Kiss News

by Elianne Halbersberg
From the December 2009 issue of Premier Guitar

What do you remember about 1975, if you were around? Inane sitcoms on network television. Gasoline shortage. Recession. The resignation of a corrupt U.S. president. But if music was, and still is, your heart and soul, perhaps what stands out most in your memory is the way your life was changed by a KISS album - their first, self-titled: loud, heavy on the guitars and melodic rock, recorded on tape.

Thirty-five years later, some things haven't changed. Inane network television. Gasoline shortage. Recession. A KISS album - their 19th original studio project and first new album in 11 years, Sonic Boom: loud, heavy on the guitars and melodic rock, recorded on tape.

Thirty-five years is an impressive stretch for any relationship, particularly one that began this way: "He was wearing overalls and he had a beard," Paul Stanley recalls of his first meeting with Gene Simmons. "I didn't like him. Steve [Coronel, friend and co-writer] said, 'Gene, Paul writes songs also.' Gene said, 'Oh yeah? Play one.' I did. He looked at me and went 'Eh.' ... I wasn't crazy about ever seeing him again..."

So much for first impressions. On their second meeting, Stanley and Simmons locked into a groove that has outlasted most marriages. Together, they have survived the best and worst of times: venom from the media, personnel changes, a fragmented and imploding music industry. Through it all, the recording and relentless touring continued, and KISS fans, the loyal millions, never wavered.
by Elianne Halbersberg
From the December 2009 issue of Premier Guitar

What do you remember about 1975, if you were around? Inane sitcoms on network television. Gasoline shortage. Recession. The resignation of a corrupt U.S. president. But if music was, and still is, your heart and soul, perhaps what stands out most in your memory is the way your life was changed by a KISS album - their first, self-titled: loud, heavy on the guitars and melodic rock, recorded on tape.

Thirty-five years later, some things haven't changed. Inane network television. Gasoline shortage. Recession. A KISS album - their 19th original studio project and first new album in 11 years, Sonic Boom: loud, heavy on the guitars and melodic rock, recorded on tape.

Thirty-five years is an impressive stretch for any relationship, particularly one that began this way: "He was wearing overalls and he had a beard," Paul Stanley recalls of his first meeting with Gene Simmons. "I didn't like him. Steve [Coronel, friend and co-writer] said, 'Gene, Paul writes songs also.' Gene said, 'Oh yeah? Play one.' I did. He looked at me and went 'Eh.' ... I wasn't crazy about ever seeing him again..."

So much for first impressions. On their second meeting, Stanley and Simmons locked into a groove that has outlasted most marriages. Together, they have survived the best and worst of times: venom from the media, personnel changes, a fragmented and imploding music industry. Through it all, the recording and relentless touring continued, and KISS fans, the loyal millions, never wavered.

KISS today is Stanley, Simmons, drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer. It's a powerful, well-run machine, and that's no accident. Being part of a band that operates on pure adrenalin, focus and determination, that cares not a whit about outside opinions, and whose members are beholden to its rock and roll history is not a "job" from which one clocks out when the platform boots are put away every night. According to Tommy Thayer, being in KISS - being KISS - is a musical and personal commitment. It's about partnership, respect, hard work and a lot of loud guitars.

Thayer spoke to Premier Guitar about the making of Sonic Boom, KISS 2009, and what it means to have the ultimate gig as lead guitarist in a band that knows no middle ground.

When did plans begin to record a new album?

Paul spearheaded this project and he decided to do a studio recording again. During my years with Gene and Paul they've been very ambivalent about it because they were put out with the whole thing. Psycho Circus [1998] was not a great experience, and the results weren't satisfying to anybody, really. It left a bad taste, to a certain extent, and over the last few years the state of the recording industry has been funky. Where KISS is in their career, to do something is challenging and risky because you'd better hope it comes out the right way, otherwise it can be more of a liability than a positive thing. Fortunately, Sonic Boom turned out well. Paul is smart; he made a band album and he took control. We did it on tape, recording together, no outside writers, none of the silly things bands do to try to please and play politics. We have a KISS record and we're not bound by anybody else. So we wrote, recorded and finished it, and nobody heard anything until it was done. It's KISS in the purest sense, it worked out very well, and when it was finished we all said, "We made a damn good record."

How long had it been since you recorded on tape?

At least 10 years. I thought it was obsolete! We recorded at Conway Recording Studios, in Hollywood, with Greg Collins. The setup is great. We had Eric's drums in a booth, Paul, Gene and I were together, we had the amps in iso and we cranked it out. We rehearsed the songs at Mates and at SIR in Hollywood. When we first got together, Gene, Paul and I, in different combinations, the point was to write and not over-think. In 20 minutes we'd get a cool idea together, the basic structure, take it to rehearsal, make sure the arrangement was good, practice it four or five times and take it to the studio. We didn't record the album all at once. We did it in sections. We were touring here and there, and then we did the first three songs. We went to South America, and on days off we were in our hotel rooms with guitars and mini-Marshalls, putting songs together and recording on our laptops. We'd come home and do the same thing: rehearse, record three songs. We did vocal and guitar overdubs at Greg's private studio, The Nook, in Studio City. The whole thing, from start to finish, took a total of six weeks, which is a relatively short period by today's standards. My vocal on "When Lightning Strikes" took 20 minutes.

Which computers and software did you use on the road?

We all have Macs and Mac Pros and GarageBand. It's the easy way to record. No one in this band is super technical. Gene, in particular, is low tech. You send him an e-mail with an attachment and he e-mails you back and says, "I don't do attachments." He does it to the band, to Doc McGhee, no matter who you are! Or if the e-mail is too long, "I don't scroll." That's where he is. He hasn't figured out how to do attachments; he doesn't know how! The fact that we can all turn GarageBand on - I figured that out!

How did working with tape change your approach to recording, if it did at all?

One of the main things we did differently from other groups is that we recorded very organically, together as a band. Today, 99.9 percent of people record a drum track and build from there, adding guitars and vocals, step by step. We recorded all the basic tracks together as a four-piece, occasionally fixing bass notes and doing vocals and guitar solos, the way it was done in the 1970s and before. It's a different approach, and I know that from experience.

Was it worth it?

Oh, absolutely! Part of doing it this way is what gives it that real, spontaneous sound. If you make a record too perfect, if you do it step by step, it ends up sounding good, but the feel can be generic. This way, the flow has a real feel.

Walk us through your gear: the room, guitars, amps, how you created that organic sound.

It was pretty simple. I used Les Pauls and my Gibson Wine Red Deluxe. It's not a guitar I use on the road. I got it in the mid-'80s and it's a good sounding Les Paul for the studio and at home. I borrowed Paul's Gibson 61 SG Reissue and used that more than the Les Paul for rhythm and solos because it has a nice mid-range. I used an old Marshall, my H&K Tommy Thayer Duotone and Statesman combo amp, and an orange practice amp of Greg's for the raspy edge on my solos. My strings are Ernie Ball Hybrids, 9-46 gauge. The only pedal I used in the studio to give my solos a nicer boost was an Ibanez Tube Screamer. It's an original from the 1970s or '80s that I borrowed from Doug Aldridge of Whitesnake 24 years ago and never gave back. Every time I see him, he asks for it and I say, "I'll give it right back!" Doug gave me a really nice lead guitar sound on this album!

What is your role as lead guitarist in a two-guitar band, and how does it change from studio to stage?

They turn me up and turn Paul down, and that works! Two-guitar bands are my favorite because of the interplay, especially in KISS. When we're writing, we try to have that counterpart and interplay between the guitars and voicings so that we're not doing exactly the same thing. That's a big part in the way the songs were written. The other thing that makes the sound of our two guitars distinctive is that we use different approaches and settings to set the two off, and the more we do that, the better we are. The familiarity we have, the years of playing together, including Gene, have solidified that sense of rhythm and feel. We're all locked in together. It gives us a lot of power and we're all good at that. It just works.

What are you using onstage?

My live set-up is very straightforward: four Hughes & Kettner Tommy Thayer Signature Edition Duotone amplifiers, plus four Hughes & Kettner 4x12 speaker cabinets. I use four Gibson Custom Shop '59 and '60 reissue Les Pauls in sunburst, black and silver sparkle, one Custom Les Paul with rocket/gerb firing system [pyrotechnics], and a Gibson Custom Shop Explorer in Silver Sparkle. I use no effects onstage besides an octave divider and an MXR digital delay used in my guitar solo.

You've been involved with KISS for 20 years.

I began songwriting with them after Gene produced Black 'N Blue. I recorded demos with them. Then Black 'N Blue ran its course and I needed a job. I worked for KISS' organization and helped out on projects; it's now 15 or 20 years ago. It evolved quickly, with more responsibility and spearheading projects, conventions, the reunion tour, DVDs, editing. As Ace and Peter bowed out again, I was heir apparent because I knew how to do it.

When did you begin to feel like a band member?

There was always a strong familiarity between us, knowing each other very well, even when I worked in their office. I got in the band in 2002-2003. One of the main elements to making things work in a band is being comfortable with each other. Gene and Paul have been around a long time, and one of their main criteria is that everyone be comfortable and compatible personality-wise. People think that being in a band is all about how you play, and certainly that is a big part, but personalities are important too. It took me a year or two to feel confident and a part of the band, and that's understandable. KISS has a long history, and you can't just come in feeling like you're a big part of this. Having had a lot of input with the new album, I definitely feel very much like a solid member.

When fans attend KISS concerts, they want to hear the songs played a certain way. How do you stay true to form without feeling like you're playing in a cover band?

First of all, I don't want to do it any other way. People sometimes suggest, "You should put more of your personality into the old songs." No. I want to play them the way they were written and recorded originally, because when I see a new guitarist in a band, I want to see him nailing it the way it's supposed to be. I hate going to concerts where the new guitarist is playing a new interpretation of the songs. That doesn't work for me. The other side of that is that sometimes I take flak for copying Ace. No, I'm playing KISS songs and making them sound the way they should. Ace was a part of the 1970s sound, and I don't want to do them another way. Capturing the KISS sound is a big part of the new record, and if people say I'm an Ace clone, fine, all I'm doing is capturing the classic sound of KISS. Tommy Thayer is there, too, but it's not 75 or 80 percent Tommy Thayer. That's a different direction, although my style is very similar to Ace's style, and he was one of my influences.

Are the members of KISS underrated as musicians and songwriters?

I think that has always been true with KISS. They took a lot of flak in the old days: "Oh, they can't play." To me, they were the band with great nights and off nights, so that can make them seem less consistent. The band today is fiery and in your face. We go out every night and lay it down, and the point of view that someone may have taken before doesn't apply anymore. Eric is one of the greatest rock drummers out there, I don't do so bad, Gene and Paul have been at it for a long time, and we're all very cohesive and strong when we're together. We're coming from the same place in how we approach the songs, and that can be very lethal onstage, especially with a big P.A.!

Does being the guy who replaced the guy [Frehley] who replaced the guy [Kulick] who replaced the guy [St. John] who replaced the guy [Vincent] who replaced the original guy [Frehley] cost you rep points? Can you be Tommy Thayer, guitarist, and not just Tommy Thayer, replacement guitarist in KISS? Or is being Tommy Thayer, replacement guitarist in KISS, the gig and that's enough?

It's more about that, because at this point does it really matter? Look at the Stones. There have been a lot of configurations in that band, and they're still around. I don't try to compete with that concept. I'm the guitarist in KISS 2009, the band is kicking ass, and so I'm not worried about what came before me. This is where I am now, and I'm standing proud with a great new record, enough said. It is what it is. I'm the guy onstage, I'm doing it very well, and that's all I need to know.

Is there a guitar album in your future?

Honestly, I don't aspire to do a solo or guitar album. It doesn't seem like something I want to try to approach. It would never be as good or as important as KISS and I have no desire to do it. It doesn't appeal to me. Remember, I like two guitars!

What is the difference between playing guitar and being a guitarist?

There's a big difference. Playing guitar, to me, is more a technical, rudimentary thing - picking up a stringed instrument, making chords and playing solo lines. A guitarist, especially in a band like KISS, opens up a whole other world of attitude and point of view and approach that's unique. When someone listens to the new record and says, "Tommy did real well and he's on the mark," or when fans say that, part of me thinks, I am on the mark. Not that it's about what people say, because I feel it inside and the guys tell me I'm doing it right, and that's reassuring. To do this and do it well is not as simple as some people think. Combine it with the personalities involved, and living KISS day to day - it's not a simple thing. Making it work so smoothly is part of being the guitarist in KISS. And I can assure you that being the guitarist in KISS is completely different from being the guitarist in any other band.

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Tommy Thayer's Signature H&K

In 2008, Tommy Thayer partnered with Hughes & Kettner for the launch of his line of Tommy Thayer Signature Edition guitar amplifiers. As mentioned by Thayer and Sonic Boom co-producer/engineer Greg Collins in their interviews with Premier Guitar, the Duotone was used for recording the album and performing live.

What makes the Duotone particularly special is that Thayer donates 100 percent of the royalties earned from sales of the amp directly to the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Thayer is on the Board of Trustees at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore. He works to bring new musical instruments into school band programs in his home state and has made speaking appearances at middle and high schools. He also hosts the annual Pacific University Legends Golf Classic, bringing together musicians, celebrities and PGA pros to raise funds for Pacific University's Athletics Program in Oregon.

Thayer credits his parents for instilling his philanthropic interests. "I get a lot of that from them," he says. "My dad taught me that it is very important to help people and that it should not be all about yourself; that helping others is a quality you should always have."

Interview: Greg Collins - KISS' Sonic Boom Co-Producer
by Elianne Halbersberg
From the December 2009 issue of Premier Guitar

"If you had asked me when I was a kid if I thought I'd ever work with KISS, I would have told you that you were completely crazy," says Greg Collins, co-producer and engineer of Sonic Boom. "I wouldn't have dared to dream that would happen."

Collins played an integral part in the making of the new album. When Paul Stanley expressed his desire to cut a "classic" KISS record, it was Collins who suggested they do it the "classic" way: on tape. From first rehearsals until final mix, he worked closely with KISS at Conway Recording Studios and his own studio, The Nook. His technical expertise, coupled with an understanding of KISS that can only come from a longtime fan, helped create the album that diehard KISS supporters had clearly been waiting for: Sonic Boom entered the Billboard Rock Albums chart at No. 1 and the Top 200 chart at No. 2.

In an interview with Premier Guitar, Collins described his working relationship with KISS and how he captured that "classic" sound.Interview: Greg Collins - KISS' Sonic Boom Co-Producer
by Elianne Halbersberg
From the December 2009 issue of Premier Guitar

"If you had asked me when I was a kid if I thought I'd ever work with KISS, I would have told you that you were completely crazy," says Greg Collins, co-producer and engineer of Sonic Boom. "I wouldn't have dared to dream that would happen."

Collins played an integral part in the making of the new album. When Paul Stanley expressed his desire to cut a "classic" KISS record, it was Collins who suggested they do it the "classic" way: on tape. From first rehearsals until final mix, he worked closely with KISS at Conway Recording Studios and his own studio, The Nook. His technical expertise, coupled with an understanding of KISS that can only come from a longtime fan, helped create the album that diehard KISS supporters had clearly been waiting for: Sonic Boom entered the Billboard Rock Albums chart at No. 1 and the Top 200 chart at No. 2.

In an interview with Premier Guitar, Collins described his working relationship with KISS and how he captured that "classic" sound.

Was this your first time working with KISS?

We did a series of re-recordings of their classic songs two years ago, ostensibly for use in licensings and syncs. It went really well, so they decided to release it in Japan last year as Jigoku-Retsuden and included it in this new package release [as KISS Klassics] for Wal-Mart. Prior to that, I mixed Paul's [2006] solo album, Live to Win. That was my introduction to Paul.

How did that project come about?

I was recommended to Paul by a few people. Victor Intrizzo, an amazing drummer who plays with Alanis Morrisette and was in Beck's band, played on Live To Win and he put Paul and I in touch. Paul and I talked on the phone and we hit it off. I'd been a lifelong KISS fan. I remember the Christmas I got my first record player and five KISS records. I was obsessed from then on. KISS and the Beatles were my first musical obsessions. I've come full circle, co-producing this record, for sure.

Why did you choose to use tape?

Paul and I talked, and he basically wanted to make a '70s-inspired KISS record, a "makeup KISS" record. That was the first description he threw at me, and I was very excited about that idea. To me, that meant doing it the way records were made in the 1970s, and that meant tape.

If you have the time and the budget, working with tape is great for a few reasons. First, the whole process is more paced. You have rewind time and reel changes. When I started working in studios in the early 1990s, we still did most of our recording on tape. Most of it was analog, but digital tape formats like the Sony 3348 machines were also just coming in. As an assistant engineer, I learned from some of the best - people like Ed Cherney and Jim Scott - how to edit tape, work with slave reels, and fly background vocals using sync offsets between two machines. There is actually a mathematical formula for that. Now it's a lost art that went away with the advent of computer-based recording, but some of those techniques are still ingrained in my brain. I miss certain things about that process, which was much more organic and human.

With digital technology we've all developed a form of Attention Deficit Disorder because we expect everything to happen immediately. Results are expected right away. With tape, the band plays, the tape rolls, you stop the machine and there is a moment of, "Oh, I hope it's still there," and then you hear the playback and it's kind of magical.

The second benefit of using tape is the noise floor it creates. The hiss that's inherent with tape recording, I believe, is a good thing.

Third is compression. Tape shapes the transient peaks of the drums, so it softens the hard edges and makes things a little easier on the ears. Recording engineers have often used that as a tool. You hit the tape really hard for certain tracks and it comes back sounding compressed. You can't really get that particular sound out of a piece of outboard gear.

How involved were you in the rehearsals?

I was present for most of them. We spent some time figuring out what guitar/amp combinations we liked during the first round. For the rest of the rehearsals I would mostly just observe and provide occasional feedback. If something sounded like classic KISS to me, I'd usually jump up excitedly and throw two big thumbs in the air. It was fun just to be a fly on the wall during their writing process.

We did the record in a few small batches. Paul would call and say, "We've got two or three songs, here's our window, see what we can do." We would go to the rehearsal studio for a day or two, the band would get the songs arranged to a certain point, then we'd go to Conway and bang them out. After a couple of run-throughs for sound and arrangement tweaks, it was usually two or three takes and that was it. There were no click tracks and very minimal editing between takes.

Which room did KISS use for recording and how was it set up?

We actually used two studios: Conway Studio A for tracking, and my own studio, The Nook. Conway A is my favorite for tracking because the live room has amazing acoustics and the main monitors are among the best I've ever heard. It also has three big iso booths, so I can put every amp in its own space without too much leakage. The main room is great for drums, but because we wanted to go for a "seventies" sound, I put Eric's drums in one of the booths so that I could get a drier sound where appropriate. I also kept the doors of the booth open so that the sound would spill into the live room, where I had a stereo mic that provided a nice, big room sound. You might notice that "All For The Glory, "Never Enough," "Animal" and "Say Yeah" feature a more roomy sound than the rest of the tracks. While mixing, I tried to use a minimal amount of reverb and stuck to a vintage plate and chamber. Again, I was trying to use things that would have only been around in the 1970s. Everyone in the band has gear endorsements and lines, and we used their signature-model guitars on the re-records, which sound great, but for Sonic Boom I was adamant that we use old vintage amps and instruments - Eric used the first drum set he ever owned as a kid to make this record.

I always had this image in my head of old pictures of Gene playing Gibson basses, so I borrowed a couple of different ones for him. We rented two vintage Ripper basses, and in a video they put online you can see him playing one that's a Sunburst, but on most of the tracks he used a blond-finished Ripper that I found at a music store around the corner from my studio. I went there on a whim one day and it was like fate, because that bass was hanging on the wall right in front of me when I walked in, and when I tried it out it had the most massive sound. I'm mainly a bass player, so I'm particularly obsessive about bass sounds, and I knew right away that this was the one to use. It took a while for Gene to get comfortable playing it, but in the end he was glad he did. It turns out that he actually used to play the "Grabber" model basses. At one point we brought one of those in, but that particular one didn't even come close to the Ripper.

Tommy played his vintage Les Paul on most rhythm tracks, and a '61 SG body-style Les Paul reissue on some solos as well. He used a two-amp setup for rhythm guitar consisting of a mid-'70s Marshall JMP 100-watt head - we tried four or five before we found the right one - and his Hughes & Kettner Statesman combo amp. My intention was not to have a too modern, high-gain guitar sound. As a reference point I used the first KISS record, which is probably my favorite sounding of their early makeup era, and also, of course, Destroyer. We also talked about other great classic guitar sounds, like the ones on AC/DC's Back in Black. Over the years KISS' sound has evolved toward being a lot more aggressive and edgy than that, but I think we struck a good balance between the sound of the 1970s and something a bit bigger and more vivid.

Again, the thing I was watching out for was to not have the amps too gained out. The typical modern sound for heavy bands is something like a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and boost pedals, and that's definitely not what we wanted. For rhythm tracks we went cable to amp. The only pedals in line were splitter boxes - Radial Tonebones - so that we could drive two amps at once, and no effects. It's the pure tone of the guitar and amp. We tried to find the sweet spot on the amp gain, where it sounded rich but you could still hear every note in the chord.

For Paul's amp setup we used a 1966 Fender Bassman head and a Randall MTS head. The Bassman is a great vintage amp, which is the majority of his tone. The Randall MTS is a modern amp but it has modular plug-in preamps based on older classic amp circuits. We used the one modeled after a Marshall Super Lead. All of Paul's tracks were done with either a Gibson custom-shop Les Paul or SG into the Bassman/MTS rig.

With Gene, it was the Ripper bass into an Avalon U5 DI box and a mid-70s Ampeg SVT head and 8x10 cabinet. Some SVTs distort in a really good way, but many do not, so it was another process of finding just the right one.

During mixing I also ran the direct bass signal through a Marshall JMP-1 preamp for even more distortion, which you can hear on the song "Russian Roulette."

What about mics?

On the bass amp I used three mics. I tend to put a lot of mics on the amps and use only one if it has the right sound, or blend them together. The phase relationship between mics and the DI is very important, but that doesn't mean everything has to be perfectly in phase. Sometimes two mics slightly out of phase can sound amazing, and you can use that blend as a sort of EQ. On the bass cabinet I had an AKG C12 placed two or three feet back from the amp. I used a Shure Beta 52 dynamic and an SM 57 up close on different speakers. The mic pre-amps were Neve 31104's, which I balanced and mixed to tape through a Vintage 1176 LN compressor.

On each of the guitar amps I also used three mics. Tommy's Marshall was running through a 4x12 cabinet, and the H&K combo amp is an open-back 2x12. I used a Heil PR30 on the 4x12. It's a dynamic mic, somewhat similar to an SM57, with a frequency response that's just great for distorted guitar. I find that it has more clarity and bite than the typical 57. I also used a Royer 121 ribbon mic. What I love about the Royer is that it gives a ton of midrange, and when you boost mid- and high-frequency EQ it always sounds really good. You can really dig in and it never sounds too harsh. It fills things out and sounds thick and full. I also used an AKG 414 for a different flavor. With distorted guitars I don't compress too much. I used a Neve 33609 compressor, but never more than -3 or 4dB of compression. I find it best to let the amp, and then the tape, handle that. On Tommy's combo amp I used an old RCA 77 ribbon mic and a Sennheiser 421.

Paul's Bassman was going through a 2x12 closed-back cabinet with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. For the Randall it was a Colossus 4x12 cabinet and for both cabinets I used the same mics: the PR 30, the Royer and the 414.

Paul and Gene's lead vocals were done almost entirely with a Shure SM7. For Tommy I used a Neumann SM 69, the stereo version of a U87. For Eric I used a Blue Blueberry cardioid microphone. The vocal chain was an Inward Connection tube sidecar console and an Anthony DeMaria LA-2A-style compressor.

Guitar solos were done half at Conway and half at The Nook. We split the signal into four amps for a little more flexibility in sound between the songs. We had Tommy's vintage Marshall and the H&K head that he uses onstage, as well as a couple of smaller amps, a Fender Pro Junior and a little toy Orange amplifier [Orange Micro Crush] that runs on AA batteries. You can buy it at Urban Outfitters! It blended in fairly prominently for edgy, buzzy solos that sound '70s and fuzzy.

How was the album mixed?

We recorded all of the basic tracks on tape, transferred it into Pro Tools, and I mixed it entirely on a 1986 SSL 6000 analog console I had installed in my studio specifically for this KISS record.

How would you summarize the overall experience of making Sonic Boom?

It was amazing, because I was working with people that I idolized as a kid. Over the years I've learned that the dynamic in every band is different, and sometimes it can be tough, with politics, egos and however many years of baggage. I couldn't believe how incredibly healthy the creative relationship is with KISS. Paul was clearly in charge of the record, but he was open to everyone's ideas. Everything was discussed in an enjoyable, fun way. There was no sense of egos overwhelming the process or anyone being marginalized in any way. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences I ever had working with a band.

This doesn't come as a surprise.

You know, the first thing people ask me is, "What about Gene?" Gene is very methodical and professional... and very funny in a self-deprecating way. He's also very underrated a bass player. I really loved doing bass overdubs with him. He has a style all his own and it's a huge part of what makes KISS sound like KISS. Paul has said that no other lineup could have made this record and I believe he's right. Everyone in KISS is confident about their role in the band. They're not trying to please anyone but themselves, which is the best way to make music. There was no sense of anxiety, no label, no A&R guy. It was just the band and myself, trying to make the best KISS record we could. It was a completely natural process, and hopefully the results speak for themselves.

Excerpted from Planet Radiocity

With the face paint and costumes, KISS is always recognisable. The band which formed way back in 1972 and has won numerous accolades is back with its eleventh studio album, Sonic Boom. The band's first in over a decade, and their first with drummer Eric Singer.

Gene Simmons, in this interview, talks about their Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame nomination, the KISS army and playing Madison Square Garden for the first time.

KISS was nominated for induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame this year. Gene says, "It's appreciated, but we don't take it too seriously. Our fans are everything to us. The KISS Army is legendary and has become iconic. It's become its own thing. Every other band in the world knows about the KISS Army, and they'd give their left nut to have it. So, nice to be nominated, but it'd be nice to win. It's not the end all or be all. We do our talking onstage!"Excerpted from Planet Radiocity

With the face paint and costumes, KISS is always recognisable. The band which formed way back in 1972 and has won numerous accolades is back with its eleventh studio album, Sonic Boom. The band's first in over a decade, and their first with drummer Eric Singer.

Gene Simmons, in this interview, talks about their Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame nomination, the KISS army and playing Madison Square Garden for the first time.

KISS was nominated for induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame this year. Gene says, "It's appreciated, but we don't take it too seriously. Our fans are everything to us. The KISS Army is legendary and has become iconic. It's become its own thing. Every other band in the world knows about the KISS Army, and they'd give their left nut to have it. So, nice to be nominated, but it'd be nice to win. It's not the end all or be all. We do our talking onstage!"

Despite the major studio successes, Gene says the place he knows his band has left a mark is on live performances. He says, "All we know is that when we go to see wrestling and we see fireworks or we go and see McCartney or any other band live and you see spectacle and fireworks, and all that, where'd that come from? The stampeders? If the only thing we've done is raise the bar substantially for live performances, that's good! Then we've left our mark! It's no longer enough to just get onstage with a tie-dyed t-shirt and sneakers, and look at your shoes and think that you are giving people a show."

Sonic Boom is the band's first studio album in 11 years. Gene says the album is filled with the vitality of their older albums. "Eleven brand new songs; it's a three-disc special package. The second disc has 15 songs by this line-up re-recorded. The third disc is of us in South America at Buenos Aires Stadium in April, just a few months back. And what Sonic Boom is, is this is who we are now. No keyboard players, no children's choirs, no synthesisers, none of that. Meat and potatoes straight down the line, and it all goes back to a spirit of innocence that we had when we first started, when we first strapped guitars on our shoulders. Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer sing their own songs. The band is back to being full octane."

KISS's new members Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer replaced Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. Gene says that fans are going to have to live with the replacements because they couldn't deal with Criss's and Frehley's problems anymore. He says, "In football teams, there's a number. If one of the players gets kicked out of the band three times for not being a team player and for using drugs and alcohol, 'your ass is grass,' as they say in New York! You may have been worthy of the team once. Why the hell would you continue to keep somebody on the team if they're not carrying their load?"

The band kicked off its 35th anniversary celebrations recently and Gene was very happy to meet two guys who attended one of their most famous concerts from back then. He says, "We met the guys on the back cover of the double live album (Alive). You have to remember in those days, it was lunacy to release a live record, much less a double live record. KISS has always been like that - nuts! So, the back cover shows two fans in the middle of a sold out hall, three nights I might add, and they're holding a KISS banner that they made. Well, those two guys showed up all these many years later with the same banner. One's a successful real estate agent and the other is a doctor. The KISS Army, that's right!"

After more than a decade, KISS also returned to Madison Garden. Gene says he has fond memories of playing there the first time. He says, "I will tell you a story... The band was put together at 10 East 23rd Street. It was a loft, and The Garden was 10 blocks away. I would walk up there and see basketball or The Stones or whoever else was playing."

"We all have dreams! And when KISS played there for the first time, I walked in through the front door because in those days people didn't know what we looked like without the makeup. They were just aware of KISS. They thought that we looked like that 24 hours a day. So, I walked in through the front door, walked through the crowd, went backstage, put on makeup, got up onstage and rocked the house! The rock 'n' roll rites of passage, if you will. It was like climbing Mount Olympus; when you get to the top, the view is amazing!"

Essay by M
Photograph by Jessica N. De Santiago (Apples)
Excerpted from EP Culture Beat

"We all came here to escape from the world tonight," yelled Paul Stanley, lead singer of KISS, before the group launched into "Rock and Roll All Night."

KISS brought their fiery rock and roll show to the Don Haskins Center on Wednesday night. The platform shoe wearing rockers played a set consisting of KISS classics like set opener, "Deuce," "Strutter," "Dr. Love," "Love Gun" and "Lick it Up."

KISS is one of those bands that incite weird and very disparate feelings in people. Some say, "f*ck KISS," but other's say, "F*cking Awesome." People that say the latter are either super fans of the group or they were lucky enough to catch the blood and thunder of their theatrical live performances.
Essay by M
Photograph by Jessica N. De Santiago (Apples)
Excerpted from EP Culture Beat

"We all came here to escape from the world tonight," yelled Paul Stanley, lead singer of KISS, before the group launched into "Rock and Roll All Night."

KISS brought their fiery rock and roll show to the Don Haskins Center on Wednesday night. The platform shoe wearing rockers played a set consisting of KISS classics like set opener, "Deuce," "Strutter," "Dr. Love," "Love Gun" and "Lick it Up."

KISS is one of those bands that incite weird and very disparate feelings in people. Some say, "f*ck KISS," but other's say, "F*cking Awesome." People that say the latter are either super fans of the group or they were lucky enough to catch the blood and thunder of their theatrical live performances.

Once a person sees KISS, the convert's perception of how live rock and roll should sound, feel and to an extent look like, changes completely. These guys are damn exciting to see. They are a loud, awe-inspiring, all engulfing experience that you'll never forget.

When that black curtain emblazoned with the KISS logo falls, bombs go off and these 4 wild men in grease paint go to work. This squad of 7 foot tall superheroes w/ instruments who are - The Demon, the Star Child, the Space Man, and the Cat Man - glimmer and sparkle like something out of this world. Your mind finds it hard to get used to it at first. It does not know what to make of these unreal figures � cartoonish and garish in nature - in a real life setting.

But, soon, your brain gives, and there they are, right in front of you, jumping and lurking about in clouds of dry ice fog. They spit blood, shoot rockets, fly over the crowd, practically set the venue on ablaze with bombs and towers of fire while burning your retinas with that extra huge light up KISS logo they never leave home without.

Very real. Very loud. Very trippy.

As you're taken in by the experience, you start to notice that these guys have basically taken the Chuck Berry and Alice Cooper ethos to the extreme. Then you begin to realize that these guys are driven, to the brink of insanity, to be world-class entertainers.

These guys are Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, founders and seemingly, permanent, members of KISS. They started this group way back in 1973 in the birthplace of many a rock group, New York, with two other guys, Ace Frehley, KISS' first lead guitarist and Peter Criss, KISS' first drummer.

As a struggling band, the four young New Yorkers with attitude and big dreams rehearsed constantly, played countless shows at dive bars, dilapidated hotels and other assorted odd realms you may have encountered in the early '70s.

By 1975, the group had released three albums to little or no critical acclaim or chart success, yet, retained a rigorous touring schedule.

However, they were playing to packed crowds on a regular basis, so they decided to release a live album to chronicle the bombast of their show. That album, "KISS Alive!," was a hit and has since become a classic and sold millions of units.

Their music from the 70's is arguably their best.

It was very riff driven, contained catchy choruses, very underrated lead guitar work (check out Alive!, seriously) and their lyrical content was shameless, ex: "Put your hands in my pocket grab on to my rocket!" KISS' sound was mixed just right in their best releases from that period: "Destroyer," produced by Bob Ezrin, "Rock and Roll Over" and "Love Gun" both produced by Eddie Kramer who engineered sessions for Jimi Hendrix.

And the rest, as they say, is KISStory.

KISS spent the rest of the '70's dominating their audience, selling millions of albums and merchandise. During the 80s all that behind the music stuff happened: there were line up changes, they experienced a drop in popularity, released tepid sounding albums. Most disheartening of all, they took off their makeup.

In 1996, KISS embarked on a reunion tour with original members Ace and Peter. It was a success and showed that the world wanted the super hero KISS back. The reunited KISS released an album, "Psycho Circus," but began the new decade with a "Farewell" tour. It seemed like old problems arose and Ace and Peter once again left the group. In hindsight, that "Farewell" tour was really one last hurrah for the original lineup.

KISS has continued, as always, with Gene and Paul. They have retained the original look of the group with Tommy Thayer on guitar, a longtime jack-of-all-trades in the KISS organization and Eric Singer on drums, who actually played with the group in the early 90s. KISS version 2.0 has released a new album entitled "Sonic Boom," which features a return to their 70's style of songwriting, riffing and producing. Their current tour celebrates the new album and lineup as well as KISS' 35 years in the music biz.

KISS understands that rock and roll should be loud, colorful, full of fire and passion and they always make sure to deliver only THE BEST in their live performances, with or without certain members in the group. Their performance was everything that a KISS show promises to be, a top-notch spectacle.

Gene spit fire and blood. Paul, who is quite possibly one of the best frontmen alive, flew over the crowd to a revolving platform. Tommy shot rockets from his guitar and Eric played a crazy drum solo. They also played songs that delighted hardcore fans, like "Parasite" and "Cold Gin" and played classic interludes found on their first live record. They ended their Don Haskin's performance with Detroit Rock City and let loose with pyro at the very end.

This strange rock and roll group that began in the 70's has been lambasted by critics, shunned by the 'normals' and have been unfairly ignored by the rock and roll hall of fame, until recently. Despite that, they seem to outlast fads and trends and have influenced many bands and guitarists, most famously Dimebag Darrell. Not all bands would benefit greatly from donning grease paint, but there's just something special about KISS.

KISS' show is a cataclysmic catharsis. These guys are one of the few practitioners of this lost art. A young band or musician may scoff at KISS, but they should really be paying attention and taking notes.

By Doug Pullen
Excerpted from El Paso Times


It's easy to think of Kiss as a mere branding opportunity. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and company practically pioneered blatant self-promotion in rock 'n' roll, selling everything from underwear to caskets with their distinctive brand on it.

But there's another, more vital role that the men in tights and black-and-white makeup have played in our world these past 36 years.

"We all came here to escape from the world tonight," Stanley announced more than midway through a 2-hour and 15-minute performance Wednesday before a sell-out crowd at UTEP's Don Haskins Center.
By Doug Pullen
Excerpted from El Paso Times

It's easy to think of Kiss as a mere branding opportunity. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and company practically pioneered blatant self-promotion in rock 'n' roll, selling everything from underwear to caskets with their distinctive brand on it.

But there's another, more vital role that the men in tights and black-and-white makeup have played in our world these past 36 years.

"We all came here to escape from the world tonight," Stanley announced more than midway through a 2-hour and 15-minute performance Wednesday before a sell-out crowd at UTEP's Don Haskins Center.

Escapism's exactly what these kabuki rockers are all about, well, that and a high profit margin. In Kiss' world, a rock 'n' roll concert isn't supposed to pummel you with platitudes about global warming and world hunger. It's about rock 'n' rolling all night and partying every day, slugging down that last-call glass of cold gin and licking up the love gun.

And the El Paso crowd sure licked up their heros. About three generations of 'em, in fact. There were little kids wearing Simmons' trademark demon makeup, and there were a few guys my age (52) who did the same.

One doesn't go to a Kiss concert for the fine musicianship either, though current guitarist Tommy Thayer and long-running drummer Eric Singer certainly are improvements, instrumentally speaking, over the guys they eventually replaced, original guitarist Ace Frehley and original drummer Peter Criss. The newer guys may wear the older guys' makeup, but they're definitely better players.

That gives founding members Simmons - he of the lascivious tongue wagging - and the screechy-voiced, ever-playful Stanley plenty of room to just be Kiss, pointing at audience members, flicking an endless procession of souvenir Kiss guitar picks to the crowd, vamping for the three video screens and doing what they're famous for.

In Simmons case, that's spitting fake blood on "I Love It Loud," which ain't exactly "God of Thunder" but still provides the drama when he flies up to a platform high above the crowd to sing it. Stanley's big stunt, aside from shimmying in those four-inch platform boots, is flying over the floor crowd to a raised, circular, rotating stage during "Love Gun," one of four songs that make up the 15-minute encore.

The stunts, old and newer twists on a form of pyrotechnic spectacle Kiss practically pioneered, are as famous as the songs these guys have made popular over the years; anthems like "Rock and Roll All Night" and "Shout It Out Loud."

That Kiss pulled out all the stops, musically and visually, in the final third of the show was a good thing. It provided an appropriately celebratory conclusion to an occasionally uneven performance, which started strong with "Deuce" and "Strutter," sagged here and there in the middle (new "Sonic Boom" song "Say Yeah" had "crowd-pleasing sing-along" written all over it, but those '70s era solo segments are momentum killers).

Stanley made that escapism comment during the best part of the set, as well as praising the military members of the audience as "the real American heroes" and boastfully pointed out the pre-teen additions to the Kiss Army. It kind of made all his other routine banter a little less laughable.

You had to know the show would be a good one with the kind of energetic performance that openersBuckcherry gave. The band's been here several times, and it's been to hell and a back a few times, but singer Josh Todd and company obviously appreciate the second chance they got a few years back and performed like they meant it.

It's easy to get cynical about Kiss, a band that once took off the makeup when it was commercially expedient, then put it back on 13 years ago when the band's fortunes needed a serious goosing. But you couldn't help but get the sense that the band's out to do more than pad its bank accounts on the current "Kiss Alive 35" anniversary tour.

Just as they Kiss did back in the 1970s, these four guys in kabuki clown makeup are also out to make us smile and forget our troubles for a couple of hours.