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Introducing: KISS Big & Tall shirts!
Written by: Ken Sharp / www.rockcellarmagazine.com
Outspoken and brash, arrogant and opinionated, profane and vulgar, supremely narcissistic and sexist, are among the colorful descriptions both the public and media foist at KISS� founding member Gene Simmons.
Acutely aware of how he is perceived, Simmons even named his last solo album Asshole. When meeting with the �God of Thunder,� one will notice he�s polite and gracious, proving there�s much more behind the self-proclaimed �Man of 1000 Faces.�
Currently on the road with KISS for their �Freedom To Rock� jaunt of the U.S., the band, or brand, as Simmons often likes to describe the Roll & Roll Hall of Famers, are not content to rest on their laurels and count their mountainous pile of greenbacks. Rather, they continue to press the envelope with a keen understanding of the transformative power of how a rock and roll band can be marketed in today�s world.
Yet as Simmons attests, his accomplishments with KISS have far exceeded his expectations. �It is really weird that KISS, which never really started out as anything but this bizarre dream of four knuckleheads off the streets of New York just wanting to do one record, that four decades later, the RIAA crowned us as the number-one Gold record award winning group of all time in America. It�s amazing especially since we�ve only had three hit singles, Beth, I Was Made For Loving You and Forever.�
For a group routinely dismissed by short-sighted critics as a flash in the pan, a �joke band� comprised of talentless cretinous musical goons soon to be forgotten and quickly discarded on the junk heap of failed rock bands past, KISS are having the last laugh. Detractors be damned, 46 years since the original band�Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss�first came together, in 2016 KISS continue to transcend the parameters of what a rock band can do.
Whether starring in their own Scooby Doo cartoon (Scooby Doo & KISS: Rock & Roll Mystery), teaming up with menswear designer/clothier John Varvatos or collaborating with Japanese teen sensations Momoiro Clover Z on Samurai Son, the band�s first # 1 single in the �Land of the Rising Sun,� yesterday and today KISS stubbornly follow the beat of their own drum and continue to thrive, loudly.
Witness their latest �Freedom To Rock� tour, which is drawing in a significant generation of younger fans eager and excited to be baptized, KISS-style. We sat down with the band�s resident �God of Thunder,� Gene Simmons, who offered a primer in all things KISS, past, present and future.
Gene Simmons: That�s a very good question. When you�re a pimple-faced little kid, we�re all trying to figure out where we fit on the chess board of life. We try to sort of hang to or latch on to that thing that makes us acceptable and it�s usually not mathematics, unfortunately, or sciences. The kid that put in the time to excel at math and science, the rest of the kids at school don�t just go, �Oh yeah, I need to hang out with that guy.�
And the pivotal moment for me � and I think lots of people � was watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was a very clear vision; here are four guys who look alien. They were very small, had very small physical statures and they were a little feminine with crazy haircuts�the rest of us had veryshort hair�and they were singing and playing in ways I hadn�t heard before and the girls were going absolutely crazy!
Because I wasn�t from America and I always felt like an outsider, I connected to them because they also didn�t feel like they came from here. They talked strange, that British and Liverpudlian accent I�d never heard before, not in movies or anywhere else. And I thought, �Gee if I did that, maybe I can be accepted too?�
The act of songwriting was something you worked hard to master.
Gene Simmons: Well, initially I just sang in bands. We did cover songs; everything from Otis Redding to Wilson Pickett to the Ventures and of course, Beatles songs, whatever was happening at the time. Listening to the Everly Brothers helped me learn how to sing harmony too. Then my mother bought me a Gibson SG Standard and I didn�t know what to do with my fingers, so initially I was just pressing single notes. Then I noticed the way people were holding C chords and G chords and all that and started to fool around.
How would you describe the early songs you wrote?
Gene Simmons: The first songs, in retrospect, were the kind of things John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote � but I don�t mean anywhere near as good. People would ask them what their words mean and both of them would say, �We have no idea, we just out words on there that sounded good.� And initially, the kinds of songs that I wrote as a kid didn�t really mean a hell of a lot. I had a song called My Uncle Is A Raft. One of the lyrics was �My uncle is a raft and he always keeps me floating.�
I had fond feelings about my uncle George and I�m sure all that McCartney stuff like Uncle Albert and the lyrics �hands across the water� really don�t mean anything. It�s not like Penny Lane, which really meant something about his childhood memories. But a lot of the words in Beatles songs like I Am The Walrus don�t mean a lot; they�re just interesting words that are stuck against the melody and the meter. So those first few songs of mine were very simple. Stylistically, they were vaguely Beatlesque or Everly Brothers-ish, Wake Up Little Susie, that kind of stuff.
What was the breakthrough for you as a songwriter?
Gene Simmons: The irony was that I noticed if I was gonna be in a band, I didn�t see myself as a lead singer. Physically I was too big and I didn�t see guys my size doing that. I was also heavier as a kid so I didn�t see guys my size fronting bands. I could sing well enough I guess, at least as good as Eric Burdon and Mick Jagger, those guys, who sing pretty straight ahead.
KISSmas planning is in the air at KISS by Monster Mini Golf with Eric Singer & Tommy Thayer at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino Stay tuned!
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson discuss "The Bag" and its origins. This clip and more are in the Rush documentary Time Stand Still. Coming to DVD and Blu-ray November 18th.
Dynamite's NYCC Free Giveaways:
� KISS: THE DEMON Trading Card, only available on Thursday, 10/6 (kicking off with writer Amy Chu's 10:00am booth signing)
� KISS: SPACEMAN Trading Card, only available on Friday, 10/7
� KISS: CATMAN Trading Card, only available on Saturday, 10/8
� KISS: STARCHILD Trading Card, only available on Sunday, 10/9 (kicking off with writer Amy Chu's 10:00am booth signing)
CLICK HERE for full details now!
Coming to you, just in time for Halloween, Creatures of the Deep.
KISS IS EVERYWHERE!
Jason Tanamor spotted this KISS Destroyer car at the Dubuque Convention last week! Thanks for sharing your photo with us.
By Steve Appleford / Rolling Stone.com
"The world was opened up for me by Kiss," said X Japan leader Yoshiki, following a brief performance on his clear grand piano while Gene Simmons stood nearby. Monday night was the Hollywood premiere of We Are X, which tells the flamboyant, frequently tragic story of the Japanese superstar act who found worldwide fame with a colorful collision of thrash metal and classical piano.
Directed by Stephen Kijak (Stones in Exile), the film charts the band's rocky rise to stardom, as Yoshiki and Co. shatter cultural barriers at home and abroad while suffering through suicides, breakups and reconciliations. Simmons appears in the film, which opens October 21st, suggesting that X Japan's neon-colored "Visual Kei" style of mascara and Mohawks would have been a huge success in America had they been born in the U.S.
Also at the premiere's after-party was Marilyn Manson, another shock-rock legend seen in We Are X. "I loved that I got to be a part of it, but I would have loved the movie already since I could relate to it on so many different levels. He has a quiet demeanor but he's very sensitive," Manson said of Yoshiki to Rolling Stone. "I'm proud of him as a friend. It takes a lot to put yourself out there and talk about so many fucked-up things. That's really brave."
Ahead of the premiere, Simmons visited Yoshiki at his Los Angeles studio to talk with RS about rock as salvation and escape, and where their personal stories converge. The Kiss singer-bassist is teaming with Yoshiki in Tokyo this month for the upcoming Visual Japan Summit music festival and Kiss Expo, and he plans to be at the X Japan leader's two-night appearance at Carnegie Hall on January 12th and 13th. The two first met when Yoshiki appeared on a 1994 Kiss tribute album with a symphonic version of "Black Diamond."
"Have you heard it?" Simmons asked, pulling out his cell phone to dial up the track. Soon the reworked Kiss song unfurled in lush layers of strings as Simmons closed his eyes and moved his fingers blissfully in the air like a conductor.
What were your impressions of Yoshiki when you met?
Simmons: I was first impacted by his presence. Then you dig under and you find what X Japan is all about � if they sang in English, this could be the biggest band in the world. By and large, Americans close their ears to anything not in English. That's stupid because there's some great music around the world that we should be listening to. You hear X Japan and you understand why they can play multiple dates in stadiums there.
When did you first hear about Kiss?
Yoshiki: I started playing classic piano when I was four years old. My father use to buy me albums � Beethoven, Mozart, only classical. Then he passed away when I was 10 years old. Then I started going to the record shop. As usual, I tried to buy some Beethoven or Schubert � and I saw the cover of the single "Love Gun," and I said, "What is this?" I asked the record shop clerk to play this. I never heard this kind of music before. That was very impactful. I bought it and my mother freaked out.
Then I bought Alive II by Kiss. It changed my life. Then right after, I picked up a newspaper: Kiss is coming to Japan! "Mom, I need to go see this!" So my mother is in a kimono, and my five-year-old brother, and we went to see Kiss. My mom was eating sushi and Gene shows up spitting blood and fire and screaming. It blew me away.
Simmons: In those days in Japan, you were not allowed to stand. The police would go around with dogs inside. At the end of each song, you're allowed to clap. And no [onstage] bombs or the sound of bombs. We had to really mute everything down. But we were so fascinated by the culture of Japan.
As part of their slate of New York Comic Con announcements, Dynamite Entertainment has revealed that they are expanding their line of KISS comics to include a new limited series: �KISS: The Demon.� The series, which shines the spotlight on KISS co-founder and bass player Gene Simmons, is co-written by Amy Chu (�Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death�) and Erik Burnham (�Ghostbusters: International�) and features art by Eman Casallos (�Vampirella�).
�I figured this was a great opportunity to tell a really different kind of story, and it�s awesome that Dynamite is letting us do it!� said Chu in the press release. �Our aim is to build an incredible backstory for the current KISS series, answer a lot of the origin questions like who is Mr. Blackwell? and push the envelope of the KISS comics franchise.�
The announcement comes ahead of the launch of Dynamite�s flagship �KISS� series, which is also written by Chu and features art by Kewber Baal. �KISS� #1 will arrive in October, while �KISS: The Demon� is slated to launch in January. �The Demon� will be set in Iowa and follow three KISS fans as they form their own band and �embark on a journey that will not only change their lives, but also the fate of the world.�
�KISS has never just been a band. Our comic book history has been long and proud and has spanned decades, and now with Dynamite Entertainment, we intend to go even further,� said Gene Simmons. �When we get a great writer and artist team, we know better than to micromanage. We stay out of the way. Everyone involved wanted to take our personas and do classic KISS comic books, and with Amy Chu writing, this will be an adventure the fans will absolutely love.�
�KISS: The Demon� from Chu, Burnham and Casallos will arrive in January.
