Kiss News

06/27/2015

KISS' Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley On Their Best Advice

By Melinda Newman / Forbes.com

There are KISS coffins (or KISS Kaskets, to be precise), KISS bath towels, KISS slot machines, KISS knives, KISS credit cards, and even LA KISS, an arena football team.

KISS may often seem more like a brand than a band, but founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley tell Forbes that all the licensing (around 3,000 items, by the way) would mean nothing if the music wasn�t there.

�There�s no way that a band or an artist can last for 40 years unless that foundation is built on great music,� Stanley says. The group, which has sold more than 100 million albums and continues to sell out stadiums around the world, was presented the Founders Award by ASCAP recently in recognition of its contributions to the world of music.

�People keep pointing to the sizzle and it�s OK with us,� Simmons adds, �but when we started 41 years ago, we didn�t even have a name for the band. We started writing songs. There wasn�t a sit-down session with marketers or radio programmers [on] how do you write a hit single and stuff. We just never played the game.�

What KISS did do is play it smart. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers surrounded themselves with a team who looked out for their business interests while they were taking care of the creative side.

�What we did in the beginning we did right. We happened to fall into this make-up thing. There was no grand design, we just said, �hey, wouldn�t it be cool if we did this,� and the make-up that we put on then and continue to put on on every night with our own two hands, we created,� Simmons says. �The logo, originally thought of by [former band member] Ace [Frehley], but Paul actually sat down with a ruler, and, it�s not perfect, drew the actual logo that we still use today. The smartest thing that our manager did at the beginning was trademark everything right at the outset.�

Simmons� best advice to acts coming up today is to be �duly diligent� and trademark everything. �Figure it out in the beginning, you can�t come back years later and say, �In retrospect��.�

CLICK HERE to read the rest at Forbes.com

06/26/2015

East meets West - KISS is making Ukiyo-e �cool again!

KISS Transforms Into Kabuki and Monsters­ in Ukiyo-e, Japanese Traditional Woodbl­ock Print!!


Limited Edition - only 200 per design!!­

 

Ukiyo-e (pronounced ooh-kee-yoh-eh) is a­ 400 year-old art form from the volcanic­ island of Japan. ­Requiring 3 highly skilled artisans, the­ traditional technique has been passed d­own for hundreds of years.

 

�Ukiyo-e, that�s Nippon, th­at�s tradition, that�s history, that�s K­abuki, that�s deep deep culture. We resp­ect it." 

- Gene Simmons

 

Order yours today - http://bit.ly/1e4iPgA

 

06/25/2015

You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best! KISS To Take Over Comic- Con

From NerdBastards.com
 
San Diego Comic-Con is known for bringing out the biggest stars for the annual pop culture event.  The fan events, screenings, and signings are the backbone of the convention and each year, studios compete for audience loyalty and, more to the point, to generate revenue for upcoming projects, and attendees just lick it up. The annual �winner� of SDCC, Marvel Studios, has decided to sit this one out and it is rumored that once the studio got wind of what Warner Bros. would be bringing to the convention, Marvel realized that they could not compete with the elder studio. That�s right. For Marvel, it was even too hot in the shade for them to show up.  Whether or not the Warner Bros. Studio panel will be that amazing is yet to be seen but on the home entertainment front, WBHE just announced that they would be bringing the legendary band KISS to destroy Hall H. That�s right. You wanted the best, you got the best.

WBHE announced yesterday that the unholy quartet, who have built a dynasty on their over the top stage show and wonderful music, would be hitting Hall H, and likely causing so much applause that it sounds like a sonic boom.  The quartet, who will be unmasked and likely dressed to kill, will be taking the stage to talk about their team up with Scooby-Doo and the gang against the Destroyer, a monster capable of destroying the planet, in the upcoming Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock & Roll Mystery.  Here�s the trailer!

The Mystery Inc. team may be used to fighting creatures of the night, or those seeking revenge while dressed as a ghost or ghoul on dark and crazy nights, but chances are that things will get hotter than hell before KISS and the team can save the planet.  After all, this isn�t some psycho circus or haunted asylum: this is THE DESTROYER and our heroes will be lucky to get out alive.

While not every record the band has produced has earned double platinum status, there is no question that KISS� star continues to shine brightly over 40 years after their first album was released.  The current lineup, which includes Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, and Eric Singer, is just wrapping up a highly successful European tour and while Stanley has stated that there is no need for a new KISS album, the new Scooby-Doo flick will feature a new track from the band, as well as six classic tracks.

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