Melissa Reese

Melissa Reese (born March 1, 1990) is an American musician who has collaborated frequently with Bryan "Brain" Mantia and is a current member of hard rock band Guns N' Roses.

Early life Reese was born in Seattle, Washington. She is the youngest of three children. When she was 17, she learned Pro Tools, Reason, and Logic Pro then began performing and producing her own music. Three of the songs of the EP were featured in various TV shows, including Gossip Girl and Keeping up with the Kardashians.

Brain and Melissa Reese has worked on several projects with Mantia, a composing team dubbed "Brain and Melissa". In 2010, along with Buckethead, they released the multi-CD sets Kind Regards and Best Regards. Brain and Melissa composed part of the soundtrack in the video game Infamous 2, for which they were nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Original Composition" by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awards. Other video games the duo worked on include PlayStation Home, ModNation Racers, Twisted Metal, Fantasia: Music Evolved and Infamous: Second Son. They also worked on several remixes of songs from Chinese Democracy for a planned remix album. They wrote the soundtrack for the Joseph Kahn film Bodied. They played another NBA halftime show, this time for the Los Angeles Clippers, on November 27, 2017.

Guns N' Roses

Reese joined Guns N' Roses in March 2016 as the band's second keyboardist, replacing Chris Pitman, while also playing synthesizer, sub-bass, background vocals, and programming for all electronic sounds during live performances. She first performed with the band on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour. Upon joining the band, she had two weeks to learn 50 songs to prepare for the tour, working 15 hours a day to learn them.

As well as singing backing vocals, Reese's role in the band has been described as the "enhancer", using Akai samplers among other tools to produce sounds from Chinese Democracy songs, and playing the Moog synthesizer on "Paradise City". She first appears with the band on "Absurd" and "Hard Skool", released in 2021.

Discography Solo EP Lissa (2007) (featuring Brain and Pete Scaturro) "Feel It" (2:49) "Girlfriend" (2:25) "Pretty Please" (2:43) "Oooh La La" (2:35) "Old Skool" (2:56) (featuring Mar Brooks) "Remember the Times" (3:18) (feat. Mar Brooks and Buckethead)

Other appearances "Modnation Theme" – from ModNation Racers soundtrack (2010)

Other projects Brain & Melissa PlayStation Home – "You and Me", "My World", "Forever" (2008) Don King Presents: Prizefighter – "Main Theme" (2008) Detention soundtrack (2011) Infamous 2 – "Infamous 2 Theme", "The Swamp", "Eroico Con Moto" (2011) Fear Not – "Fear Not 1&2" (2011) The Horror of Barnes Folly – "Main Theme" (2011) Twisted Metal – "Race 2 Destruction", "Ready to Die", "Twisted Metal Theme" (2012) Power/Rangers soundtrack (2015) Bloodborne – "Bloodborne", "The Night Unfurls", "Moonlit Melody" (2015) Infamous Second Son – "BadAss Combat", "Double Crossed", "Higher Elevation" (2015)

with Brain and Buckethead Best Regards (2010) Kind Regards (2010) Warm Regards (unreleased)

The Valence Project The Valence Project – "No Way", "Future People", "If We Get it – We Know We're Getting Good", "In This Life" (2010) (also featuring Brain)

Guns N' Roses

"Absurd" (2021) "Hard Skool" (2021)

Other projects Eclectic Cinema – "Ride or Die", "Ooh La La", "Feel It", "Girlfriend", "Pretty Please", "Mother Nature", "Old Skool", "Remember the Times" (released 2013, also featuring Paul Tobias)

Session work The Assignment – "Tomboy" (Raney Shockne) (2017)