Kiss News

We asked Gene Simmons questions about Kiss, Trump and his "Family Jewels," and he fired back as only he can.

By Jon Bream

Tommy Thayer, left, and Paul Stanley play as KISS Gene Simmons is enamored of numbers. The mouthpiece of Kiss will tell you that his band has sold more than 100 million albums and earned 24 gold records and that his reality TV series, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," has had 107 episodes and his co-star son, Nick, is 6 feet 7.

Simmons will tell you that his middle name is "Arrogance." And he's proud of that. Here's what the boastful, big-tongued bassist/singer/blood drooler, who turned 61 last week, had to say in a post-sound-check phone call from Uncasville, Conn. He even talked about a rare "first" for Kiss, which comes to the Minnesota State Fair on Saturday.

Q: You're playing outdoors for the first time in the Twin Cities. What's the difference between outdoors and indoors for Kiss?

A: Less limitations, of course. First thing we do is make sure no local airports are nearby. If there are, we warn all low-flying aircraft not to fly overhead because our fireworks are pretty high -- anywhere from 100 to 300 feet high. It's like we're Transformers. Our stage show is so big, but it's also so flexible that we can add on pieces and just get as big as any outdoor stadium. For the last two years, we've been playing mostly stadiums, racing parks, cornfields, all kinds of stuff.We asked Gene Simmons questions about Kiss, Trump and his "Family Jewels," and he fired back as only he can.

By Jon Bream

Tommy Thayer, left, and Paul Stanley play as KISS Gene Simmons is enamored of numbers. The mouthpiece of Kiss will tell you that his band has sold more than 100 million albums and earned 24 gold records and that his reality TV series, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," has had 107 episodes and his co-star son, Nick, is 6 feet 7.

Simmons will tell you that his middle name is "Arrogance." And he's proud of that. Here's what the boastful, big-tongued bassist/singer/blood drooler, who turned 61 last week, had to say in a post-sound-check phone call from Uncasville, Conn. He even talked about a rare "first" for Kiss, which comes to the Minnesota State Fair on Saturday.

Q: You're playing outdoors for the first time in the Twin Cities. What's the difference between outdoors and indoors for Kiss?

A: Less limitations, of course. First thing we do is make sure no local airports are nearby. If there are, we warn all low-flying aircraft not to fly overhead because our fireworks are pretty high -- anywhere from 100 to 300 feet high. It's like we're Transformers. Our stage show is so big, but it's also so flexible that we can add on pieces and just get as big as any outdoor stadium. For the last two years, we've been playing mostly stadiums, racing parks, cornfields, all kinds of stuff.

Q: How hot is it in your costume when you play outdoors?

A: Very hot. In Indianapolis, it was 107 when we hit the stage. Now get into a suntanning bed. Now wear armor studs, a leather codpiece, put on 35 to 40 pounds of extra weight when you get up onstage. And, oh, yes, I forgot to mention walk around onstage and try to be a little energetic if you can on 8-inch platform heels for 2 1/2 hours.

Q: How much more weight do you lose outdoors vs. indoors?

A: That's a good question. I don't know. We do have massive industrial air [blowers] -- imagine a vacuum cleaner but it's backwards where it pushes a lot of air toward you. You must get air into your lungs. Between the fireballs and stage lights and everything that goes up onstage, it's easily over 100 [degrees] onstage.

Q: This summer, Kiss is playing at several state fairs. What appeals to you about the fairs?

A: The idea is to take what we do to the people instead of assuming the people are going to come to us. There's always a new audience out there, and there isn't any group of people that we shouldn't play to. Because Kiss is all things for all people -- whether you are 3 or 300. You see everybody at the shows -- kids, their parents, strippers, lawyers -- sometimes together, sometimes not.

Q: The Minnesota State Fair has an exhibit of crop art where people craft artwork made of seeds from Minnesota crops.

A: That's great. Lots of children of the corn.

Q: We commissioned a crop art portrait of Gene Simmons for the cover of Vita.mn.

A: That's great. I've never had that done. I've been on the covers of lots of things but not made out of, say it again?

Q: Various seeds grown in Minnesota. It looks like your hair is wild rice.

A: Wow! I can't wait to see it.

Q: Kiss played in the Twin Cities in November. How will this show be different?

A: A completely different show. Literally. You'll see different effects, different songs. We're starting off with "Modern Day Delilah." We put "Say Yeah" from "Sonic Boom" into the set. "I'm an Animal." We added "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You." We're also doing "Crazy Nights." Things we haven't done before.

Q: Why did you finally decide this summer to have drummer Eric Singer sing "Beth," which was made famous by Peter Criss?

A: We [waited so long] not because we had to, but out of deference to Peter Criss, who was an integral part of the original band. So enough years have gone by. [Criss left in 2004.] This is a courtesy, more than anything else. There are guys who are anywhere from 3 to 30 years old who have no idea who previous members were and who don't care. They come out in the tens of thousands and they want to see the Kiss of today, with Eric and [guitarist] Tommy [Thayer].

Q: This week, the Twin Cities had Lady Gaga on Monday and Tuesday and then Kiss on Saturday.

A She's terrific. I've only seen bits and pieces of her act [on video]. But Gaga and I have spoken on the phone. She told me she has Kiss dress-up parties where they put on the paint and have a good old time. Look, you have to tip your hat to anyone who goes the extra distance for the fans. That's what it's all about. People are spending a lot of money to go to a show and give them a show, for God's sake. Cut it out with the acoustic guitar and charging full price. Have a light show or something. Give people something for their eyes as well as their ears.

Q: How much time do you spend working on "Gene Simmons Family Jewels"?

A: Whenever I've got a moment to spare. We're nearing the end of Season 5. They follow me around. You know that song? "Wherever I go/Whatever I do ... " That's what the show is about.

Q: I've heard people say that it seems more slick or staged or scripted than most reality shows. How do you respond to that?

A: They shouldn't watch it. Obviously, millions of people watch it.

Q: What did you learn from Donald Trump when you were on "Celebrity Apprentice"?

A: Donald learned a few things from me, if you don't mind me saying so. How's that for arrogance? That's my middle name, by the way. [Trump learned] how to have a better hairstyle. [Simmons laughs.] If you can't have fun doing this, it's not worth it. We've known each other a long time. He's a solid guy. People think he's supposed to be your friend, but it's actually called "business," not "friends."

Q: I voted for Kiss No. 1 on my Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot last fall. How did it feel to finally get nominated, after so many years of eligibility -- and then not get inducted?

A: It's backroom politics. Honestly, we don't lose sleep over this. It's not the most important thing in our lives. It used to mean something. I don't think it means anything near that much. Once you put Madonna and rap stars in it, it ain't rock 'n' roll. It does a disservice to rap and to disco and other forms of music that have very little to do with guitars and drums. I don't want to see dancers onstage, I don't want to hear tapes or click tracks. That's a different form of music. Where I come from, that's called karaoke.

Q: Once you and Paul Stanley decide to retire many years down the road, do you envision Kiss continuing with other performers wearing your outfits and makeup?

A: Why not? Of course. Anything's possible. No rules. It's supposed to be rock 'n' roll, after all.

By Mark Caro, Tribune reporter

Ten years after kicking off its official Farewell Tour, Kiss arrives Friday at Tinley Park's First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre with no signs of mothballing the makeup and armored body suits. True, drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer have replaced original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, respectively, but singer/bassist Gene Simmons and singer/guitarist Paul Stanley are still around, along with the classic Kiss bombast.

The serpent-tongued Simmons, now 61 with five seasons of a reality TV show under his studded belt (A&E's "Gene Simmons Family Jewels"), still calls his band "the best, the hottest band in the world." In fact, Simmons said a ticketed adult can bring up to four kids 14 and under to the show for free.

Here's more of what he had to say before his band hit the stage Tuesday in Atlanta:

Why he doesn't care that Kiss isn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: "There are more important things in the world. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a nice place. It's a nice building. It's in Cleveland. The idea of it was good, but it's really backroom politics. Fifteen guys decide who gets in, and if they want to get Grandmaster Flash and Madonna in there, that's fine. I don't consider that rock 'n' roll, and I've never met a human being who does."By Mark Caro, Tribune reporter
Photo by Getty Images

Ten years after kicking off its official Farewell Tour, Kiss arrives Friday at Tinley Park's First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre with no signs of mothballing the makeup and armored body suits. True, drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer have replaced original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, respectively, but singer/bassist Gene Simmons and singer/guitarist Paul Stanley are still around, along with the classic Kiss bombast.

The serpent-tongued Simmons, now 61 with five seasons of a reality TV show under his studded belt (A&E's "Gene Simmons Family Jewels"), still calls his band "the best, the hottest band in the world." In fact, Simmons said a ticketed adult can bring up to four kids 14 and under to the show for free.

Here's more of what he had to say before his band hit the stage Tuesday in Atlanta:

Why he doesn't care that Kiss isn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: "There are more important things in the world. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a nice place. It's a nice building. It's in Cleveland. The idea of it was good, but it's really backroom politics. Fifteen guys decide who gets in, and if they want to get Grandmaster Flash and Madonna in there, that's fine. I don't consider that rock 'n' roll, and I've never met a human being who does."

Why hit records don't matter: "If all you are is your next hit song, when you stop having hit songs, you're done. The biggest bands in the world - Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Metallica, you name it - weren't driven by hits."

How Kiss changed rock 'n' roll as we know it: "We have single-handedly, and I'm not kidding myself about this, changed the expectations of what people expect when they buy a ticket to a concert. In the old days you could bring out your acoustic guitar and a Persian carpet and sit on it cross-legged and be the hippie-dippy kind of guy. We came up and blew up the stage and put on light shows and fireballs. Now everybody from McCartney to U2 to anybody else does that. Who did that? Actually, Kiss did that."

Why Kiss is letting in kids for free: "We want to make sure that young people out there know there's a world out there other than the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus ... It's time to see how the big boys do it."

Which songs get the biggest response in concert: "In some of the Scandinavian counties, it's 'I Was Made for Lovin' You.' They go bonkers. In some of the bigger cities in America, it's 'I Love It Loud.' And recently Eric, our wonderful drummer/singer, has been stealing the show when he gets up there solo and sings 'Beth.'"

Why Kiss concerts may resemble an endurance competition: "Look, you've got 15,000 to 20,000 people who are standing on their seats for 21/2 hours, exhausted and drenched. If you think you're tired, change places with guys who are on stage wearing armor studs and 12-pound guitars, about 35-40 pounds of additional weight with another 30 degrees of temperature higher walking around on 8-inch platform heels for 21/2 hours. I'll trade places with you any time you like."

Why the music business is in a state of "chaos": "Because the record industry allowed kids to download for free, so an entire generation has been trained not to pay for music... And there are no more record stores, so that support's gone, and the Internet is a cold, heartless thing."

Why all that doesn't affect Kiss "one iota": "Our Dr. Pepper campaign is massive. You're going to see Kiss Slurpee cups in every 7-Eleven across the country. Nothing touches us."

Mt. Rushmore, Disneyland . . . And Kiss?

This is no place for modesty. Kiss drummer Eric Singer describes the band as a piece of Americana, like Universal Studios or Disneyland. "Whether it's going to Mount Rushmore or Yellowstone Park or the Statue Of Liberty, I say Kiss is one of the Wonders Of The World. Maybe I'm biased because I'm in the band, but I really believe that you gotta see Kiss at least once in your life. Even if you don't like Kiss or don't know anything about them, I guarantee when you walk away from the show you're going to go, 'That was a lot of fun - I'll never see anything like that again.' I always say, 'It's rock 'n' roll meets the circus coming to town!'"

Appearing: September 3rd at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park.
Mt. Rushmore, Disneyland . . . And Kiss?

This is no place for modesty. Kiss drummer Eric Singer describes the band as a piece of Americana, like Universal Studios or Disneyland. "Whether it's going to Mount Rushmore or Yellowstone Park or the Statue Of Liberty, I say Kiss is one of the Wonders Of The World. Maybe I'm biased because I'm in the band, but I really believe that you gotta see Kiss at least once in your life. Even if you don't like Kiss or don't know anything about them, I guarantee when you walk away from the show you're going to go, 'That was a lot of fun - I'll never see anything like that again.' I always say, 'It's rock 'n' roll meets the circus coming to town!'"

Appearing: September 3rd at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park.

Although old-school Kiss Army members may not be a fan of the new "Cat," Singer has actually been in and out of the band since the early '90s, when they started hitting hard rock's radar again. Before and after he has played with folks like Lita Ford, Gary Moore, Black Sabbath, Badlands, Alice Cooper, and Paul Stanley's solo tour back in 1989. The tragic loss of longtime Kiss drummer Eric Carr, who died of cancer in 1991, prompted Stanley to recommended they bring in Singer. He played on 1992's Revenge, a record that shot Kiss back up the charts via MTV's then-popular "Headbanger's Ball." Singer also played on Alive III, Unplugged, and Carnival Of Souls: The Final Sessions, as well as the home videos X-Treme Close-Up and Konfidential.

The circus has been hitting towns for the past year since the band's first studio album in 11 years, Sonic Boom, came out in October of last year. It rewarded fans with its Destroyer-era beefy tongue-in-cheek riffs and lyrics, encouraging the hordes of Kiss concertgoers.

On the recording of Sonic Boom, Singer says it was Stanley who brought up the idea of going back into the studio. "I think what happened was he started thinking, 'Hey, this band sounds really good, we get along really good . . .' and when things are good you get inspired to do things. He also saw that the audience was getting younger, and I think things changed. Three years ago, I didn't think we'd do another record. In fact, I didn't think we'd be doing as much touring as we've been doing. But we started working on ideas while we were on tour; sometimes Paul or Gene [Simmons, bass] or Tommy [Thayer, guitar] would work on some riffs and when we got back to L.A. we'd go into the studio and record them.

"We did [Sonic Boom] the old-school way, playing together live to analog tape. Obviously we used some digital technology and modern stuff once we recorded basic tracks, because then it's easier to work. But it was done in a more easy, non-pressure, organic kind of way. I'd say it was probably about the easiest record I ever had to make, in the sense of not feeling pressure, like, 'O.K., you gotta do all your drum tracks in two or three days then you're done, later.' We took our time. It was a real pleasure to make. It was well-received, and we've had a blast the last year playing all these shows and we've already been talking about going into the studio and doing another record."

Singer says the Kiss Army these days ranges in age from 3 to 73.

"It's really like a family kind of thing," he notes. "When I was a kid, going to see a rock band with your family would have been considered so uncool. But things have changed a lot. Now it's actually cool to go to events together as a family."

Paul Stanley is a family man, with a couple of very small children, whom he took overseas with him for part of their spring tour. "It was great for him and good for us too," says Singer, "because there's nothing better than the laughter of little kids and having kids around. It's good medicine for everybody."

Kiss have made their current tour a family affair in a few ways: at outdoor venues any lawn ticket is allowed to bring in four children under age 14 for free. They're also donating a dollar from every ticket sold to the Wounded Warriors Care Project, which helps veterans.

A band with a franchise as big as Kiss' allows the members the luxury of jetting home after a few shows for breaks to spend with family (though Singer has no kids himself), or, in the drummer's case, consultations with the pool man. "I don't want to say doing 'weekend warrior,' but the way our scheduling is sometimes we don't have to stay out on the road," he explains. "We've been going out playing the weekend then coming home for a few days so everybody can have a little bit of recharge time, but more importantly everybody can have a chance to be with their families or deal with other things.

"When we go back out Friday, we'll be out on the East Coast and this time we'll be out for about two-and-a-half weeks before we have another couple days off. I guess this is the way country acts do it, I'm told, because, you know, they're very family-oriented. It's like people who go to work Monday through Friday and have the weekend off: We do it the other way around. It's a little crazy getting on a plane after you've played and have to fly across the country in the middle of the night and get home in the wee hours of the morning, but it's kinda nice because then when I wake up and I'm in my own bed and in my house and it isn't too bad."

Who knew that the outlandish costumed, makeupped group of pyrotechnic-loving characters - the Demon, Starchild, Cat, and Spaceman - would end up 40-some odd years later being a family-friendly band? Wait . . . Characters . . . Disneyland . . .

"One thing we've really noticed is the demographic," says Singer. "There are a lot of young teenagers coming to the shows. Sure they've heard about the band either from their parents or from [the video games] 'Rock Band' and 'Guitar Hero,' but when asked a lot of them say, 'I found Kiss on the Internet!' The advent of YouTube was a novelty at first, but it has turned into a great promotional tool without people having to do anything. People just post clips and [other] people discover you!"

� Penelope Biver