Video: Reeves Gabrels on Working with Bowie and His Reverend Signature Guitar

Though you may recognize guitarist Reeves Gabrels as a relatively recent addition to the British rock group The Cure, Gabrels' mainstream success started back in the later 1980s when he met David Bowie.

The pair immediately hit it off and were writing music and recording demos together by early 1988. With the addition of Tony and Hunt Sales on bass and drums, respectively, this project would turn into hard rock group Tin Machine, releasing their self-titled debut album later that year.

In the video above, Gabrels talks about how, up to that point in his career, he had always been overly aware of the clock in the studio. It's hard to forget about when every minute is costing you money, after all. But in working with Bowie, Gabrels learned the importance of forgetting the clock and letting inspiration strike when it does. "That was one of the best lessons about the creative process—not to look at the clock."

Check out the full video above to hear Gabrels talk more about his collaborate with the late great musician.

Reverend's Joe Naylor joined Gabrel in the studio later on to talk about the brand's partnership with the musician and Gabrel's line of signature model guitars.

Everything started back in 2008, when Gabrel picked up a Reverend Double Agent for the first time and couldn't put it down. Inspired, he asked the brand if they were interested in making a signature model with him, and Naylor got right to work. In the video above, Gabrels demos some of his signature model iterations, talking through the features that he added and changed to suit his evolving musical needs.

When Robert Smith of British rock band The Cure asked Gabrels to join the band in 2012, for example, Gabrels and Naylor went back to the drawing table to design a guitar with a Bigsby that would pair well with the Jazzmasters and 335s that the band was known for and ended up finding a spring—"the soft spring"—that would become a standard on every Reverend with a Bigsby.

Be sure to check out the full videos above and let us know what you think the comments below.

comments powered by Disqus

Reverb Gives

Your purchases help youth music programs get the gear they need to make music.

Carbon-Offset Shipping

Your purchases also help protect forests, including trees traditionally used to make instruments.

Oops, looks like you forgot something. Please check the fields highlighted in red.