In February 2001, Geffen head Jimmy Iovine asked Tom Zutaut, whom the label had fired two years previously, to help Guns N' Roses complete "Chinese Democracy". Zutaut was the A&R man who had discovered the band and guided them through the recording of their previous albums. After they had resolved some personal differences, Rose told Zutaut of his frustrations in finding the sounds he wanted; for example, he had instructed the production team to recreate the drum sound of Nirvana's "Nevermind", but was not satisfied with the results. With Zutaut's intervention, the team recreated the sound to Rose's satisfaction. After having Zutaut approved by Rose's personal psychic, whom Rose believed could assess auras from photographs, Rose arranged for Geffen to pay Zutaut "whatever it takes". Zutaut's only concession was to defer some of his payment until the album was delivered, but the album missed the deadline.