About six months after he got the
tape, he called up and wanted to know
why I never told him. So he had me go
over to Switzerland and work on some
music with him and it eventually turned
into Tin Machine. So we did that for
about four years and then I continued
on with him as his musical director for
following ten years up until about
2000. And then I met a lot of people
through David. I was the musical
director for his birthday show which is
how I met Robert Smith. And I knew
Frank Black from my days in Boston.
And of course having worked with
David, I had the seal of approval.
People that might not have asked me
to play on things prior were interested
in having me play on things after that.
And of course, I met Trent Reznor and
Nine Inch Nails in 1995 or 1996 and
somewhere in there I did a tour with
Paul Rodgers which is still one of my
favorite things because it’s not what
22
INTERVIEW //
anyone would expect from me.
PHILLIP: So was that just straight
classic rock?
REEVES: It was blues rock I guess. We
did Free, Bad Company, and a bunch
of blues covers. And then anytime I’d
go back to Boston I’d get back with
whatever group I was working with
and go back in the trenches. And then
I’d get whisked away for the next
Bowie thing and back and forth. And
then around 1999 I moved to LA and
started to work on soundtracks and I
even did some work with Ozzy and
David Coverdale. I even played on
some stuff for Public Enemy. I’m kind
of happiest when I’m doing something
I’m not expected to be doing I guess.
PHILLIP: So how did you end up in
Nashville and then in the Cure?
REEVES: I got divorced and I also got
Lyme disease pretty bad and it wasn’t
really diagnosed or known in LA in
2002. And so that’s when I moved to
Nashville because one of my oldest
and closest friend lives there and owns
a club. That was in 2006. And then in
Gift of Gabrels: A Chat with the Almighty Reeves Gabrels
Photo via MAURO MELIS PHOTOGRAPHY | WWW.MAUROMELIS.FR
my mind, nothing would ever come of
it and it was too cool to just hang out
and talk about art. Why ruin it by
bringing up music? (laughter)