Here Today... Gone To Hell!

There's a one page spotlight on Melissa Reese in the latest (June 2020) issue of Rolling Stone magazine (US edition).

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBBIJOMsmve/



/jarmo

Interview? Is it out yet?

I saw it in Apple News. So I guess so.

It's just a one page little interview where she talks about joining GN'R and what she does during the shows.





/jarmo

I guess the one page thing was a preview.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/guns-n-roses-melissa-reese-interview-1003943/

It's got more words than fits on one page!  :hihi:




/jarmo

Cool interview!

well, I won't lie, I didn't know much about Melissa before reading that.

I vaguely knew some kind of connection existed between her and Brain
(my favorite GNR drummer, period he's just amazing at all kinds of levels)
and well, she's not only the cutie elve I noticed at first but she's also very
talented, at many levels too. great asset for the band, you rock girl.

Very cool interview. Melissa is talented, for sure.  : ok:

Great piece.

I assume this was originally timed to go with the tour. But what if now it’s part of a PR for the new album?

She doesnt mention the new album there, but i agree with you about this may be a part of the PR for the tour. Would be cool if this is pr leadin up to the announcement of the album .

Who do you thing will be the first to reveal the album title?

Axl  :hihi:

but let's not turn this thread to another "next album" one, I think Melissa deserves better

What a great interview.

I love how Melissa and Brain exist in this bubble, and nothing seems to phase them. Melissa seems super talented as well for her age, good on her. I hope she achieves her dreams going forward.

It's interesting to hear how Axl's changed as well. One wonders if the weight of carrying the whole band on his own just took it's toll over the years. It's a shame, but glad at the same time that he seems to have found peace.

I think it's all about stop being frustrated for many reasons for so many years. You know, he persevered for so long with all the other musicians, trying to put out an album and touring under the gnr name but the final result obviosuly wasn't that great in many different ways and at the end of the day it was really an exhausting path. And you know what? THe best thing you can do at certain point is to take a step back, even if it costs u a lot (not talking about the money obviosuly), in order to make things easier. I know Axl as a different approach to life (day by day living ) but at a certain point in your life you look back at your past anyway and you have to answer to the question "it was worth it"?

Nice interview.

Nice interview.

It should answer the question about what she does. Which is still asked by people from time to time...




/jarmo

I agree, and stepping back has worked out great for him.

I don't see any point looking back and having regrets. You do what feels right on the day, and even if something goes wrong, so be it. Axl tried something new/different, which took a lot of years, but good on him for trying. It's just bonkers how different the world is now, how music sells, social media etc.. The mind boggles.

I always found that question puzzling. It only took the Vegas shows where we finally got some audio (that wasn't a periscope filmed on the sidewalk across from the April Fools Show) for me to see that she had an immediate impact on the vocals... lets be honest Tommy, Bumble, Pitman, and Robin Fink weren't exactly songbirds on the background vocals.

Also seeing what her and Brain were doing with the live mix stuff at basketball games and other venues, it was obvious that her and more than likely Brain had a huge impact on things like the new Better arrangement. The band is better with her.

Well if u know some music, you know exactly what she does. The real question is: should she stay on stage? I mean, she's not really "playing" anything. Many other artists have this kind of people "backstage". She does almost the same things that pitman did (probably better than pitman), and pitman was considered useless. I have nothing against the girl, she's obviously a very special & gifted musician and i can hear what she does but...it's tough for me to consider her a gnr "member" (lol) :beer:.

Always nice to see some sexism on a Thursday afternoon.

"I have nothing against women, but you know, they are pretty useless"

typical. still so much work to do to change mentalities  ::)

Take away all of the technical things she does layering sounds and just put her on a riser next to the drummer and she fills a roll as a backup singer. Listen back to official and bootleg recordings from before she was in the band, some of the past members were like nails on a chalk board when they managed to either cut through the mix or get push forward in the mix. She is like having a less well known Lady Gaga (skill wise) sing backup for Axl. That alone makes her 10x more useful (on stage) than Chris Pitman.

Great interview, Pittman was indeed fired then.

fuck man , read what i wrote..im talkin about the fact that she isn’t playing a fuckin instrument as well as pitman (male). Pathetic... ’sexism’ u don’t even know the meaning of the word.

another one Who can’t read... go back to school kid. This world is Full of people Who want to teach you and they can’t even read and understand simple things. Pathetic. Never said that, never thought that.

Well my "being on stage" statement was half real half figurative  :) I mean..all the ‘background singers ’ in almost any band (even in gnr ... the 2 girls, zigzag) aren’t part of the band, i'm not saying she’s useless, i know exactly why they picked her...i didn’t consider pitman a part of the band too (and he wasn't useless too)...And no body is crying cause he’s gone, cause nobody can feel his absence. If Axl & co. consider melissa a part of the band it's ok, i won't cry about that. But when Finck is gone, you know he's gone. When buck is gone, you know he's gone. When steven adler steps in you know it's him and not frank. If melissa goes away, or even dizzy...well...I bet you won't notice the difference. Maybe she's even better than lady gaga, but she's not playing as lady gaga and she won't while she's playing in gnr. If elton john plays the piano instead of dizzy, he's not "elton john" he's just a complementary musician. Another example, the only time you could consider Pitman a member of the band was when his sound took over the sound of the band: in 2001 at rock in Rio III, where you can feel Axl was trying to make a lot of changes . After that, all his stuff was just about boosting and enhancing sounds, put some fills here and there etc. If you consider it to be enough to be a part of this particular band it's ok, it just doesn't work for me. Another example: was Spike Edney (keyboards and guitar) a Queen member ?? I can bring you thousands of examples ;). On the otherside, if u remove Melissa from the brain/melissa duo...well..it's all another thing. So It depends on the position you're in. So even when Brain talks about "people who are just there to see slash" ,I can understand him from a certain point of view, but his point at the end of the day is wrong. People are not stupid and obvious things are obvious things.

You infantilized a talented woman, and referred to her in the abstract rather than in the third person or by her name which it's clear you know. It's sexist.

Have a great Friday!

Infantilized? Wtf are u talking about? this is even beyond pathetic i referred to her in the third person 6 times. U just want to read what u want. Read some book, maybe u'll learn that "she" is the feminine third-person, singular personal pronoun and that you can't fill a page of pronouns referring to the same person. Only semi-illiterates do that.

Gotta side with ITARocker here, I didn’t read his comment as sexist.

Och, there's nothing bad afoot. ITA is a traditionalist, likes the band members to be people who play instruments, and Adz is defending Melissa, who does come across as talented and nice, and adds to a band in a more modern tech way and gives a fuller sound to the band. It's just different opinions, and an English grammar lesson we were never expecting.  :hihi:

Whatever opinions people have, the band have to be complimented on accepting Melissa like they have, like it or hate it. There are so many people in life who are in the background and they never get the recognition they deserve. It's a cool thing whatever opinion is thrown out there.

He's "defending" her (am I attacking her?) saying the thing I said are sexist, That's bullshit.

I remind you that Matt Sorum was considered an "additional musician"  :hihi: :rofl:. Were are talking about a guitar band, wanted or not (even axl brought in a third guitar when he wanted a new sound). I mean, if she played in NIN maybe i would see her more as a part of the band but in gnr to me she's a complementary musician as well as the bongo player dizzy reed, and I won't change my mind  :smoking:. And again, i'm not trying to debasing their role, it is what it is....to my eyes and ears at least  :beer:

It was an aggressive exchange of opinions  :hihi: And you also just did the old thing of referring to Dizzy as bongo player. It's humour, I get it, but you'll get a Adz type slap for that when it comes to someone responding to you.

Ur old school with a bit of wit, but the band value these musicians and it is their right to do that

Okay, here is the point I am making - Sexism can be expressed in language with negative gender-oriented implications, such as condescension. For example, one may refer to a female as a "girl" rather than a "woman", implying that they are subordinate or not fully mature.

Think about your comment. If Melissa was male, I find it unlikely you would have said "Nothing against the boy, he's obviously a very special & gifted musician", right?

These things are important. I should have called you out on it differently and for that I apologize, but it's a real issue nonetheless and one that shouldn't go unremarked on.

Wrong. I would have probably used the word "guy". And please focus on the 2 other adjectives..."very special and gifted". I mean, I have even underlined the importance of her work so wtf... You focus on a single word and build up an opinion about me just for the sake of it. You don't need to apologize, you just need to stop this fuckin witch hunt every fuckin time someone open his mouth, it's boring more than anyything else. Just contextualize, plz, stop random quoting, it's really annoying, we can't talk anymore without somebody starting his mantra "sexist,racist" etc...

One has learned more about English grammar in this thread than at school  :nervous: I am now ready for the exam  :smoking:

Meanwhile, in a batcave somewhere in the US, Brain and Melissa have probably composed a nine minute mini-opera about this thread for the Superbowl next year, and a statue of Adz will be erected in Dorset next year.

I like the fact that Melissa is " in in" the band as opposed to Chris Pitman who is out out....

Not sure if that works anywhere but in Britian

I'm with ITA here as well...

If Melissa was a 27-year old-male, ate snickers and candy every minute of his life, looked and dressed like a 15-year-old and dyed his hair blue...I think ITARocker would've said "Nothing against the kid/boy as well..." and no one would've cared.

We all know Melissa is a grown woman, she's very talented and gifted, we gotta give her credit. She seems to be a hard worker as well,  but she does look like a teenager. Nothing sexist about that...but what do I know, I'm just a 44-year-old boy (who doesn't look like a teenager anymore!)

44-year-old man !
...or 44-year-old boy indeed but then you would like teenagers  ;)

Very good points.
Funny old world now where everyone is in a competition to be offended on someone elses behalf all the time.
What ITA said was in no way, shape or form sexist and is a shame he was shown such a lack of generosity in assuming it was.

Anyone that doesn't think that this is sexist: "it's tough for me to consider her a gnr "member" (lol)" is not familiar with American colloquialism, or is in denial.  :peace:

Yeah, thanks everyone for quite literally proving my point.

Back to the main topic anyway...

This is very cool, it's always interesting to hear what makes the sound 'the sound'. I knew in principle what was going on but I had no idea it was literally doubling the riff for Mr Brownstone for instance.

She should double Axls vocals more often so he won't sound so weak.

haha! brutal mic drop!

I was being serious. But now that I think of it, IDK if she means doubling by backing him up with her vocals or digitally doubling Axl's voice in real time.

Digitally. Remember when i talked about ghost tracks, effects, autotune (or something like that) here and there and almost everybody here said "bullshit"? :hihi: I had even the thread moved to the dead horse by jarmo...you know...horseshit  :hihi: :hihi:

Obviously sometimes she sings with Axl :peace:

I'd love to hear the views from an audio engineer or someone with enough tech/audio background to explain what effects or autotuned (if any) is done to Axl's vocals. There is one note that Axl holds in 'Sorry where he does an operatic Ýouuuuu' that is really spectacular but at times have wondered if that was in any way assisted??

Axl was amazing in his AC DC stints nd still has moments in GNR of real vocal prowess but I did recently watch Paris 92 and have to admit that it saddened me a little. Just knowing that we all age etc. I do wonder if Axl should move more into a crooning style and that vocal style would be best suited with a more stripped back band.

As for your thoughts being moved....well, I'm not surprised sadly.

Did you read the article?

The gig meant she had to learn roughly 50 songs in granular detail so she could help replicate them on the stage. That includes keyboard parts along with countless tiny samples she had to create herself, like the flute flurries on “November Rain,” along with guitar parts she plays on the keyboard and various sub-bass frequencies. “I had to do an insane amount of shit, plus be able to sing backgrounds for Axl,” she says. “It’s stuff that would be hard to pick out, because I’m using sounds that are meant to enhance what’s already going on with Richard [Fortus] or another guitar part. It’s supposed to just sound bigger when I’m doing it, but it’s not supposed to stand out.”

When she sings with Axl, she doesn't like Axl, she sounds like Melissa. Just like Duff sounds like Duff. You can hear it if you listen. It's background vocals.

Effects? Yes, like an echo? Like at the end of Paradise City when he yells Good fucking night?



Maybe you saw a clip of Scraped live from like 2009 and heard Axl sing two voices at the same time and got confused. But even if that case, it's obvious which part he actually sings....




/jarmo

we are referring to what brain said, not to what melissa said. Here and there he uses effects like sustain, enhancer, delay reverbs autotune stuff Etc. Very softly mixed with axl’s voice in terms of volume or % of effects. And mainly on screams. I don’t even know if it’s Melissa or Someone in the back who control these things. But there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s pretty normal (and wise if u don’t want to destroy your voice). I see it as a positive thing and i don’t even care much about that.

When there are effects, it's obvious. Just like when there's an effect on Slash's guitar.

When Melissa sings with Axl, it's obvious.



Yes, without Melissa, the shows wouldn't sound the same.





/jarmo

[/quote] we are referring to what brain said, not to what melissa said. Here and there he uses effects like sustain, enhancer, delay reverbs autotune stuff Etc. Very softly mixed with axl’s voice in terms of volume or % of effects. And mainly on screams. I don’t even know if it’s Melissa or Someone in the back who control these things. But there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s pretty normal (and wise if u don’t want to destroy your voice). I see it as a positive thing and i don’t even care much about that.
[/quote]

I think those effects are done by the FOH sound engineer  : ok:

I don't know, I wouldn't discount the possibility, but if it's mixed so low, how could you be so sure? Frankly, I think the fact that he does sound as weak as he does sometimes is proof that there's little if any doubling or enhancement going on, and I wish there actually were, because like you say, he needs to preserve his voice at this stage in his life.

i think they just mAke his voice thicker when it counts and when It’s easier to do it. he can’t fail the ‘do you know where the fuck you are’ so there his voice has to be boosted and enhanced. Or when he sings with the rasp i think they add something cause sometimes it sounds a little bit unnatural even for a falsetto/masked voice. But yeah, when he sings clean  there is not a lot of shit, probably because you will notice it and it wouldn’t sound better than it is. But overall i think there’s a 10-15% of this kind of things, probably less than sometimes it’s needed (my opinion btw)

I also think he lays back for most of the set so he can reserve his power for those moments though. The human voice is a weird thing. I Mean, look at him with AC/DC. In certain registers, he still has good power and rasp. I think the screams in Jungle and LALD just happen to be in the right register for him. I also think his rasp sounds weird at times because his voice has been damaged and when you keep pushing it beyond the limit, the rasp will turn into more of a croak. It's true for my voice, and I've heard it in Axl and felt the pain in my throat for him. He's never developed a truly healthy singing style.

But again, I don't discount the possibility, I just think it's unlikely they would be subtle about it, seeing how the photoshopping of official photos has not been particularly subtle...

It would be great if somebody could develop a digital effect to mimic rasp...

If you use a digital effect to add rasp it's pretty much over. Either that or move on to a different musical style, more crooning and using a more natural timbre
I certainly don't want to see a live show where the singer can't sing the songs properly and needs to entirely manipulate the voice.

Well that's pretty silly. In fact, singing with rasp is singing IMproperly. Ask any vocal coach. It's not healthy. So unless you want all of your favorite singers to lose their voices, you should welcome such a thing. That way, they can just use their natural rasp in the studio for the most authentic sound on the record. It's pretty absurd to call adding an effect "entirely manipulating the voice". You wouldn't say a guitarist using reverb or distortion "can't play properly" and is "entirely manipulating his playing"...