“I called him up and I said, ‘Gene, you wanna write a few songs?’ He says, ‘Sure.’ Because he had come to my show [in February] at the Saban theater in Los Angeles with [Rob Zombie guitarist] John 5 , and that’s when we kind of reconnected and bonded a little. And I just shot him an e-mail and said, ‘C’mon, let’s write some songs together for my new record.’ Next thing you know, he’s down here [at my house in Rancho Santa Fe, California] and within three hours we had written two songs together, which was, like, a record, for me and him…We had a fantastic time. He came down. We ate in the backyard while I was watering my palm trees…”

Discussing how they wrote the new songs:

“[We] just started jamming. We initially each picked up an acoustic guitar. I don’t remember who came up with the beginning of the song. One guy plays one thing and then I play another thing. I think Gene actually came up with more ideas than I did and I just kind of complemented them. And then I started writing lyrics for a songtitle, which I don’t wanna give away yet. And then we kind of took a break and then he started playing this bassline and he said, ‘Ace, play these three chords against it,’ and within thirty minutes we had a second song. I was really pleased, and so was he.”

Talking about how he will start recording his next album, soon:

“After the Fourth of July, we’re gonna go full force. I have a studio now built in the new house here in Rancho Santa Fe. I built a drum room and I upgraded all my equipment. I’ve got, like, a twenty-by-twenty room with a twelve-foot ceiling. So it’s a great control room. And then the drum room is in the garage right next to that room, so we just put a little hole in the wall and threw a snake through the wall. So we’ve got all the mics coming right into all the preamps. It’s working really nicely. Alex Salzman, my engineer, did most of the wiring.”

On possibly working with KISS again:

“I can only be honest with you. It’s something I haven’t pushed and it’s something that Paul and Gene haven’t brought up to me. I’m just gonna let nature take its course. If the fans demand it, it’ll probably get to a point where they’re not gonna be able to say ‘no.’ But I’ve always said: they’ll be fine with what they’re doing and I’ll be fine on my own…So whatever happens, one way or the other, everybody’s gonna be fine. But if by chance Paul and Gene decide to bring me back in the fold and do a world tour, I think that could be great too, if it was handled correctly. But I haven’t been approached, no. Honestly.”

According to Ace, whether or not he ever reunites with KISS will depend largely on the demand from the band’s fans and concert promoters around the world.

“I don’t think Paul and Gene do anything innocently,” he said. “I think there’s a motive behind everything they do, and they’re driven by money — let’s be honest — and they’ll be the first to admit it.”