Chris Pitman Interview (Neue Rheinische Zeitung / German Newspaper)

[DCReed]

Q- With Guns Live, you're the keyboard-player besides Dizzy Reed; in
SexTapes,
you're singing and playing a pretty heavy guitar. What's your
favourite spot as a stage- and recording artist and why?

CP- Fav spot is always singing, as I had done with LUSK, Zaum, and a lot of
other bands. Vocals are the most expressive instrument possible, yet
entirely different than playing an instrument, i don't know why, but
its like another world there.

Q- Will you be playing live with SexTapes?

CP- Yes, we just started playing Live in L.A. and its going great,
better than i
thought. And of course here you run into a lot of opportunities, although
the impending economic 'Depression' is really effecting the future right now.

Q- Your projects, if its Guns or Lusk or SexTapes all seem to take
different musical directions. It seems like theres a great variety
of things you love to do and test out. What pushes you to do these
projects and what takes you into all these directions?

CP- It all reflects what is currently going on in my life at the
time, and this is the only way to try
to translate it. I've always have been extremely lucky to have great people
to collaborate with, and they also have the same determination, to
not repeat
the past, but to further their own curiosity. Axl is a great example
of that, he is
always reaching for new boundaries to cross, and is prepared for the
consequences
that arise from it. Especially in being such a Media/Market driven
microscope of
harsh criticism. Its how you FEEL about your work, nobody else has
a clue what
that is like.


Q- Chris, as a member of Guns N' Roses for the last ten years and
Chinese Democracy finally coming out next month, how does that feel?

CP- I just reflect on the journey that it took, i hear the memories.
the after product is just a formality


Q- Concerning songwriting: As the rumors go, you wrote the guitar
parts for 'If The World', the new Guns track that appears in Ridley
Scott's movie "Body Of Lies". Is that true? What was the recording
like and how did you get the idea?

CP- Like a lot of things i write, it started with my old 12 string
guitar that sits by my couch. i bought it years ago at a pawn shop
for $50, and have never changed the strings on it. That way is has a
very bass heavy sound. And I just started
this riff that suggested a cool vocal. Being weird that I am, i
recorded that straight into a drum machine sampler, MPC2000, and
manipulated the riff till it sounded almost mechanical. Then I wrote
the Drums with a kind of
Dub/Reggae beat, where i swing the 2 and the 4 beat real heavily.
Afterwards i went into my studio and added Strings, Piano, Bass,
Echo Guitar, Synth and Sub. This all took about 2 hours to write the
arrangement. I then gave those Tracks to Axl,
and he did likewise, laid down the vocals himself in one night.
When I heard what he had done with it, I was completely blown away,
just floored by it.
I had never heard a song like that before or since. We later
added guitar solo's for more flavoring.

Q- To Guns fans you're best known as the keyboard-player and
"technician". What equipment do you use and why?

They assume that your only a keyboard player cause they've only
seen us play live, and don't have any other information.
I get more requests on my website for the instruments and gear I've
used, which Im still compiling, and will post it on www.chrispitman.com
I mean it was 10 years of various instruments, recording devices,
you name it, so I have to sort it out of my beer memory.


Last question: When will German or even Cologne based fans see you on
stage? Any clues?

I love Germany, many of my favorite artists are from there, Joseph
Beuys, Immendorff, Baselitz, Richter, the
list goes on and on. and thats just visual art. Also reverence for
Conny Plank, KlingKlang, DAF, Can, etc.
Can't wait to come back.

Source: http://www.nrhz.de/flyer/beitrag.php?id=13269

Thx to Gerrit Wustmann, Chris Pitman and "Neue Rheinische Zeitung"

[aussie_GNR92]

Q- Concerning songwriting: As the rumors go, you wrote the guitar
parts for 'If The World', the new Guns track that appears in Ridley
Scott's movie "Body Of Lies". Is that true? What was the recording
like and how did you get the idea?

CP- Like a lot of things i write, it started with my old 12 string
guitar that sits by my couch. i bought it years ago at a pawn shop
for $50, and have never changed the strings on it. That way is has a
very bass heavy sound. And I just started
this riff that suggested a cool vocal. Being weird that I am, i
recorded that straight into a drum machine sampler, MPC2000, and
manipulated the riff till it sounded almost mechanical. Then I wrote
the Drums with a kind of
Dub/Reggae beat, where i swing the 2 and the 4 beat real heavily.
Afterwards i went into my studio and added Strings, Piano, Bass,
Echo Guitar, Synth and Sub. This all took about 2 hours to write the
arrangement. I then gave those Tracks to Axl,
and he did likewise, laid down the vocals himself in one night.
When I heard what he had done with it, I was completely blown away,
just floored by it.
I had never heard a song like that before or since. We later
added guitar solo's for more flavoring.

That's cool as. Thanks mate, good find