Kiss News

By Michael Doret

I've been waiting a few months to be able to talk about this-and I have talked about it to some degree in a few online interviews, but not really in any detail. Back in April of this year I received a telephone call from out of the blue-from somewhere in South America. At the other end of the line was KISS' Paul Stanley. It'd been more years than I cared to remember since we last spoke. That was when I had done the cover art for "Rock and Roll Over"-KISS' 5th album and their 2nd to go Platinum. So you can understand my surprise when Paul asked if I'd be interested in designing the cover art for KISS' first studio album in 11 years-which Paul himself was producing.By Michael Doret

I've been waiting a few months to be able to talk about this-and I have talked about it to some degree in a few online interviews, but not really in any detail. Back in April of this year I received a telephone call from out of the blue-from somewhere in South America. At the other end of the line was KISS' Paul Stanley. It'd been more years than I cared to remember since we last spoke. That was when I had done the cover art for "Rock and Roll Over"-KISS' 5th album and their 2nd to go Platinum. So you can understand my surprise when Paul asked if I'd be interested in designing the cover art for KISS' first studio album in 11 years-which Paul himself was producing.

That's when I started remembering how exciting it was the first time around, to have been involved in that fast-paced world of entertainment and music. For me it had been a far cry from doing the corporate logos, magazine and book covers I had been working on at the time. An "edgy" job for me then was doing a spread for High Times (yep, they've been around for a while)! I've always enjoyed the fact that doing what I do has enabled me to straddle many different design worlds, from the fairly straight to the totally off-the-wall. I always tried to say "yes" to just about anyone who was adventurous enough, and had the vision to see how having me design for them could work to their advantage. At any rate I had said "yes"to KISS the first time around (even though I had no idea what I was doing), so of course I again said yes to Paul. We agreed to meet when he returned at the conclusion of their South American tour.

Much to my surprise the "Rock and Roll Over" cover had in recent years become one of the most-if not the most-talked about piece of art in my portfolio. It was a little bewildering to me how over the years that cover had become an icon for this iconic group. I've been contacted by more people about my KISS artwork in the past 6 or 7 years than in all the years prior, and more than any other piece I've ever done including the New York Knicks logo. So the expectations for this new art I was to work on were quite high.

When Paul Stanley came by my studio to discuss how to proceed on the art for the cover of their upcoming CD/DVD package "Sonic Boom", I had no idea what to expect. I hadn't met with him since working on Rock and Roll Over, and had very little memory of what that had been like. Any anxiety I had melted away when we started talking. Paul is a "gentlemen's gentleman" and I immediately felt at ease talking with him-as if all those years had not intervened since the last time we had spoken. After some small talk he explained what he was after with the new cover art. His vision for this album was to make it as vital and raw as it had been when they did RaRO. He felt that that had been some of the best work that they had ever done, and wanted the new album to recreate that energy both musically and visually. While he didn't want me to reprise what I had done with my art for the earlier cover, he did want me to try to capture some of the same spirit, attitude, energy, and look that I had instilled in that piece. Also one of his stipulations was that unlike RaRO (where I had created abstract, graphic versions of the KISS personas) this time he wanted photographic representations of the four group members in full makeup.

When I did RaRO I had a 12" canvas to work on. Now with CD covers and digital booklets that canvas had been reduced to less than 40% of its original size. Designing in a 4 3/4" space poses some very different problems from what I faced while working on covers for vinyl releases. In fact the older cover design would not have worked at that size, it's many elements would have felt crowded into a small space. So the elements of Sonic Boom had to be bigger, bolder-and fewer. I made the decision to make the title the main focus of the graphics, moving the other elements (faces, KISS logo) into prominent-but subordinate-roles.

So I set about putting pencil to paper and trying to solve this the way I solve any other design problem. I did not want to get psyched-out by thinking too much about how the new design would compare with RaRO. That cover had taken on a life of its own and had become a pop culture icon. Creating an iconic cover could not have been one of my goals. All I was capable of doing was to try to create the most compelling graphics possible within the parameters and limitations that had been set out for me. So I started out at the core of this design by creating what I call a "word constellation" out of the title. I tried to make it communicate its meaning visually by not only making it angular and "explosive", but also by creating a shape that was somewhat suggestive of flight-a "flying wing", if you will. Bearing in mind the symmetrical, mandala-like layout of RaRO I started designing the new piece as a field growing out of the center of the square, with the four members faces moving outwards from the center, and capped with my version of the ubiquitous KISS logo.

It took about a week for me to develop my sketch to the point where I felt confident in what I had come up with. As I had done with RaRO, I felt so strongly about this cover design that I decided to not present any other options-I wanted this to be the ONE.

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY (AP)

Kiss to release new album at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club

The veteran heavy metal group, Kiss, is joining a growing list of classic acts putting out new music through the world's largest retailer.

"Sonic Boom" is due to be released only at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores on Oct. 6. The three-disc package will include a CD of the band's first new music in 11 years, re-recorded versions of famous Kiss hits and a live DVD.

Paul Stanley - one of the quartet's two original members, along with Gene Simmons - said the band chose to release the album at Wal-Mart because the store allowed them to make it memorable.

"They offered us an opportunity to do something that's very much in line with what we used to do with our classic albums, and that's to give people more than just an album of music," Stanley said in an interview last week. "We've always believed in trying to make an album a special event."
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY (AP)

Kiss to release new album at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club

The veteran heavy metal group, Kiss, is joining a growing list of classic acts putting out new music through the world's largest retailer.

"Sonic Boom" is due to be released only at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores on Oct. 6. The three-disc package will include a CD of the band's first new music in 11 years, re-recorded versions of famous Kiss hits and a live DVD.

Paul Stanley - one of the quartet's two original members, along with Gene Simmons - said the band chose to release the album at Wal-Mart because the store allowed them to make it memorable.

"They offered us an opportunity to do something that's very much in line with what we used to do with our classic albums, and that's to give people more than just an album of music," Stanley said in an interview last week. "We've always believed in trying to make an album a special event."

Large store chains have become a favorite venue for classic acts to reintroduce themselves with new material. Wal-Mart has sold millions with releases by the Eagles, AC/DC and other key acts. It also has a Foreigner three-disc package due out in September. Target released a three-disc set from Prince earlier this year. Best Buy had the exclusive release of Guns 'N Roses first album in years.

Wal-Mart executives said Kiss, like other music acts they've worked with, has a special appeal to their customers.

"We see Kiss as an iconic band ... that resonates with the Wal-Mart customer not just with their music but in a lot of different areas," said Tom Welch, Wal-Mart's music buyer.

"Sonic Boom," which also features Kiss members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, was produced entirely by Stanley. The guitarist said he made that a condition before he would agree to do the album.

"The recent past, or the last decade or two, has not produced the kind of albums that I would have hoped, and that's due to a lot of factors - lack of input or lack of focus by all the band members," he said. "(There's been a) lack of a lineup where people were working toward the goal of making a great Kiss album as opposed to trying to showcase themselves."

But he called the new album "bar none our best album in 30 years, if not our best album period."

"Everybody worked their tails off to contribute 100 percent of their effort and their ability to make this the great Kiss that not only do the fans deserve, but we deserve," Stanley said.

The band is giving a special concert in Detroit on Sept. 25 to celebrate the album.

When asked if Kiss was doing anything differently to appeal to a new audience, Stanley said: "We've never geared ourselves towards anybody. When we're at our best is when we gear ourselves toward us.

"Classic Kiss isn't about an album this year or 10 albums ago. It's about a state of mind ... We are about entertainment with a capital 'E,' and we don't apologize for it."

By Melanie Falina

Any rock music fan knows who Paul Stanley is.

Paul Stanley is the Starchild, the lust-oozing singer and guitarist of one of the biggest bands in the history of rock and roll.

Onstage he's a commanding presence, somewhat of a rock and roll preacher - if you will; a crooner, a lover, and a circus leader. And those jumps he makes in six-inch, knee-high boots are poetry in motion.

Paul Stanley is 'the one with the star painted on his face,' but the canvas Stanley works with goes far beyond the realm of greasepaint and lipstick. Although coming to know Paul Stanley as an artist may seem to some as if it's a new development in the man's life but it's far from it. Having majored in art, Stanley graduated from the acclaimed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City - the school that the movie and television show Fame were based on.Any rock music fan knows who Paul Stanley is.

Paul Stanley is the Starchild, the lust-oozing singer and guitarist of one of the biggest bands in the history of rock and roll.

Onstage he's a commanding presence, somewhat of a rock and roll preacher - if you will; a crooner, a lover, and a circus leader. And those jumps he makes in six-inch, knee-high boots are poetry in motion.

Paul Stanley is 'the one with the star painted on his face,' but the canvas Stanley works with goes far beyond the realm of greasepaint and lipstick. Although coming to know Paul Stanley as an artist may seem to some as if it's a new development in the man's life but it's far from it. Having majored in art, Stanley graduated from the acclaimed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City - the school that the movie and television show Fame were based on.

As if Stanley doesn't already have a lot on his plate with the recording of a new KISS album, touring with the band, and having an infant and toddler at home, he is also bringing his artwork back to the Chicago area for an exhibit of his work.

Stanley is scheduled to appear at his exhibits on September 11 and 12 at Wentworth Galleries in Schaumberg at the Woodfield Shopping Center.

Somehow, despite Stanley's chaotic schedule, whilst wielding a guitar in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, the superhero himself had time to answer a few questions on art, rock and roll, and what he's learned about life.

"The great thing about doing art shows is you get to meet the people who are interested in your art, and I think that when you're purchasing a piece of art it's a tremendous bonus to get to meet the artist because you get a chance to pick their brain a bit and find out first hand what the piece is about for the artist," explains Stanley, "But on the other hand, I think that ultimately - as I say to most of the people who are acquiring art - I can tell you my reality of a piece but ultimately what's more important will be yours. I can tell you what a piece means to me but just as valid if not more is what it means to you."

And the same can be said of any of the arts - even any given song written by Stanley could have meant one thing to him as the composer and something completely different to the listener.

"And both are completely valid; I think that's what creating art is about. I think that as the person creating it from inception doesn't necessarily mean that we have a monopoly on what that piece means - we can only tell you what it means to us."

With Stanley's role in simply one of the biggest rock and roll bands in the world, he has indirectly acted as somewhat of a gateway to expose some people to art who might not have known much about it in the past other than maybe what their local art museum has to offer.

"Many people have not availed themselves the possibility of going to either an art museum or gallery, or for that matter the theater, because it has been made into an elite club by a certain snob set of perhaps the critics who actually cut their own throats by doing it, by intimidating people into believing that an opinion is only valid if it's educated - you cut off the masses from appreciating and supporting the arts. It's absurd. Any opinion is valid because it comes from an individual, it doesn't need an education. Plus, the opinion of the person next to you had no relevance to whether or not a piece, or a theatrical piece, emotes emotion from you. So the whole notion that only an educated opinion is valid is absurd. If somebody is a vegetarian and the person next to them loves steak, they�re opinion has no relevance. So perhaps by opening the door in a way to people who might not usually come to a gallery, in addition to quite a few people who obviously are collecting original pieces and quite expensive pieces, but by opening the door to the others I think that not only do they get a chance to see what art can do for them, they also get a chance to realize perhaps that they can create art."

Stanley continues: "I have to say that there are people who come to the galleries who have never, ever been to a KISS concert, and there are also people coming to the galleries who have never been to a gallery. So it's a great cross section and I'm a big believer in knocking down any doors that keep people out. I'm not a fan of clubs of elitism or exclusivity."

Mindy Tiberi, the director of Wentworth Galleries in Schaumberg, had commented on the appeal of one of Stanley's previous exhibits in the Chicago area: "Paul Stanley has a very strong fan base. His fans may start out wanting a piece of his art just because they are KISS fans but they quickly realize that his art offers them a whole other dimension of his creativity and they start collecting and are thrilled with the work he produces. We've also had non-KISS fans who have no idea who Paul Stanley is and they see the work hanging at Wentworth Gallery and love it and buy it."

Although Stanley's pieces have come from his private, emotional side, now that so many more people are standing up and taking notice does he feel any pressure at all to create works to please others?

"Never. Never," states Stanley, "The basis of my art is always to be true to myself. I don't feel any pressure because in my mind anybody who is experiencing or seeing my adventure is on it with me. If someone were to look at two or three pieces perhaps and say that they don't appear to be done by the same artist, I would say well one common element in all of them is vivid color. But outside of that I've been very lucky to have had enormous success very quickly, but in saying that I'm still very much developing in front of people. I don't want to have a style, because again that would be confining. That would be against everything that I try to do with art and with music. I think you can only run into problems when you try to second guess the public. You can never please everyone anyway, so at least make sure you have one fan - you."

Despite the fact that both Stanley's music and art work come from that innovative place within him - is there anything that his art gives him that music does not?

"Art is, for me, very primal. And it also has less boundaries or rules. I'm sure there are many rules that exist," Stanley chuckles softly, "But I have no knowledge them, and that's probably what makes it work for me, makes it enjoyable. I like to say that the only boundaries for me are the edges of the canvas. So opposed to music where there really are formats and rules that have to be followed for a piece to work, you have to have a musical chord foundation with a melody that relates to the chords in terms of the musicality. And then on top of that you have to have a lyric that works within the confines of the structure. So it's terrific but there are set rules that if you don't follow it just doesn't work."

Likewise, is there anything that Stanley attains from music that he does not from art?

"Tremendously. There's a different aspect - singing gives me a chance to find out what I'm capable of in terms of range, in terms of style, but also in terms of octaves. I used to be much more concerned with trying to sing perfectly, at least in rock, and I have found that at this point I'm more concerned with finding the balance between immediacy and being in pitch. That, and again, painting a picture with music - the levels you have to work on, the melodies, the lyrics, it's a very different process. I think that art is less planned for me. I got involved in art as a way of purging, as a way of using colors and textures in almost a stream of consciousness. So they're very different but when they work the result is equally satisfying.'

So does he enjoy the structure in music as much as he enjoys the lack thereof in art?

"Totally. I'd hate to say it's kind of like doing a crossword puzzle - you really have to fill in all the boxes with the right words or the total picture is not right."

With being consumed by the process of writing and recording a new album, is it difficult to change gears and have the time for painting?

"No, because everything that I do is a reflection of who I am. So anything I put myself to the other things in my life are part of the soup. They're part of what makes it what it is and makes me what I am. So my two little kids can only make my painting better, my music better, my performing better. It's all interconnected. But yes, I'd have to say that most people would hang themselves with my schedule. I manage to compartmentalize and prioritize and I go from one to the other. I don't do anything unless I know that I can give it 100 percent. So, that's always my main concern. Just finishing up producing the new KISS album, having a vision of what we should be doing, and seeing it through from inception to completion, and having my name on nine of 11 songs on the album - and seeing that everybody is as pleased with the album as I am. I think it goes beyond anybody's expectations within the band and anybody who's heard it has been blown away. So, mission accomplished."

2009 has already been a hectic year for the band KISS having already played throughout both South America and Canada - and with a few U.S. shows here and there as well; does Stanley bring his art practice on the road with him?

"I don't want to, I'm in another compartment. I've said to people I don't bring my paint brushes on stage and I don't bring my guitar in my art studio," Stanley chortles, "I'd have a lot of people scratching their head at either."

One might say that any musician or artist is a 'creative' person but there is so much more to what that means than just the label or textbook definition of the word. Does Paul Stanley define himself as a creative person?

"Very much so. I think that creativity is a big part of how anyone defines themselves - you either are or you aren't. And the more creative you are the more you get to know yourself. I see being creative as a means for getting to know myself, anything I do puts me more in touch with who I am. So I define myself by what I do. It gives you the sense of eternal youth because you're always discovering something about yourself and you�re always discovering more of what you're capable of. So every creative outlet that I find gives me an incredible - I guess - a recharge. Doing The Phantom of the Opera was stunning for me. To go to this amazing theater and see my name on the marquee - inarguably the most successful show in history - and having to audition to do the roll, was defining for me. I know for a fact that when I went into Phantom there were a lot of people who very possessive of the show believed that I was going to desecrate their favorite musical. And I got standing ovations at every show from my first to my last, that's eight shows a week. I remember a letter from one woman saying that when she heard I was in the show she cancelled her tickets and then at the last minute decided to go and said it was the best performance she ever saw. That's gratifying, but for me it's not about proving people wrong, it's more about proving me right. And again, it brought people into the theater who've never been there, and maybe after going realized that great theater is better than a lot of film."

So after having been in the music industry for more than three and a half decades, having had an amazing career and visiting pretty much every corner of the Earth, what has that experience taught Stanley that maybe he might not have learned if he'd gone the route of being a doctor or lawyer?

"That's interesting," Stanley muses. "I don't know because I wasn't cut out for that. What I do know is that belief in yourself coupled with a realistic assessment of what you�re capable of will get you anywhere you want to go. So, had I chosen to be a lawyer - if I passed the bar exam - I probably wouldn't have been a very good lawyer. But I didn't pursue that because I really think at some point people need to do an accounting and kind of access who they are and what they really want and what they're capable of. It's one thing to aspire to something; it's another thing to be capable of it. If you're actually capable of something then the only thing standing between you and success is hard work."

To wrap things up with Paul Stanley, has the band decided on a title for the new KISS album yet?

"Yes. But I can't tell you," Stanley laughs, "But I will tell you it's a defining moment for us, it's as good as anything we�ve done and we're very, very proud of it. And I think people are going to be blown away."

For more information on the September 11 and 12 exhibits of Paul Stanley's art at Wentworth Galleries please call 800-732-6140.