Kiss News

Exclusive Gene Simmons Interview: Why KISS Has Its Own Navy

By Wallace Immen / http://www.cruisington.com

It�s becoming an armada: the KISS Navy will be forming again for KISS Kruise V. This year, the  Norwegian Pearl is set to host what�s becoming an annual Halloween celebration, this one nicknamed Five Alive, from Oct. 29 to Nov. 3.

It�s part of a growing industry in music-based theme cruises. There are more than a dozen jazz, country, soul, rock and nostalgia cruises scheduled at sea this year. Carnival has an ongoing concert series that has featured Journey, Styx, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson and Rascal Flatts. Kid Rock filled the Norwegian Pearl in March.

But Kiss is the monster cruise  success. More than three months before departure, the cruise is said to be completely sold out and there�s a waiting list. And the organizers are already talking of opening bookings for the 2016 edition.

In an exclusive interview with The Cruisington Times,  Gene Simmons says that the cruise has become a  phenomenon  because the fans and the bands can unwind and just have fun at sea.

We�ve all got Great Expectations, Gene, what made you decide to take KISS to sea?

The KISS Kruise is a chance for all of us� the band and the fans� to have a ball. Just let your hair down and not worry about it at all. Kiss has always been about breaking the rules. We�ve never liked that moat�the stage� separating the band from the fans. So whenever we do a show, we try to take the action right to your face. A cruise will let the fans get up close. We try to take it inside you, we want you to smell it and taste it and feel it.

You�ve got a Kiss Navy now, do you have any previous experience with the real Navy?

For a TV show we went as guests of the United States Navy and we landed on the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. We had a lot of security there. The Navy even had some nuclear powered missiles underneath us.

How much will the fans get to get to interact with you on the cruise?

We�re going to have a deck up top to ourselves and we will certainly want to bring up fans. It may to a little difficult to get down to the lower levels and hang out a lot, because you�ve got 3,000 people on board, who are basically going to shred you to pieces. It�s all appreciated of course, and I say all this with tongue in cheek�I don�t mean my tongue in your cheek�but you know what I mean.

The real idea of this cruise is to have fun. Everything about Kiss is over the top. Everything about it is meant to really make every day we have above ground a fun day. We�re going to have some fun shows that will be interactive with the fans, to make them feel like family. We�ll be doing an Unplugged show for the fans to make requests and we�ll also be doing a Kiss production show in full war paint.

There will be limits. We like a lot of pyrotechnic effects and with limited space, you can�t blow lots of things up on the ship. But we�ll do the best we can. We�ll cram the act full of everything we can.

What�s going to be new?

It�s like we�re invited to a party. I don�t know anyone who brings a list of 10 things they�re going to do at a party and what time they�re going to be doing them, do you? That�s not the kind of party I want to go to. We just let the party happen and just take requests from the fans. We�ll just try to have a lot of fun and not plan it out too much. Of course, one show is a full production number and that we have to have pretty planned out. But the other will be Unplugged, which is forget about it all and have fun.

Are any new songs going to be inspired by the trip?

Maybe. We�re going to be doing obscure stuff and we�ll make some of it up as we go along. We tend to let the words and the riffs come naturally when we�re inspired by something. And sometimes you just write songs because the words sound cool and you don�t worry about the story. I have no idea what�s going to come out of the experience and to me, that�s exciting.

There will certainly be songs that we don�t do on tour. In our catalog we�ve released nearly 50  albums� about 30 of them studio records. That�s certainly enough material to make it a lot of fun.

Are you guaranteeing calm seas and sunny weather?

That�s a good question. I am the God of Thunder after all. We certainly hope we�ll have great weather. It�s usually calm and comfortable sailing.

The uniform for the Kiss Navy is face paint, crazy costumes and sunscreen. And it�s become a family festival, with events for the next generation who come to rock alongside their parents.

This year�s Rock and Roll Party lineup includes a unique unmasked sailaway show, the band�s first ever, and two full concerts on-board by KISS.  And of course there will  be Room Service and a Wall of Sound that promises to be Hotter Than Hell. There are almost continual performances by other trending  rock acts including Steel Panther, Lita Ford, Fozzy and The Dead Daisies.

This year the Kruise starts in Miami, with a warm-up pre-party before heading out for a day  at sea, a port stop  in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and another day at sea before returning to Miami.

For their loyalty,  sailors are promised fast promotion. Those on their first KISS Kruise are sailors, on their second, their rank is lieutenant and those who have done three become commanders. Those who keep re-enlisting can reach captain and then admiral.

No saluting�s required, although there�s plenty of arm waving and chances to Shout It Out Loud.Everyone gets autographed commemorative souvenirs and there are lots of photo ops.

Details of the cruise are on the KISS Kruise website.

Thanks KISS ARMY Torino for sharing this great photo with us! We love it!

KISS IS EVERYWHERE!

KISS IS EVERYWHERE!

Here's the National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador performing KISS' "I Was Made for Lovin' You!"

CLICK HERE to enter TV Guide magazine's  "Scooby-Doo! & KISS: Rock & Roll Mystery" Giveaway."

Thanks to Javier Bragado for sharing his great KISS Madrid, Spain concert photo with us!

By York Membery for The Mail on Sunday

Since he changed his name and slapped on the face paint after a war-torn Israeli childhood the Kiss frontman hasn�t had a bad day in his life. Bad hair days? That�s a different matter�

What is your earliest memory?

Growing up in Israel, where I lived until I was eight. I remember the constant fighting � the country was founded in 1948, the year before I was born. Every now and then there would be a rocket attack, and every weekend my father would put on his army uniform, pick up his Kalashnikov and hitchhike to the frontline.

What sort of child were you?

I was an only child and left alone a lot as a kid in Israel. I�d go up Mount Carmel, pick the cactus fruit and get stung by the needles. I had one friend, a Moroccan Jew, and we�d hang out together. We had no TV, no radio, but I did have a rock and a stick and my imagination � and that was enough.

When did you last feel happy?

I wake up happy every day. I�ve never had a bad day in my life. Probably because my mother barely survived the concentration camps of Nazi Germany � as a result, whenever I have a bad hair day, I kick myself and say: �What the f*** are you complaining about?�

What has been your biggest achievement?

My band, Kiss. Not only have we sold 100 million records, but I have my very own Gene Simmons postage stamp. When I go to Las Vegas, I go to the Kiss golf course, then there�s the Kiss limo service. However, seeing my two children being born was a wake-up call that life didn�t just revolve around me.

And your biggest disappointment?

The fact that half the band I started out with in Kiss [Ace Frehley and Peter Criss] are not part of it any more to enjoy the fruits of their labour. And all because of the clich� of clich�s: drugs and alcohol. But not everyone has the DNA to run a marathon: some people are just shooting stars.

What are you best at?

I�m best at being a case study. I invented Gene Simmons. I wasn�t born him, I was born Chaim Witz. And English wasn�t even my first language � I couldn�t speak it until my teens. But I�m jealous of anyone who can do anything better than me � it makes me want to roll up my sleeves and find out how I can do it better.

What is your best character trait?

I�m not sure if I have one, or if I�d even like me if I met me � because I walk into a room supremely confident. You�re supposed to be a bit humble, but I�ve just got that kick-your-ass confidence that I think comes from being an outsider and only child.

� and your worst?

I was a bit of a bad boy when I was younger. No drugs or physical or verbal abuse. But I was arrogant and selfish, and I didn�t marry my long-time girlfriend Shannon Tweed until I was 62. But I�ve changed � men do change, but only when they get closer to death.

Who would be your dream dinner date?

Jesus. I�d have a lot of questions for him � and we could talk about philosophy and a host of other issues. But if I think he is who he is, we�d both have a good laugh. Would he turn out to be a Kiss fan? Oh, sure!

Do you have any phobias?

Other people�s eating habits. Whoever said �Let�s just eat the legs of the frogs?� Why eat just the goddam legs? And how can people eat things that look like they came from another planet, like crabs? And don�t even get me started on blood [black] pudding.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?

I�ve never been fond of my ears � I always thought they were a little too large.

Who do you most admire?

My Hungarian-born mother, Flora, who�s 90, is the wisest person I�ve ever met. She survived a Nazi death camp, unlike her mother and grandmother, and her philosophy is this: that every day above ground is a good day.

What�s the worst thing you�ve ever done?

I may have bedded the female of the species a fair few times over the years � but it was always consensual, and if a girl ever showed up after a concert drunk or high on drugs, I�d ask her to leave. I�ve got no illegitimate children running around or anything like that.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Cake, in all its infinite varieties. Cake can be very seductive, and if I see a cake, I�ve just got to take a bite. Particularly if it�s a chocolate cake. I�m not so keen on French cakes though: they all taste like sweet shaving foam.

What�s the worst job you�ve done?

Working at a butcher�s in my early teens. My job was to chop the heads off chickens. At the end of the day, I had to clean the butcher�s block and scratch off the dried blood and fat. But the worst bit was going down to the rat-infested basement and having to haul up hunks of meat on my shoulder.

What one law would you change if you could?

I�d like to introduce a �I�m going to think and do what I goddam want, and don�t want anyone telling me what to do� law in those countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia ruled by despots or dictators.

How would you like to be remembered?

I don�t want anyone mourning my death, and when I�m gone, why should I care how I�m remembered? When I die, I want my family and friends to celebrate my life with the party to end all parties and go, �Whoopee!�

By Christian McPhate / Dallas Observer

The members of KISS have done just about all there is to do in rock 'n' roll. After selling millions of records thanks to hit songs like "Detroit Rock City," Rock 'N' Roll All Nite" and "I Was Made for Lovin' You" over the past 40 years, the band was finally inducted into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. So it's no surprise that they're looking for a new challenge at this stage in their careers.

Now KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are doing just that as they plan to open a Rock & Brews restaurant in North Texas early next year. It's just one of nearly a dozen Rock & Brews located across the U.S.

�This is not a KISS restaurant,� Stanley says in a phone interview. �It doesn't need a KISS. It's a great eating and drinking establishment.�

Rock & Brews is a family friendly, rock-inspired restaurant that celebrates classic rock, good food and a family environment. It's dog friendly and offers a patio and a play area for children. It's a place where parents can spend quality time with each other or friends but not compromise their personal tastes by eating crappy mac-and-cheese, Stanley says.

The restaurant offers not only good hamburgers, great salads and �off the hook� fish tacos in an atmosphere of classic rock art, but also dozens of craft beers from micro breweries. �In the last decade, beer has become the new wine,� Stanley claims.

The idea for Rock & Brews was birthed backstage at a KISS concert. In the summer of 2010, Stanley and Simmons were visiting with longtime friends Michael Zislis, a restaurateur/hotelier extraordinaire; Dell Furano, a former CEO of Live Nation; and Dave Furano, a well-known rock 'n' roll concert tour promoter for bands like the the Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers.

�What's better than rock and brews?� asked Dave Furano, who was enjoying a beer at the time. A spontaneous brainstorming session between the five friends led to the proverbial light bulb exploding, and Rock & Brews was born.

The first location opened near LAX in the beach community of El Sequndo, California, in April 2012. Three years later, Rock & Brews was recognized as the �Break out Brand� by Restaurant News and ranked No. 7 on the �Future 50: The Fastest Growing Small Chains in America� in Restaurant Business magazine.

Rock & Brews will be a nearly 9,000-square-foot restaurant located in �Grandscape� in The Colony, a Dallas suburb. Brett Anz and Perry Mann, the two principal Texas partners, will operate the new location. They decided to open the restaurant near the Nebraska Furniture Mart and the coming Toyota headquarters because of the population explosion in that part of North Texas.

�We are very excited to work with Paul and Gene to introduce Rock & Brews in the Lone Star State,� Anz says in a press release. �We are dedicated to providing a quality dining experience and a welcoming environment for families, with something exciting for rockers of all ages.�

But Stanley stressed that the North Texas Rock & Brew isn't just another rock 'n' roll chained restaurant. They plan to offer local produce and to hire between 150 to 200 locals to staff the restaurant.

�We've been looking for a long time to open in Dallas,� Stanley say. �I remember playing Tarrant County and the Reunion Arena. It's a great history not only with me and KISS but with every rock band. So here is our chance to pay homage.�

Stanley and Simmons plan to hold a grand opening in early 2016 benefiting wounded warriors and active military.

�For me, one of the greatest things to becoming successful is the gift of giving back,� Stanley says. �In these times, patriotism is hip and cool. To stand up and love your country is something that we are proud of. That is what America is about.� 

KISS IS EVERYWHERE!