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KISS’ PAUL STANLEY COMMENTS ON ACE FREHLEY’S AND PETER CRISS’ AUTOBIOGRAPHIES STATING “THE FEW BITS I READ WERE SO RIDICULOUS THAT IT WAS FRIGHTENING TO THINK THAT EITHER OF THEM BELIEVE IT”

Brian Aberback from NJ’s Steppin’ Out magazine recently spoke with KISS’ Paul Stanley. An excerpt can be read below.

Steppin’ Out: What is the main message you want people to take from your book?

Paul Stanley: I wanted to be able to write a book that shows how you can go through unsettling times and turmoil and come out on top. There’s no substitute for determination and drive. My life has a happy ending. I thought my story was something people could benefit from. My 19-year-old read the book and I got the response I hoped for. He thought it was fabulous and very inspiring.

Steppin’ Out: From the very beginning you were faced with obstacles. You were born with microtia, a birth defect in which part of your right ear is missing, and you’re also deaf in that ear. How did that affect your musical ambitions?

Paul Stanley: It never affected my music. It affected my social interactions, how I was seen and sometimes ridiculed. Music became my refuge. Although I may not hear music the same way that someone who has hearing in both ears hears it, I never missed anything because I don’t know what things would have sounded like otherwise.

Steppin’ Out: You’re the last of the original members of KISS to write a book. Have you read the other guys’ books?

Paul Stanley: Gene’s book is understandably written from him being in the center of everything, because that’s what he’s like. The other two [by guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss] go from being questionable to absurd. When people’s recollections are tainted by substance abuse they’re not usually people an attorney wants to put on a witness stand. The few bits I read were so ridiculous that it was frightening to think that either of them believe it. For a lot of reasons I feel I’m more objective.

Steppin’ Out: You’re being inducted into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, and you’re furious with the Hall. Why is that?

Paul Stanley: They are only inducting the original members. It’s disrespectful. We never could have started without [original guitarist and drummer] Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, but this band has a 40-year history that should not be ignored. The Hall of Fame people said that inducting other members who were in the band for decades and played on multi-platinum albums like [guitarist] Bruce Kulick and [late drummer] Eric Carr was a non-starter. That’s not how it has worked with other bands. There’s a commune of Grateful Dead members in there including a writer who never played an instrument and a bass player in Metallica who had only been in the band for 7 years when they were inducted. We are in the Hall of Fame not because those people want us there but because it began to look absurd not having us there. To have a band that many pop bands site as an influence and to be ignored year after year takes a lot of effort. They also wanted to strong arm us into playing with the original guys onlhy in gear and makeup and that was a nonstarter. I’ve been doing this 40 years with total pride and confidence and it would be rolling the dice.Whether it’s official or not I will be there to celebrate 40 years of this band.

The entire interview runs April 9th at so-mag.com.

ORIGINAL GUNS N’ ROSES BASSIST DUFF MCKAGAN TO FILL IN FOR TOMMY STINSON ON THE BAND’S REMAINING SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

Gary Graff of Billboard reports:

Re-joining Guns N’ Roses for five shows in South America is just Duff McKagan’s way of being “a good buddy” according to current GNR bassist Tommy Stinson.

After McKagan tweeted a hint to that effect on Monday, the GNR camp confirmed that the group’s founding bassist will fill in for Stinson, who was already locked into Replacements reunion dates, starting April 6th in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and for the balance of the South American tour, including shows in Asuncion, Paraguay on April 9th, La Paz, Bolivia on April 12th, Recife, Brazil on April 15th and Fortaleza, Brazil on April 17th. GNR opens the tour on Tuesday in Florianapolis, Brazil, and also plays April 3rd in Porto Alegre, Brazil, with Stinson, who will be back in the GNR bass saddle on May 13th in Bethlehem, Pa.

“I had those Replacement shows come up the same time the (South American) tour came up, and it got to be a scheduling issue right out of the gate,” Stinson tells Billboard. “I didn’t want to fuck anyone up in Guns by saying, ‘Hey, I can’t do this tour’ or anything like that. Luckily someone was able to reach out to Duff and he was amenable to the idea and was into doing it. It’s Duff being the kind of good sport he is, trying to help Axl (Rose) out. So I’m like, ‘Thanks dude, for covering my ass on this one.’ I think people are gonna be really stoked about it. It’s gonna be fun for everyone.”

For his part, McKagan relayed through GNR’s publicist that, “It’s pretty great to play these songs again, and looking forward to playing some gigs with my pal again. South America is always a radical place for rock n roll…and I’m honored to be doing this thing, in that place.”

McKagan, who was part of GNR from 1985-1993, has always been the member of the original lineup who’s kept closest ties to Rose’s current incarnation of the band. He joined the group for three songs on October 14th, 2010 at London’s O2 Arena, and twice again that December when his band Loaded opened two GNR shows in North America. And, of course, McKagan played with other former GNR members during the group’s 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, which Rose (and guitarist Izzy Stradlin) skipped.

“I don’t know that Duff and Axl ever even had bad blood,” Stinson says. “I don’t really know the whole story. But he came up and played with us a couple years back, and they got along great. Whatever their history is, they’re certainly fine now — I means, as fine as you can be after knowing someone for 30-plus years.”

Stinson says McKagan joined GNR for rehearsals in Los Angeles last month and will likely run through the set again before the Buenos Aires show, but Stinson notes that, “He’s a fucking great bass player. It’s gonna be a breeze. The only bummer is I don’t get to see one of the shows he plays, especially after playing his fucking parts for 17 years. It would be interesting to see how he plays them. There’s a couple things I could use some pointers on.”

GNR will also be playing at the Rock on the Range festival on May 13th in Columbus, Ohio, then they start a nine-show residency on May 21st at the The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. “There’s rumblings of other things to come,” Stinson says, “but I’m not sure what those would be at this point.” Would one of those be some new GNR music, perhaps a follow-up to 2008’s Chinese Democracy? “I hope we would fucking throw ourselves in the studio and make another record,” the bassist says. “A bunch of us have been writing stuff, so hopefully we’ll get something going.”

source: billboard.com

BLACK STAR RIDERS FRONTMAN RICKY WARWICK ON SINGING THIN LIZZY MATERIAL LIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME: ” I STUDIED PHIL LYNOTT AND HOW HE SANG..I WANTED TO KNOW THE SONGS BACKWARDS”

Ruben Mosqueda of the Oregon Music News spoke with Black Star Rider’s frontman Ricky Warwick. Excerpts from the interview appear below.

OMN: There was a little bit of a bug planted in [guitarists] Scott’s [Gorham] ear by Joe Elliot [Def Leppard] to call you up wasn’t there?

RW: Yeah, I think that was pretty much where it came about. Joe has been a huge supporter and champion of my work. Joe was in the studio with Scott remastering some of the Thin Lizzy albums a couple of years or so ago. Scott mentioned to Joe that he wanted to put Thin Lizzy back together he asked Joe if he had any ideas on a singer. Joe said that he should talk to me about it. We had worked together before and he liked the way I sang. I got a call from Scott I thought nothing of it. Scott and I have been friends for a while, I’d speak with Scott every 6 months or so. We talked about life and family as we typically do and then he asked if I wanted to sing for Thin Lizzy? I immediately said yes! [laughs].

OMN: Anyone who knows rock music knows that Def Leppard are a high energy, electrifying rock ‘n’ roll band. You came out to support them with just an acoustic guitar? That sounds terrifying. Was it?

RW: [Laughs] Oh you could just hear the groans from the crowd as I walked on stage with my acoustic guitar! [laughs] Here we go another singer/songwriter! [laughs] Listen, anyone that knows me knows that I’m a diehard rocker. I took the stage with my guitar slung low and I beat the hell out of the guitar. I’m there to entertain, I want to entertain; I’m not there to wallow in self pity and stuff like that. I have a fantastic life and a fantastic job. I’m very lucky. When I’m on stage I want to enjoy myself and I want those who came out to see the show to enjoy themselves as well. The [Def] Leppard fans were truly great to me and accepted me; it was one of the best experiences of my life.

OMN: I asked you earlier about being scared coming out in front of an audience of Def Leppard fans with an acoustic guitar. I would have to believe that going out in front of a Thin Lizzy audience must have been even scarier than that? What was going through your head when you stepped on stage to sing these classic songs?

RW: [long pause] You know without a doubt that was the scariest thing that I’ve ever done in my life. The first show I did with the band was in Aberdeen, Scotland the show was sold out. We started out the show behind this huge curtain that would then drop and we’d kick into Are You Ready. I remember standing on the riser behind the curtain and being able to smell the anticipation of the crowd. My knees went, my mouth dried and I said to myself “What did you get yourself into? What am I doing?” I remember talking to a friend prior to the show and he said “After tonight no matter what happens your life will never be the same again.” He was right. Leading up to the first show we had done countless rehearsals. I recall that I have from May to December to get my stuff together. We all know the Thin Lizzy choruses but the hard part was learning the third verse to this song or that song. I had 25 [Thin] Lizzy songs that I learned inside out and I really do mean inside out. For a period of six months I didn’t listen to anything other than Thin Lizzy. I listened to a lot of [Thin] Lizzy anyway but this more than usual. My wife works for a record label and she’d say “You have to check this band out.” I would reply “Nope I’m not doing it!” [laughs] It went beyond listening to the music I studied Phil Lynott and how he sang and how he wrote. I was fully immersed for that six months and I do believe that by having done that it allowed me to do a respectful job when singing his songs. I wanted to know the songs backwards! I worked my ass off, I really did. I know there will never be another Phil Lynott and he can never be replaced; but if people can leave the venue thinking that’s as close as it’s ever going to get. Then that’s a great honor.
We were prepared but ever on the first tour Ruben it took 3-4 songs before the crowd settled down. It was like they didn’t know what I was going to sound like, if I was going to screw things up, was it going to be any good–all that. Let’s be honest I would be thinking the same thing if I was out there with them! [laughs] So it certainly took those 3-4 songs before you started looking out into the crowd and seeing in their faces “You know what? This guy is pretty good!”

OMN: So you toured for three years then you reconvened to write some new music. What inspired the change from Thin Lizzy toStar Riders? was it due to the departure of of Brian Downey and Darren Wharton?

RW: Well we had been on the road for a long time and one of the things that kept coming up was if we were going to write new material. I started writing with Damon [Johnson] and demoing songs for a new album. It was at that juncture that a couple of things happened Brian Downey expressed that he didn’t want to be on the road that much. You have to keep in mind we were doing something like 150 shows a year since Scott [Gorham] launched this version of Thin Lizzy. Shortly after we noticed that Darren [Wharton] was feeling the same. They didn’t want to be on the road anymore where Scott, Damon, Marco and I are the road dogs–we’ll do that 150 shows per year, no problem. As time went on in the songwriting process Darren, Brian, and Scott all reflected on what would be the new Thin Lizzy album in 30 years. It was without Phil Lynott and it was really weird. I think Marco and I as long time Thin Lizzy fans were thrilled to be getting our names on a new Thin Lizzy album but it felt like we were taking things a step too far. Phil’s not here and maybe we should let the legacy be the legacy. So all that came to a head; we had a band meeting and we all let it pour out. We decided right there and then that we would record a new album, that Brian and Darren would step aside. We brought in drummer Jimmy Degrasso and we carried on as Black Star Riders. We can still play the Thin Lizzy songs in the Black Star Rider set—it’s the best of both worlds I think.

OMN: Ricky I believe you’re the man responsible for naming the band correct?

RW: Yeah that’s right. You know they left it up to me. Scott said “You come up with the lyrics, you come up with the name!” [laughs].

OMN: As a fan of Thin Lizzy I’m curious what your thought was on the John Sykes and Scott Gorham re-launch of Thin Lizzy?

RW: I never saw it live for whatever reason I was working really hard on the solo stuff at the time. I was touring hard and never managed to get to a show. John is a great guitar player and a great singer too. He was a part of Thin Lizzy…they had every right to go out [as Thin Lizzy]. Who am I to criticize them for doing that? What I have hear it was great. John came in at the tail end of Thin Lizzy’s career and they went for this harder and more metal kind of sound. That’s fine. I think the difference between John and I is that I’m a ‘dirty rock ‘n’ roller.’ I’d like to think that I kept Lizzy more in the same vibe that it was; more rock ‘n’ roll. That’s certainly no slight on John; two different people, two different takes.

Read more at the Oregon Music News.

source: oregonmusicnews.com

SEBASTIAN BACH POSTS VIDEO FOR NEW SONG,”TEMPTATION,” ONLINE

Sebastian Bach has released a video for the song Temptation, taken from his upcoming solo album Give ‘Em Hell due on April 18th in Europe and April 22nd in North America through Frontiers Records.

“This is the song that so many of you freaked out to on the Jay Mohr Show a while back and now we have an incredible video by Patrick Fogarty that I cannot wait for you all to see,” said the former Skid Row frontman. “It is mind blowing to me to have my friends Duff McKagan, Will Hunt and Devin Bronson in the video also with John 5 and Bobby Jarzombek on the track!”

“I wrote this song with John 5 from Rob Zombie’s band, the guitar player, who’s incredibly great,” Bach said earlier this year on the Jay Mohr Show. “On the bass on this song is none other than Mr. Duff McKagan. He actually had a lot to do with this album. I was in a super-group — well, it was a group, I don’t know about the super part (laughs) — called Kings Of Chaos in Australia and Duff was there and I said, ‘hey I’m working on a record do you want to write some songs together?’ He goes, ‘what kind of music?’ I go, ‘just rude fucking rock.’ He goes, ‘I can do dirty.’ I go, ‘that’s fucking exactly what I want, just rude riffs!’ So he gave me a tune that is so killer, but then he ended up playing on half the record — so it’s me and Duff and John 5. Then I got Steve Stevens on three songs, from Billy Idol’s band.”

Watch the video for Temptation below.

additional source: sleazeroxx.com

TOMMY THAYER, ERIC SINGER AND BRUCE KULICK TO ATTEND KISS’ INDUCTION CEREMONY INTO THE ROCK N’ ROLL HALL OF FAME

Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone reports:

Current KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer aren’t going to be inducted with the band at this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, and they won’t perform, either – but they’re showing up, nevertheless.

Gene Simmons confirmed to Rolling Stone via e-mail that he and Paul Stanley have invited Singer and Thayer to sit at their table during the April 10th ceremony, along with guitarist Bruce Kulick, who played in KISS during its make-up-free period, from 1984 to 1996. “The fact that they want me at their table means the world,” says Kulick.

With founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss also on hand, that means all surviving KISS members will be at Brooklyn, New York’s Barclays Center, except for hard-to-track-down guitarist Vinnie Vincent. “He’s kind of the Howard Hughes of KISS,” says Kulick.

Simmons and Stanley are upset with the Hall of Fame’s decision to induct only the four original members. “Tommy has been in the band 10 years,” Stanley told Rolling Stone in interviews for their current KISS cover story. “Eric’s been in the band 20 years.” (Minus a five-year interlude when the original band reunited.) “The idea of no one being even a candidate for induction into the Hall of Fame other than the four original guys is hogwash.”

Not surprisingly, Kulick, Thayer and Singer all endorse that sentiment. “Even if I was an outsider,” says Thayer, “I would say that all of the guys that have been in KISS over 40 years, all of the members, should be inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

As of last month, Singer was somewhat reluctant to attend. “If the choice is up to me, do I want to attend or not, then I don’t wanna go,” he told Rolling Stone before Simmons and Stanley invited him. “I personally don’t care about attending, but if Gene and Paul say, ‘No, we want you there,’ no problem. I’m there for you guys. I’m there for Gene and Paul and Tommy. For Kiss, the way it stands now, no problem. Or if they just want me to be there to celebrate Kiss in general, and that means everybody, fine, great, because I’m part of the whole story.”

There is no KISS performance slated for the ceremony. As reported in our cover story, Stanley and Simmons offered to allow the former members to jam with Kiss’ current lineup, featuring Thayer and Singer, who wear Frehley and Criss’ makeup, respectively. Frehley and Criss found that proposition deeply insulting. “I won’t be disrespected,” Criss says. “How can you put me in the Hall of Fame and then tell me to go sit over there in the corner while another guy puts on my makeup and plays? That’s an injustice. To the fans, too.”

source: rollingstone.com

FORMER SLAYER DRUMMER DAVE LOMBARDO DISCUSSES THE BAND, JEFF HANNEMAN AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

Former Slayer and current Philm drummer Dave Lombardo was interviewed on the March 16th edition of the Radio Screamer show. A couple of excerpts follow as transcribed by blabbermouth.net.

Discussing what it is that keeps him coming back to Slayer:

Lombardo: “Oh, well, I don’t think that’s ever gonna happen again. Well, the reason why… I mean, time passed. It was ten years. When I returned in 2001, it had been already ten years that I was out of the band, and it felt like it was the right time. It was water under the bridge, we didn’t have any grudges, but apparently that really wasn’t the case, because later I find out that, ‘Oh, well, he left in ’92, so just get him out again.'”

Talking about the importance of learning the ins and outs of the music business while pursuing a career as a musician:

Lombardo: “It’s something that you learn as you go along. And it’s a tough road, especially when you’re told that everything’s taken care of, you’re well taken care of, and you trust these people and you don’t think twice. But then, of course, like AC/DC says, the rock star, and the businessman gets rich. We need to make, I think, drummers aware of their position in the band and spread the word that musicians need to educate themselves not only in their music and their chops and their style and whatever, but they need to really learn the business, because it turns out that a band ends up being a business and each member becomes a quarter shareholder, or a COO [chief operating officer] of the band. So it’s very important.”

On his most recent split with Slayer:

Lombardo: “I really don’t wanna get into the details, but I take this departure like any other change in life. You just go with it. I, luckily, had a band that I had put back together before this whole thing went down with Slayer. And you just move forward; you don’t look back.”

Speaking about late Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman:

Lombardo: “The arm, basically, they fixed it and they did everything they could do to help him [after he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, from a spider bite in his backyard in January 2011]. But I think the motor skill to play guitar just wasn’t there. You know, we gave him a chance and maybe we could have put him a little low in the mix, but still, it just wasn’t working right. ‘Cause you have to have a certain ability to play this style of music. And it just wasn’t there. It’s unfortunate. Shortly after he died, I spent the afternoon with his wife and I just hung out with her. We went out to dinner. It’s rough. But, unfortunately, it was a downward spiral for him. Obviously, it was depressing for him to have this situation happen to his arm, and him not being able to play, he resorted to drinking more than he was already doing. And, like I said, it was a downward spiral.”

Discussing how the surviving members of Slayer have dealt with the loss of their childhood friend:

Lombardo: “I don’t know how Kerry [King, guitar] and Tom [Araya, bass/vocals] responded. By how they responded at the memorial, it was pretty shallow. It was rough for me, because Jeff and I spent a lot of time on the tour bus. We’d get picked up at the hotel and show up at the venue by 4:30 and we would stay chilling on the bus until showtime. So there was a lot of interaction, there was a lot of chatting, a lot of talking, we’d watch TV, we’d listen to music. He loved my iPod, ’cause I had so many different styles of music. He’d say, ‘Dude, throw your iPod on.’ We’d laugh and joke around and sometimes I’d surprise him with some music that he’d never heard of before. So there was lot of memorable times that Jeff and I had. And it sucks, dude. It’s terrible when a bandmate dies, because that magic is forever lost. That band had a certain chemistry when all four of us were on stage. And not taking anything away from Gary Holt [of EXODUS] — he took Jeff’s place and he’s done an amazing job — but still there’s something [that is missing that simply cannot be replaced].”

Listen to interview below.