Gene Simmons Interview with Record Collector Magazine
In May 1974, as KISS toured in support of their self-titled debut album, the Seattle Daily Times’ music writer offered the band some career advice after catching them live on a bill with Savoy Brown. “I hope the four guys who make up the group are putting money away for the future,” he warned. “Because KISS won’t be around long.” Such a cold critical reaction to the band was typical, but as bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons tells Record Collector today, “When you’re having the time of your life in a party, I’m not sure you’re thinking about what people outside are thinking about the party.”
By the time KISS conclude their farewell tour in 2021, the party will have lasted the best part of five decades, sustained by fan loyalty as fierce as the derision of their critics, and the dogged tenacity of Simmons and co-founder Paul Stanley. Formed in 1973, KISS took musical cues from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Slade and Humble Pie, and visual inspiration from Alice Cooper. The resultant combination of anthemic hard rock, played by live action comic book characters amid explosive theatrics, earned them a reputation as an all-conquering concert attraction. They also boasted album sales in excess of 100-million, the fandom of acts as diverse as Nirvana and The Replacements, and spawned a merchandising empire which has seen their iconic maquillaged visages adorn everything from condoms to coffins.
Simmons’ achievements since arriving in New York from his native Israel at the age of eight are considerable and include film and TV roles, record production and assorted examples of stellar entrepreneurship. Equally impressive have been his self-promoting skills and prodigious carnal activities, though he has recently expressed regret at the arrogance and sexism of his younger years.
During his phone conversation with RC, Simmons, 70 in August, is disarmingly self-deprecating.
What have the fans’ reactions been like on the farewell tour? Emotional scenes?
I’m so grateful, not just for the 46 years, but every time we get onstage. Let’s call it for what it is: we blow a lot of shit up and give people the best show on earth. The emotional payback is worth more than everything else, because when you’re onstage and you’re Gene Simmons and you think you’re all that, but you’re full of it, the way most people think I am, and you look out and see a five-year-old child in makeup sitting on dad’s shoulders, next to grandma or grandpa, giving me my hand gesture [Horns up – RC] maybe for the first time in his life, it puts a lump in my throat.
You and Paul Stanley have discussed the possibility of a completely new line-up performing as KISS once you bow out.
Are you serious?
Rock is only about 60 years old, so who knows what the rules are? Why not have four deserving young men who are faceless [and] nameless, worthy of carrying the torch? We haven’t looked at that yet: this tour is going to go two or three years. [But] it really is the last tour. I greatly admire the Stones, but if they had to wear my 8” platform boots for two hours, put on 40 pounds of additional armour, spit fire, fly through the air, you’d collapse in a half-hour. I’d love to be Keith Richards, I could play into my 80s, but KISS is a different animal: the hardest working band in showbusiness, period.
By the time this tour is over, I’ll be 72. That’s a good time. Have the grace and integrity to get off the stage at the right time. I’ve seen many bands that are bloated, old and in the way.
Defunct bands like The Grateful Dead continue to release live sets from different stages of their career. Could you envisage KISS releasing similar vintage recordings?
Yes, but there’s also unreleased material. We’re planning a movie, a Vegas show, stuff that makes purists furious.
