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Nothin' To Lose - The Making of KISS - 1972 - 1975: The Story of How My Two High School Buddies, Starchild and Monster, Made It Big!

By Binky Philips

School year, 1969/1970...

There were three guys at the High School of Music & Art in New York City who owned a Gibson guitar, the true no-argument Rolls Royce of guitar companies.

There was me. I had a 1962 SG - style Les Paul.

There was Murray Dabby, the best player of this trio, who owned a 1965 SG Standard, almost the same guitar as mine, just a few years newer.

The third guy had a 1960 Les Paul Special, the model just below mine.

This Gibson connection was a bond.

I grew up to be... what? I don't even know. A guitarist? A writer? A music biz sleaze ball? All of the above?

Murray grew up to be a full-fledged shrink, doing the good work, in Atlanta.

The third guy was Stan Eisen. He grew up to be Paul Stanley, Starchild, Global Icon.

All three of us still play guitar.Nothin' To Lose - The Making of KISS - 1972 - 1975: The Story of How My Two High School Buddies, Starchild and Monster, Made It Big!

By Binky Philips

School year, 1969/1970...

There were three guys at the High School of Music & Art in New York City who owned a Gibson guitar, the true no-argument Rolls Royce of guitar companies.

There was me. I had a 1962 SG - style Les Paul.

There was Murray Dabby, the best player of this trio, who owned a 1965 SG Standard, almost the same guitar as mine, just a few years newer.

The third guy had a 1960 Les Paul Special, the model just below mine.

This Gibson connection was a bond.

I grew up to be... what? I don't even know. A guitarist? A writer? A music biz sleaze ball? All of the above?

Murray grew up to be a full-fledged shrink, doing the good work, in Atlanta.

The third guy was Stan Eisen. He grew up to be Paul Stanley, Starchild, Global Icon.

All three of us still play guitar.

While Murray and I were tight, very much a bro, oddly, it was Stan who I stayed in touch with after graduation. He left the year before me. I'm 374 days younger.

One day, Stan called to tell me he'd just legally changed his name to Paul and it would mean a lot to him if I started calling him by that name.

I said, "Sure, Stan."

"Ummm, well, you just called me Stan, Binky."

"Oh, wow, sorry, PAUL."

For the record, my headline is pure nonsense. I met Gene a year after graduation.

A few years later, July 13, 1973, Paul, Gene, and I were sharing the stage at the now-gone Hotel Diplomat on West 43rd St, just off Times Square. I was the lead guitarist of The Planets. We opened for KISS that night.

Paul and I have never really lost touch. Watching a goofy pal go from struggling guitar dope to Rock Royalty has been a trip, I can assure you.

Which is where I'm gonna segue into a review of the latest, and possibly tastiest, of all the various KISS 'n' tell books out there on the decades-thriving spectacle that is KISS, Nothin' To Lose - The Making of KISS - 1972 - 1975 by Ken Sharp with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, out now on !T Books.

Comprised of over three years' worth of interviews with well over 200 individuals who, in one way or another, interacted with KISS as a band or as individuals. Managers, knucklehead band guys from New York City, famous rock stars, record label peeps, roadies, promoters, writers, studio rats, anyone who had anything of worth to contribute, Detective Ken Sharp tracked down, and grilled. Yes, I'm one of them.

Ooops, yes... Sorry. FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm all over this freakin' outstanding book.

Way back when, Paul and Gene had (to my surprise and gratification) a great deal of respect for my opinion. That's why they invited me down to just their third rehearsal with Ace... to see what I thought of the 'new' guy's playing. It kinda felt like he was still on 'probation,' frankly.

So... Yes, I saw them perform "Strutter," "Deuce" and "Firehouse" in their dingy hole of a room on the 4th floor of a truly decrepit building... 10 East 23rd Street... soon torn down, actually.

First, they did the three songs as a trio... ummmmmm, new boy, Ace, was late! Nice. Then, when he finally showed up, acting surly as if everyone else was early (WTF?), I heard them do those same three tunes as The Quartet. Man, they sounded so much better with Ace. Yes, this story, in great detail, and dozens and dozens of others, like my visit to Electric Ladyland when they were recording the "Dressed To Kill" album, are in this fine, fine oral history of those exciting and risk-filled early days of a band that was destined to become, quite literally, the biggest band in the world.

Ken Sharp has a gift, it would seem. I know firsthand how skillful and relentless he is in wringing out as many details from you as he can... but, here, much, much more importantly than minutia/trivia, Ken has gotten four guys, drenched in decades' worth of animosity and ill will, to go back and relive... The Hungry All For One, One For All days.

In almost every quote from Paul, Gene, Ace, Peter, the air of wistful and still-dazzled-by-it-all reminiscence is palpable.

That almost pathological confidence of Gene's is almost nowhere to be found. Mr. Simmons, throughout, lets some light shine on the real him. In fact, it seems like in the earliest days, it was Paul who was the rally-er, the faithful one. And I do vividly recall feeling just a wee bit baffled by Paul's slightly 'strutty' attitude back in high school. It wasn't arrogance, just his general comportment had a very strong sense-of-self... maybe a little cocky, not off-putting, but, honestly, at the time, it seemed a little misplaced.

"Nothin' To Lose" offers a richly detailed day-to-day accounting of all the myths in their legend, and the mundanity of a band's early life, as they really happened...

You are in the room, the afternoon Paul and Gene meet for the first time, with Paul wondering, "Who the fuck does THIS guy think he is!?" HA! Guess we all found out, huh, Paulie! Although, truth be told, Gene has always treated me like an equal... an equal he's kinda disappointed in. I don't blame him.

You are in Electric Ladyland as Paul and Gene try to go from being coffee-getters to recording artists... hint: they stay coffeemakers for quite a while.

You are in the cab that Paul's driving all day before he practices all night.

You are in Bill Aucoin's office when he promises them a record deal in 60 days or they can walk away.

You are in the studio as they cut their first album, having no clue real clue, one that now sounds barely passable as a demo.

You are in the station wagon with Peter, Paul, Ace, and Gene, as a roadie drives them over 600 miles from Lansing, Michigan to Macon, Georgia, for a show the next day. And then you are back in that station wagon as they drive back up north to Fort Wayne, Indiana, 500 miles, the next day.

You are there, when for the first and maybe only time in his life, Paul Stanley gets roaringly blazingly drunk at the photo session for the cover of the "Hotter Than Hell" album [I remember him telling me that when he was looking at contact sheets of the shoot, there were hours he just simply could not remember].

You are in the motel when KISS and Rush, both struggling opening acts being thrown off bills by headliners, are being very naughty Keith Moon wannabes,

You are backstage when Paul peeks through the curtain at the sold out Cobo Hall show and realizes, "Holy fuck! This is really happening!"

You are right there, center section, front row through every twist and turn, every victory and all the myriad setbacks and (temporary) defeats.

You come to realize that while KISS got signed to a major label very, very quickly in their career, they did NOT escape Paying Their Dues. Not by a long shot.

KISS was an enterprise teetering on the brink of doom for more than two straight years. The desperation at certain points comes off these pages like an odor!

Yet, for the most part, you get all that sorta 'bad vibe' reality stuff from all the other professionals featured in the book. The four KISS-ers were all so 'pinch me' excited about having gotten 'this far' that they never realized, for just one instance, that being asked to cut another album less than four months after they'd done their 2nd was an act of frantic panic on Casablanca's part. Paul and Gene just sat down and started writing more songs.

Songs.

Folks, listen to me carefully...

IF PAUL AND GENE WERE NOT WORLD-CLASS SONGWRITERS... their visual gimmickry would've given them an 18 month run... at best. KISS is perhaps the most glaring proof that beyond anything else, songwriting is the heart, the soul, the lungs, of a band's success.

EVERY TIME!

KISS-haters, legion though they be, are missing some of the most fun, most well thought out, rock music ever recorded. KISS's template was a combination of Humble Pie - Live at the Fillmore East and the hits of Slade, a huge band in the UK and Europe at the time. If you love guitar rock, why would you not want to hear that blend?!

Wanna finally investigate that which you loath only general principle? Here's what I consider KISS's Top 20... in rough chronological order...

"Strutter"
"Deuce"
"Black Diamond"
"Gotta Choose"
"Rock Bottom"
"Come On And Love Me"
"Love Her All I Can"
"Detroit Rock City"
"Do You Love Me"
"King Of The Nighttime World"
"Shout It Out Loud"
"I Want You"
"Calling Dr. Love"
"Makin' Love"
"I Stole Your Love"
"Love Gun"
"Christine Sixteen"
"Shock Me"
"I Love It Loud"
"Tears Are Falling"

A bonus: Three quick stories that are not in the book... only because I somehow forgot them when Ken was giving me the 3rd degree...

Sorry, Ken... Sorry, !T Books...

All three are my personal favorite little moments in my long friendship with Starchild and Monster...

My Gene story...

Gene was in town [they really were on the road forever]. He knew I'd finished my demo for Warner Bros. Records at the Record Plant, because my band, The Planets, had used KISS's main engineer, Corky Stasiak, a great, great man.

My phone rang...

"Hey, Binky, it's Gene. I'm back in New York for a few days. I really want to hear your Warner Bros demo. When can we get together?"

I made it over to his place later that day. It was an apartment in Manhattan in the West 70s. He was renting the spare bedroom from a woman I did not meet. He was on the road so much, it was all he needed.

Gene peppered me with technical and aesthetic questions throughout our listening to the demo tape. While he was listening to a track called "Lexington Avenue", basically an exercise in writing with diminished chords, he looked at me with astonishment, "You wrote this?!" Yep. 30 seconds later, "YOU WROTE THIS?!?" I took the compliment.

Then, after gracious praise for the whole five song tape, Gene asked, "Wanna hear my favorite song of all time?" Sure.

He got out Mountain's album, "Climbing" and put on "Never In My Life", a fantastic piece of riff-ery. Within 60 seconds, I was no longer there, the world was no longer there. Gene was air-drumming along with Corky Laing, back in his childhood bedroom, just flat out grooving, as blissfully lost as a teenager. A moment, a peek, I treasure.

My Paul story...

Late one night, well after midnight, my phone rang. I was channel-surfing...

"Hey, Binky, it's Paul. You up?"

"Yes, and I just smoked some reefer, too."

"Ha! Good! I wanna play something for you. I just came up with this riff. I want you to hear this."

"Oh, fuck, yeah. Hey, where are you calling from?"

"I don't know. What day is it?"

"Thursday. Jeeez, Paul!"

"I think that means I'm in Oklahoma City."

"You really don't know where you are! That's fabulous."

"Okay, let me turn on my Pignose [a tiny guitar amp very popular at the end of the 1970s]..."

And then, Paul played me the central riff for "I Want You", the opener on one of the best KISS albums, "Rock 'N' Roll Over".

I was the first person to ever hear that riff other than its creator...

"Paul, I think that might be the coolest riff you've ever written, man."

"You know, I think you're right. I knew you'd dig it. But, I have no idea what to do with it."

"Oh, you'll figure it out... Play it again, man!"

My ego-trip story...

One morning, my phone rang... It was engineer, Corky. I'd seen him a few nights before when Paul and I briefly stopped by a Gene-vocals session at the Record Plant for the album that would become "Rock 'n' Roll Over"...

"Binky, I had to call you. You are gonna love this. Last night, Ace was cutting solos on two of Gene's songs. He's got one called "Calling Dr. Love". It's one of the best on the album, I think. Just before we had Ace try the solo on that song, Gene gave him this one instruction... 'Give me a Binky solo.' Ace immediately understood and put down a totally wild solo... emulating you, man. It's the keeper! Ya gotta love it, Bink."

And I did and do.

Coda: I went to a book signing for "Nothin' To Lose" out at the Barnes & Noble on Staten Island this week. Paul and I had reconnected about 18 months ago. But, I hadn't seen him or Gene in the flesh in, well, decades. I want to thank both Paul and Gene for making a genuine fuss over my showing up. "Holy Crap! Binky!" And no, of course, I didn't get my copy of the book signed or have a picture taken with my two old guitar bozo pals. Why would I do that?!

Anyway, it warmed the heart of this old still-guitar-obsessed fanboy. Ya done good.

The KISS phenomenon spread rapidly and is still going strong after more than 40 years.

By: Richard Ouzounian

Back when Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were forming the glam rock entity known as KISS, they had to improvise for their theatrical look. For instance, their studded collars came from a pet store.

�They had made them for Great Danes to wear,� says Stanley, on the phone from a Staten Island bookstore, where he�s preparing to sign copies of Nothin� to Lose: The Making of KISS.

Stanley says he wanted the band to be �intensely performance-oriented, without turning it into musical theatre. So we needed a flamboyant visual look, but what?

�We were too big to do the androgynous thing. It�s one thing when you have a guy who�s as skinny as my wrist wearing his sister�s clothes. It�s something else when you�re a linebacker trying to squeeze into it.�

The book, newly published by HarperCollins, is by Stanley and Simmons with music historian Ken Sharp.The KISS phenomenon spread rapidly and is still going strong after more than 40 years.

By: Richard Ouzounian

Back when Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were forming the glam rock entity known as KISS, they had to improvise for their theatrical look. For instance, their studded collars came from a pet store.

�They had made them for Great Danes to wear,� says Stanley, on the phone from a Staten Island bookstore, where he�s preparing to sign copies of Nothin� to Lose: The Making of KISS.

Stanley says he wanted the band to be �intensely performance-oriented, without turning it into musical theatre. So we needed a flamboyant visual look, but what?

�We were too big to do the androgynous thing. It�s one thing when you have a guy who�s as skinny as my wrist wearing his sister�s clothes. It�s something else when you�re a linebacker trying to squeeze into it.�

The book, newly published by HarperCollins, is by Stanley and Simmons with music historian Ken Sharp.

It�s made up of first-person remembrances of the band, both from its creators and the people on the other side of the footlights.

�History is always interesting if you view it from a bunch of perspectives,� says Stanley. �You get lots of varied views from people watching the same car accident from different corners.

�I�m happy that the book doesn�t just have our memories, but those of the people who were looking at us from the outside. You remember what they always say about the forest and the trees.�

Stanley and Simmons were kicking around in 1971 as a not-quite-making-it group called Wicked Lester when Stanley decided it was time to define what he wanted out of his career.

�I was fortunate enough to grow up in a household with all kinds of music, classical as well as rock, which helped me appreciate all kinds of performance,� says the New York-born Stanley.

�I also was able to go the Fillmore East in those days when $3 got you a ticket to see Led Zeppelin, Woody Herman and Blue Cheer all on the same night. (Promoter) Bill Graham believed in eclectic programming and so do I.�

KISS was struggling to define itself in the early years.

�I believe people come to hear the music, but they come back if the whole experience knocked them out,� Stanley says.

�I wanted to be in the band I never saw. I was an evangelical rock performer, like Steve Marriott or Humble Pie. You went onto the stage to testify and you wanted to bring back believers.�

Part of that was the band�s look.

�What did we want? Black leather and studs. Where did you find those things? Well, there was a gay S&M clothing store called The Eagle�s Nest and they made a lot for us,� Stanley says.

And then there was the face-painting. �We liked the concept of being able to immerse yourself into your own fantasies and come out a completely different person. Makeup helped us do that.�

(Another time Stanley performed in makeup was in the title role of The Phantom of the Opera during the final months of its Toronto run in 1999. �I always wanted to do that show. I love the dichotomy of playing someone who�s a murderer and an artist, someone who yearns for acceptance but can�t believe it when it happens. An emotionally crippled person. I enjoyed playing that,� he says.)

After spreading their wings at a tawdry club in Queens called Coventry, KISS went on the road. First stop, the Northern Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton.

�They needed a last minute replacement for Mike Quatro, Suzi Quatro�s brother. Three shows, three cities. The first night in Edmonton was OK, but then we were booked into high school cafeterias. Our road crew took the lunchroom tables and gaffer-taped them together. That was our stage.�

The KISS phenomenon spread rapidly and is still going strong after more than 40 years. Stanley attributes part of the band�s longevity to what the music was about.

�People said we were shallow, but we were singing about self-empowerment, singing about celebrating life, singing about going against the status quo and reaching for what you believe.

�Man, that�s got a lot longer legs on it than �Save the Whales.� �

4LM Exclusive Interview: Alan G. Parker � Director of Upcoming KISS Documentary

Live for Live Music was fortunate enough to get an exclusive interview with filmmaker Alan G. Parker, who is currently working on the official KISS documentary, which is set for release in theaters in 2014. We discuss everything from the film, working with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Lydia Criss, and the entire KISS crew, and the difficulties of pleasing everyone involved, to his obvious admiration and fan status for the band and what it is like to be a member of the Kiss Army directing the official documentary on them.

-Bob Wilson

KISS has an official documentary being filmed now, to be released in theaters in 2014 from Universal Studios. Lydia Criss, Richie Fontana, and director Alan G. Parker talked to Live For Live Music music with some insider info for the faithful in the Kiss Army. Lydia is the former wife of Kiss drummer Peter Criss, and is a Kiss historian and archivist, as seen in her book SEALED WITH A KISS. Richie Fontana is her longtime flame, and drummed on the first four tracks of Paul Stanley�s 1978 solo album.

Parker is the chosen director for the new Kiss project entitled YOU WANTED THE BEST�YOU GOT THE BEST (coming in 2014). His past films include HELLO QUO! (2013), NEVER MIND THE SEX PISTOLS, WHO KILLED NANCY (2010), MONTY PYTHON: ALMOST THE TRUTH (2009) and REBEL TRUCE: THE STORY OF THE CLASH (2007). Lydia Criss said that she was on �Gene�s wish list� (no, not that wish list!), of subjects to be interviewed for the film. She was first �approached via email�, but she was not immediately certain that the project was for her. At first she �hemmed and hawed�, but then she came around, deciding to participate.
L4LM Exclusive Interview: Alan G. Parker � Director of Upcoming KISS Documentary

Live for Live Music was fortunate enough to get an exclusive interview with filmmaker Alan G. Parker, who is currently working on the official KISS documentary, which is set for release in theaters in 2014. We discuss everything from the film, working with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Lydia Criss, and the entire KISS crew, and the difficulties of pleasing everyone involved, to his obvious admiration and fan status for the band and what it is like to be a member of the Kiss Army directing the official documentary on them.

-Bob Wilson

KISS has an official documentary being filmed now, to be released in theaters in 2014 from Universal Studios. Lydia Criss, Richie Fontana, and director Alan G. Parker talked to Live For Live Music music with some insider info for the faithful in the Kiss Army. Lydia is the former wife of Kiss drummer Peter Criss, and is a Kiss historian and archivist, as seen in her book SEALED WITH A KISS. Richie Fontana is her longtime flame, and drummed on the first four tracks of Paul Stanley�s 1978 solo album.

Parker is the chosen director for the new Kiss project entitled YOU WANTED THE BEST�YOU GOT THE BEST (coming in 2014). His past films include HELLO QUO! (2013), NEVER MIND THE SEX PISTOLS, WHO KILLED NANCY (2010), MONTY PYTHON: ALMOST THE TRUTH (2009) and REBEL TRUCE: THE STORY OF THE CLASH (2007). Lydia Criss said that she was on �Gene�s wish list� (no, not that wish list!), of subjects to be interviewed for the film. She was first �approached via email�, but she was not immediately certain that the project was for her. At first she �hemmed and hawed�, but then she came around, deciding to participate.

Then, about two months later, Parker came to film her in her apartment with a �six person crew.� Parker is described by Lydia as being a �big Kiss fan�, and as making her feel at ease during �a three hour interview.� Lydia joked that perhaps she was desirable for the project because she �was there�, as they say. As well as being one of those who were on the scene who �still have their memory intact.� Lydia�s longtime beau Richie Fontana remarked that the group of ex-wives and musician friends comprise �a family.� With the Billy Squier-led band Piper, Fontana �opened for Kiss at the groups Madison Square Garden shows on the band�s LOVE GUN TOUR� in 1977. Both bands were managed by the Bill Aucoin Firm, so they knew of one another. In fact, when Peter Criss left Kiss, Fontana was considered as his replacement. �My name came up in discussions, but Kiss had not �unmasked� yet.� Had Fontana not been in publications such as CIRCUS MAGAZINE in photos with his band PIPER, he may have joined Kiss instead of Eric Carr in 1980. The Kiss mystique required someone that the public had not seen without makeup before.

For the Madison Square Garden shows, Fontana recalls a �giant bottle of Tanqueray and fruit� arriving to celebrate his birthday on December 17th, and a limousine arriving to drive him to the shows. Today, Lydia meets fans at Kiss conventions, and signs copies of her book and photos for avid fans. One such convention was held recently in Helsinki, Finland, with the band also in town for a show on June 3rd, 2013. Lydia attended, and remarked that this was her �first Kiss show since the Psycho Circus Tour which featured all four original Kiss members onstage through parts of 1998 and 1999. She was given �ground level seats, but we didn�t want to (stay) there.� So she �switched seats� with some appreciative fans, and she watched the show from the perch from which the professional rock photographer took the shots depicting the band�s Helsinki show (see photos). �Paul Stanley designed most of the stage, and lighting�, and she remarked it was the most impressive such design she had seen since her lens focused on the band Queen.

Now we move on to the thoughts of Alan G. Parker:

PART 2: INTERVIEW with ALAN G. PARKER

L4LM: You have been reported as a KISS fan, as well as a rock documentarian. -Do the two lines cross, and if so how do you deal with that?

Alan: This one is a big one, capitol B, it�s the one I wanted to make from as far back as I remember� I first joined the KISS ARMY when I was 14! So that�s 34 years of commitment in any language� Am I a fan? Yes, a totally rabid one with a collection that grows almost every week!! But, am I clever enough to step back and look at the whole story rather than my favorite bits?� Yes of course, I have to be that too, understanding the format of good documentary is the only way we made Python, Quo or Nancy work� You just have to remove yourself from the subject matter enough to see it through new eyes�

L4LM: What has the band asked you to produce (what point of view)?

Alan: The idea is to produce a long form cinematic documentary, somewhere in the area of two hours plus, which travels a time line from Wicked Lester, or if you like Paul & Gene actually first meeting, right up to present day with �Monster� and, of course, The Spider Tour� And everything that fills the gaps for those 40 years in-between� Of course being KISS there is no shortage of the �everything� we need to fill those gaps!

L4LM: How will the points of view of Ace and Peter be covered?

Alan: At first, being the fan, I was more than happy for both Ace & Peter to be in the movie, as indeed were the group and it�s management, but then to some degree the none-sense began, he wants this� He said that� I�m taking my ball home so no one can play! We made everything so easy for them to be involved, and like so many times before they made everything difficult about being involved� In the end, we decided to give them their say, and they will be in the movie� But via archive� Life is too short for that kind of stuff� But remember this, the door was always 100% open for both of them�

L4LM: Lydia Criss mentioned that she was on Gene�s �wish list�? Anyone else on that list you can tell us about?

Alan: Before we shot a second of interview footage, the group gave us a wish list of people they would like to take part� It was a long list too� Including people from behind the scenes and a number of famous rock stars� Every effort was made to contact all the people on that list� Lydia would always have been on my list because I loved her book, but I wasn�t sure what everyone else thought about me speaking with ex-wives! But, all fairness to Gene, from the day I first mentioned her name he was very much �Sure, she must be in it!��

L4LM: What areas did you delve into with Lydia Criss, if you can tease us with a bit of what to look forward to?

Alan: All kinds of everything. Her memory for a story is incredible� She tells it very much like it is/was too� I�m not one for teasing at this stage, I�ve no idea what will make the cut� We still have a long way to go yet� But just lets say nobody is going to be disappointed by her� Or any of her stories�

L4LM: Any exciting concert footage, and maybe a soundtrack for us to look forward to?

Alan: Oh boy, we have mountains of footage covering all areas of the groups existence� I have a huge bootleg collection too! So I will be doing a lot of digging before I do any gardening!! As with the previous documentaries that we have made, I�ll make sure there is footage included for die-hard fans and a few things for those people who truly just need to know the story� The �casual punter� as we call them� With regard to a soundtrack, at this stage I just don�t know�

L4LM: As a �fan� myself, I wondered about the Dynasty-era, which seems to have been the when the seams came loose, leading to Ace and Peter eventually leaving. Will you cover that? Anything you can expound upon here?

L4LM: As a �fan� myself, I wondered about the Dynasty-era, which seems to have been the when the seams came loose, leading to Ace and Peter eventually leaving. Will you cover that? Anything you can expound upon here?

Alan: We�ve got to cover the �Dynasty� period� That would be like making a documentary on Slipknot and not mentioning the masks?? It was the fall of the Roman Empire� Big hit single and no-one actually speaking to each other?? The solo albums, the TV movie, everything should have been perfect for the group� Then you watch The Today Show and realize just how much tension is going down� Don�t worry, that area of the story is safe�

L4LM: Gene is a complex character. I was always deeply moved by his family history at the hands of the Nazis in WWII. Will you get into that at all?. -Those experiences seem to have affected his worldview immensely. The story seems to have been influenced by that, in that it affected Gene so deeply.

Alan: It is going to be touched upon in the lead up to their story and indeed how they develop as people� Chalk and Cheese, yet both working for the same aim� They truly are brothers from two mothers� And we do have Gene talking about his beginnings and family�

L4LM: The THREETLES played together a bit at the end of ANTHOLOGY. -Any chance the original KISS members may give fans a new song or a jam together?

Alan: I wouldn�t have thought so� And for this movie I�d find it hard to see why� �The Threetles� was born out of an old Lennon demo and the want to do something new with it� Remember Ace & Peter barely play on �Psycho Circus� which was the last attempt at anything like that�

L4LM: Was Vinnie Vincent involved in this film? Can you talk about that a bit (either way)?

Alan: Vinnie wont be in the movie outside archive, that was a decision made by everyone very early on� To be honest, I don�t see a need for him to take part, that�s just my personal opinion� There are many reason why it just doesn�t work�

L4LM: The Eric Carr era brought us a wonderful, fan friendly drummer. Will you cover him in the film?

Alan: Speaking as a fan rather than a Director for a moment Eric was one of the best, and a big part of KISSTORY� We have been in contact with his family from the minute we got this thing green lit� Eric will be a big part of the movie, his personal story is already covered by a good number of our interviewees� Everybody, all 10 members of KISS, will appear on screen in order to tell the story� Just that in some cases it will come from archive, at times un-seen archive� So there is a lot to look forward too� And as with all our previous movies we don�t skimp on extras either�

L4LM: Is this along the lines of your work on STATUS QUO, THE SEX PISTOLS, or THE CLASH? How has this experience been different so far?

Alan: I think of those three it�s going to be closer to Quo than any of the others� Although it is already taking on a shape of it�s very own� I�ve learnt a lot about film making since we started, and it�s worth mentioning that in the early days as with any new Director I was making things for TV or straight to DVD� The very angle of cinema gives you a way bigger canvas to paint on�

L4LM: Can we expect a bigger tour with the release of the film? -Any chance the original four might wind up doing it again if you have a big hot here?

Alan: Oh dear, don�t get me involved in that one! I am but a humble film maker sir� Anything like that would be totally up to KISS�