a couple of tracks. So tell me the origins of it. Something you're working on for a long time?

Dizzy: We started at about what 10 years ago, I think? And it was, you know, I had some stuff that I demoed up and, you know, I was playing it for people. My favorite activities, get drunk, play demo tapes. And, you know, Guns were on kind of a hiatus at that point. I just started Hookers & Blow. I was out doing that. I played some stuff for Del James who co-produced the record with me and for Richard Fortus when I was in New York and my friend Mike Duda, and they all kind of really encouraged me I guess to, you know, going in and track it for real. I didn't really have the means or the finances to do anything like that, but I was out with the Psychedelic Furs, I think, and I got a call from Del saying, "I found a studio."

ET: You were playing in the Psychedelic Furs?

Dizzy: I did. I toured with the Psychedelic Furs.

ET: Recently?

Dizzy: Oh no, this is a while ago.

ET: OK. 10 years ago?

Dizzy: Yeah.

ET: Okay, I didn't know you did that.

Dizzy: Yeah. Richard Fortus and Frank had played with them in the past and and with Love Spit Love too, I think. And they needed a keyboard player. So they called me and it was a great experience. But anyway I was doing that, got a call from Del, saying, "I found this place, spec time, let's do it." And so going in to do it without a without a band was kind of a challenge.

ET: This is all those years ago?

Dizzy: Yes.

ET: That Del called you? OK.

Dizzy: And so we we started tracking it and I think none of us had any idea of what we were really embarking on. In my head, you know, those songs had a lot of stuff going on and just, you know, organizing all that and finding the time to track - and when you're doing something on spec time, you know, the schedule is a little bit tighter. You know, if you have money, you can, you know, do whatever you want. But anyway-

ET: "Spec time" meaning that you went into the studio and they gave you time and you would pay them back later-

Dizzy: Yes.

ET: -sort of thing. And a lot of times you actually have to work when the studio's not booked off hours, you can't get preferential times that you want.

Dizzy: But this guy was kind of just starting out and he wanted to cut his teeth doing something like this.

ET: And where was the studio?

Dizzy: It was called Livewire Studios, it's off of Melrose. He moved Downtown eventually. I'm not sure if it's there anymore.

ET: See, I'm surprised you guys even went to that level - and I'm glad you did because the record sounds great - but I'm thinking, you know as well as I do, more and more records being put together in people's bedrooms or on tour buses.

Dizzy: Absolutely.

ET: Email files going back and forth.

Dizzy: You know, the demo stuff that I had done in my house and, you know, which is programmed drums and stuff and even that sounded better than anything I ever could have imagined when I was a kid doing in my house. I think we wanted to do it sort of old school, just capture live performances and do it like like we were used to. And, you know, I think, yeah-

ET: I'm glad you did because that's what resonates in the record.

Dizzy: Right. So yeah, we didn't have a band and there was a lot of people who wanted to come play on it or that we wanted to play. There was a lot of people that weren't available too. And I think, you know, Del was great at organizing all of that and figuring out who was going to plan on what. There's some combinations on there that probably never would have occurred, you know, in the-

ET: Well, run down the guys. I don't have, I've got the CD at home with the booklet and everything, I've got the record in my iTunes as well, but I didn't... I don't have the credit so I don't have it at the top of my head, but give me the rundown of the people that are on the record.

Dizzy: Oh boy. See on drums...

ET: Frank's on it, right?

Dizzy: Frank plays on a couple tracks. Frankie Banali plays on a couple of tracks.

ET: That's interesting.

Dizzy: You know, I wanted John Bonham on Rock 'N Roll Ain’t Easy and he was the next best thing by far. He's amazing.

ET: Frank is a beast, yeah.

Dizzy: Mike Dupke plays on a lot of stuff. He was in W.A.S.P. at the time. Tony Biuso plays on a couple of songs. Who else? Oh, Adrian from No Doubt played on a song.

ET: Ok, OK.

Dizzy: I think that's all the drummers. Yeah. Mike Duda on bass, Dan Druff on bass. Chuck Wright on bass. A guy named Greg Coates[?] who is amazing, played on a couple of songs, too, on bass. Probably leaving people out. Tommy Stinson actually plays on a song. And then a ton of guitar players. Richard really, you know, Fortus, raised the level of the guitar playing on that and made us realize where it needed to be with every song. So he plays on a lot of songs. Alex Grossi is on some songs. Bumblefoot, Todd Youth, Mayuko Okai[?] who's amazing. And I'm probably leaving out a lot of people.

ET: So these guys are all rotating in though, they're coming into the studio, they're actually physically coming in and playing with you.

Dizzy: Yeah.

ET: -for that live vibe? This wasn't them emailing you files?

Dizzy: No, no, no. It was just-

ET:  So you're picking off people as they're in town, as you have studio time, "Come down, listen to this track, what can you do?" And did you write all this stuff?

Dizzy: I wrote the majority of it. You know, Del helped me round out a lot of the lyrics. I think a song, Mother Teresa, which is the new single which came out today-

ET: Love that track, second track on the record, great track.

Dizzy: That was released this morning as the the new single. Del kind of put that together. It was two different songs and he's, you know, he said, you know, "Let's take the chorus of this song, the verses for this song, put that together." Which is all well and good until I realize they are in different keys, different tempos. And then, so you know, it was his idea-

ET: "Nice idea, Del!"

Dizzy: But I had to do all the work, and she can attest of me like throwing my guitar into the wall and, "It's not gonna work!" But I figured it out through trial and error, and I'm glad that he had the idea because it really worked. But so he sort of helped me round up the, you know, the lyrics and then him and Ricky Warwick, who also plays on the record-

ET: I saw Ricky yesterday.

Dizzy: They brought in-

ET: I forgot to mention it to Ricky - because I remembered he was on the record - like we were talking about all kinds of stuff and he's great, man. That's amazing.

Dizzy: They brought in the song Vegas. They had the... This Don't Look Like Vegas.

ET: I wanted to ask you about that song because, well, first of all, the title of the record Rock'n'roll Ain't Easy speaks for itself. I mean, everybody that's been in it knows that's pretty much self-explanatory.

Dizzy: Yes. And if you know me, it's, you know, I'm not that serious of a guy, but it's a little tongue in cheek. But I really just wanted to express how I felt about what it was like, you know... you know, we tend to remember the good times and the good things and the fun stuff. It's like, you know, euphoric recall, but there were so many nights back in the 80s and stuff where you know, you just really didn't know where you gonna sleep or what you're gonna do for food and didn't really care a lot of times. But it wasn't easy. And it's not all fun and games.

ET: But even now, I mean, you're being in a massive band for 28 years like Guns N' Roses. I mean, I'm sure it's not as easy as people would think. I mean certainly easier than digging ditches.

Dizzy: Exactly.

ET: But it's not the cakewalk people think.

Dizzy: Right, I'm not working in a coal mine. But I started... I really wanted to play rock music. So I wouldn't have to have a nine to five. I wouldn't have to, you know, work, basically. I work now way more than I ever would have or anything like that. It's constant work and you have to stay on top of it. But again, I just remind myself how lucky I am to be able to do it for a living all these years and get to see the world and meet cool people and play with so many great musicians. So I'm very lucky and but again, it's a lot of hard work.

ET: Yeah. I mean, it's anybody that has any job like that that's looked at by other people as unique or desirable or different, they just assume that it's... Even doing what I do, "You're on the road, you're on TV, you're a millionaire, you're set," you know and, "You're in a rock band, you ever made a record, you're set for life," and that's just not the reality.

Dizzy: It's not always the case, it's usually not the case. And we are working right now. As a matter of fact.

ET: This is technically work for Dizzy.

Dizzy: Absolutely.

ET: The first track that you mentioned, did Ricky co-write it? This Don't Look Like Vegas?

Dizzy: Yeah, him and Del brought that in.

ET:  And is the story behind that? Do you know?

Dizzy: You know, it's just like one of their twisted adventures, you know, I kind of-

ET: Fear and loathing?

Dizzy: We kind of helped them, you know.... Yes, more or less, sort of helped them, you know, rounded out and-

ET: I'm just curious about it because Vegas is like one of my favorite cities, if not my favorite city. And I was curious if that was whether an experience Ricky or Del or you or somebody had.

Dizzy: You know, it definitely sounds like one of Ricky's adventures. It really does and we've had some in the past. We go way back.

ET: You go back with Ricky Warwick?

Dizzy: Yeah, [?]. I met him through Del. But yeah, just, they have some good stories.

ET: Yeah. I saw him last night. I might try to get him in here this week and and just get into some stuff with him because he's a lot of fun, great music fan, and of course I love Black Star Riders what they're doing now as well.

Dizzy: Yeah, it's amazing and, you know, when he got the - when it was still Thin Lizzy - there's nobody better for that gig. There's no one more deserving.

ET: And I guess he's good. I saw Scott Gorham a couple weeks ago when they were out and he said there's gonna be another Thin Lizzy sort of run at some point. So that would be cool. I guess 40th anniversary of Live and Dangerous is coming up. So they're going to celebrate that in some way. And I mean we all know it's not - it can't be Thin Lizzy, really, without Phil - but it's as good as it's gonna get. Did you see Fortus when he was in that band?

Dizzy: No, I did not.

ET: Man, he owned it.

Dizzy: [?] recommendation.

ET: Oh, you did?

Dizzy: Yeah.

ET: He was so into it, he was great.

Dizzy: I know and, you know, when Richard is into something he's gonna do his best.

ET: Yeah. Vivian Campbell, I saw do it, he was amazing in it. So many of those guys just, you know, just went for it, of course now what they do with Damon and Scotty and [?].

Dizzy: And Robbie.

ET:  Yeah, yeah, of course, Robbie's in there now as well. Just so we're clear, Dizzy Reed, this record Rock'n'roll Ain't Easy, this is different than Hookers & Blow? This is a different thing? Or you going to be doing songs from this with Hookers & Blow?

Dizzy: You know, I tried to keep them separate, but inevitably it just makes sense. We've, yeah, been incorporating songs from the record into our set and sort of transitioning into that. So it's it's the best of both worlds.

ET: OK. So people that come to see... I know today it was announced you're going to go out and do shows with the Dead Daisies. So people that go to see that you'll be getting a little taste of this record as well?

Dizzy: Yes. Definitely.

ET: And who is in Hookers & Blow now? I mean, you guys, that changes a little bit as well and you got Fart Master Supreme, Don Jamieson, that goes out there with you guys quite a bit. I don't know how you deal with the air around the man.

Dizzy: You know, it's a lot of laughs, a lot of laughs. I guess we keep that stuff to a minimum as much as possible-

ET: He didn't around me through all the years we did TV shows together.

Dizzy: And we did have our own bus in January, which was amazing. I'm not sure how we did not get pulled over by the police once. But it was wrapped with Hookers & Blow logo, rolling across mid America.

ET: Yeah. The name alone, you would think somebody would flag that, right?

Dizzy: But you know actually we got a lot of, you know, people were yeah, a lot of horns honking and a lot of pictures that... We went to a lot of Walmarts and it was very popular. I'm not sure why, but.

ET: Alright well Hookers & Blow going out. You've got you've got this record out, which will kind of, as you said, fold into that a little bit. And oh yeah, there's that little piece of business with more Guns N' Roses shows coming up in Europe. So you guys have been on a break for a little while now.

Dizzy: Yes, since December I think. But yeah, I gotta start focusing on that and that's, you know, that's gonna be great. I can't wait to get over there.

ET: hat's about a few weeks of festivals, right?

Dizzy: It's more than a few weeks. I think it's about six weeks maybe. Six or seven, I don't know.

ET: And then it certainly would appear that everybody is kind of like going to kind of go their own ways because Slash's already announced his record and announced live shows. He's playing festivals with his own thing. You just announced, you know you're doing Hookers & Blow stuff. You've got everything going. So, you know, Duff's already got another band that he put out there, doing some stuff. So have you been told, like, if there's a future for for this whole thing beyond this? Or everybody's just kind take some time?

Dizzy: You know, I think there's, you know, possibly some more dates later this year but I don't... I'll be the last to know. You know, it's always my first priority is GN'R. So gonna squeeze in this, you know, Hookers & Blow, Dead Daisies thing and go from there.

ET: Were you surprised in any way by the.... I mean, you've been in the band 28 years, were you surprised by this reunion and just what it was? I mean, just the enormity of it? Was it bigger than what you thought? I mean, you've seen it all, I mean, you've been in so many lineups of this band, so many variations of this band. There's been a lot of people, some of them are on your record that have been in and out of the band. What's your take away of what you've just experienced and come through with this? And there's more coming up but still, I mean, the bulk of it is a few years of touring the world. Must have been at a level like you couldn't even believe.

Dizzy: I'm not surprised at all, really. I think it's been fantastic. You know the fans have been great and, you know, we definitely work very, very hard. And it pays off.

ET: Any highlights for you personally at the touring so far and and doing all this?

Dizzy: Well, you know, we play a long time, 3 1/2 hours I think, with no breaks, so I'm just amazed I can get through that without having to go to the bathroom.

ET: Cuz you can't leave.

Dizzy: I can not leave.

ET: I mean, Axl can walk out there, walk off for a while with the guitar solos are going on and this and that. Frank can't leave, either.

Dizzy: Right. I don't think he has any.

ET: Actually, the only guy that gets to leave, I guess, would be Axl. No, wait, there's the thing with Frank and Slash and Richard, right, when they play like Wish You Were Here, some of that stuff.

Dizzy: Right, but I'm, you know, I'm ready to go on that, too, so. Actually, I play on that, too.

ET: You got a bucket up there or anything?

Dizzy: No, I just have to time it right. [?] Start doing that maybe, I don't know, we'll see.

ET: It is a long set, man. I was at the Apollo show when you guys played in Harlem.

Dizzy: That was amazing.

ET: Yeah. That was the Sirius XM show. I mean, it's, my gosh, I will never forget that show because not only did I get to intro the band that night and do broadcast from there and it was an amazing night, amazing setting. But then I walked out of there, like whatever It was, 3 in the morning and there's only 24-hour car parking garage in Harlem. So I parked there and I turned the corner and because there's only 1 24-hour parking garage in Harlem, everybody who drove to Harlem to the GN'R show parked in that garage. So in the heat standing there for literally like 2 hours while one parking attendant took the money and got the cars. Oh my gosh it was... I almost just left my car there and gave it up and Uber back to Jersey. It was just ridiculous. But anyway, we'll come back with a few more minutes with Dizzy Reed and and the Alice In Chains guys are coming up and Dizzy has some history and some golf history with them too. So we're gonna have some fun like Dizzy hang out and and help me interview the Alice In Chains guys. But maybe people want to grab a couple phone calls for Dizzy Reed while we're while we have them here and we're focused on his stuff.

[cut]

ET: Dizzy is here. He's got the.He's got the Hookers & Blow stuff, he's got the record Rock 'N Roll Ain't Easy, which is out now and you're hearing some stuff going in and out of breaks, and of course the big GN'R stuff coming up this if you're in Europe, nothing in America, but if you're in Europe, bit GN'R stuff coming up there. So I know a friend, my friend Doug, I saw him in Maryland over the weekend. Yeah, I'm going to talk about Guns N' Roses fans now. Crazy. "Yeah, I'm gonna see GN'R in Italy." I'm like, "Oh, really? This is amazing," he goes, "Yeah, I'm going in on a Thursday, seeing the show, Friday, coming back Saturday." To Italy! So, "Yeah, I'm going to be there like 8 hours." I mean, that's not out of the norm for Guns N' Roses fans.

Dizzy: I'd rather not do that. But, yeah, I mean, you know, if you're going to pick a setting, you know, pick one you like, I guess.

ET: Yeah, no doubt. All right, we'll come back a little more with Dizzy Reed, Alice In Chains coming up as well. It's Eddie Trunk Live from LA on SiriusXM.

[cut]

ET: Dizzy Reed is here right now. Rock'n'roll Ain't Easy is the name of the record, which is out now. And he's getting ready to do shows with the Dead Daisies. When does that tour kick off with Hookers & Blow and Dead Daisies?

Dizzy: August 18th, I think, or 19th.

ET: OK. I forgot you were in the Dead Daisies.

Dizzy: I was. I did two records with them and did some touring, played Cuba, did the Kiss Cruise twice. And yeah, it was a lot of fun, a lot of great musicians.

ET: And who was in, was Fortus in when you were in?

Dizzy: Yes, he was in the whole time-

ET: He was in? Was Tichy playing drums?

Dizzy: Tichy came in later. There was one tour he couldn't do, so we got Charlie Drayton on drums and Darrell Jones was playing bass. That was cool. And yeah, it was John Stevens, John Karabi, John Tempesta.

ET: John Tempesta was in there? Everybody's been in the Dead Daisies. I didn't know Tempesta did it. Was Doug Aldridge in when you did it?

Dizzy: No, just after I left, he came in. But I, you know, definitely brought his name up a few times.

ET: Yeah. Wow. OK, Amazing. Let's get a call on for Dizzy. This is Dawson, who's listening to us in Canada. Hey, Dawson, what's going on man?.

[did not transcribe the call-in question and answers as well as the part where Alice In Chains joined in the studio].

Finished transcribing the first part with only Dizzy.