Ruben Mosqueda of KNAC.com spoke with wrestling icon, and Fozzy frontman, Chris Jericho about his current KISS cover band, Kuarantine. Highlights from the interview appear below.
KNAC.com: You were approached about being a part of Kuarantine by who?
Jericho: It was Kent Slucher who is the drummer in Luke Bryan’s band. It’s crazy that in this pandemic, I haven’t even met the guys in the band! It’s also crazy to think that we formed a band and we’re paying tribute to non-makeup KISS.
KNAC.com: I assume when you were approached about being a part of Kuarantine you didn’t have to think too hard about being a part of it?
Jericho: Oh, no. I try to keep busy even before the pandemic between music, wrestling and podcasts, so when this came up it was perfect because I could do that right now. I don’t think we have been able to do this had we been living our normal daily lives prior to the pandemic. I jumped on it very quickly because those are awesome songs, we love that era of KISS and during this time no one is touring, and people want to get new music. I see this as new content, sure we’re doing stuff that has been done before but it’s fun and these songs haven’t been performed by KISS in a long, long time.
KNAC.com: The first clip [the band] released was No No No, which is a deep cut from KISS’ Crazy Nights album. How did you guys land on that one, did you pool songs and pick from that?
Jericho: That one in particular the guys had already selected that one. What’s really cool about that era of KISS is that I’m such a huge fan of the non-makeup era of the band. There’s just so much material to choose from that no one knows or doesn’t know really well. I think there’s such a wealth of material to cull from that we could do this for years if we wanted to. I like the “gimmick” behind Kuarantine, which is a band that covers non-makeup era KISS.
KNAC.com: Crazy Nights gets its fair share of flak for being a keyboard heavy album, but if you listen to the guitar there’s some pretty heavy moments on that.
Jericho: That album is a sign of the times and I think it’s been unfairly bashed by rock fans and critics. I think Crazy Nights is Paul’s [Stanley] response to Slippery When Wet, he wanted the band to head more into Bon Jovi territory. Is there a lot of keyboards on that? Sure, but if you take a song like My Way and you remix that you’d have a heavier sounding song. I remember buying that record and loved it. I think Crazy Nights is a sign of the times much like Dynasty had disco trappings, because it’s what was going on at the time. I never had a problem with the amount of keyboards used on that record. I’m a huge fan of all of those records from Animalize, Asylum, Crazy Nights, Hot In The Shade and Revenge.
KNAC.com: What’s next for Kuarantine after Heart of Chrome. I understand you’ve cut two songs, being No No No and Heart of Chrome. You’ll be moving forward with this?
Jericho: The response we got was great, it was fun to do in the middle of all these other things that we have going on at the moment. We’ll be doing more, I didn’t want this to be something that we record, we put up on our Instagram and it’s forgotten about later. I want this to be on Spotify and give it some juice. We want it to be special and we want to build this properly. We want to continue to put out songs and stretch things out. We have a couple more songs that we’re going to be working on. I have to say that No No No is a difficult song to play and Heart of Chrome is one of the highest Paul Stanley vocal performances of his career. When I told Paul that we were doing that song he said, “If you can do that song in the original key, then you’ve got something special going on”. That is what we went with, I wanted it in the original key. I didn’t want to downtune. I wanted a vocal challenge. It was a great exercise for my pipes and challenged what I could do vocally. I didn’t have any gigs going on and we’re recording a new record, so to practice with a song like that, it allowed me to sing in a different way than I sing in Fozzy.
KNAC.com: You first introduction to KISS was…
Jericho: It was the Heaven’s On Fire music video. I saw that video and that is what really set it off for me. Animalize was the first album I bought.
KNAC.com: What’s your take on the Asylum album?
Jericho: I love that too. I think that is the best collection of Gene [Simmons] songs, that’s another great record in my opinion. I don’t think there’s a bad song on that record. I’ll give you a little scoop, one of the new tunes that we’ll be doing is from Asylum for sure. One thing from the Asylum era is that you can’t find concert footage. You can go online and find stuff from Crazy Nights and Animalize, but there’s a huge hole as far as concert footage from that era. I remember Gene looked so out of place during that era as far as what he was doing, and all the fluorescent costumes! I think it’s a great record! Paul’s songs are tremendous. It’s a great album from top to bottom.
Read more at KNAC.com.
36 Responses
This is a great idea. No one gives non-makeup Kiss a real chance when discussing the history of the band. Sure there was some clunkers during this era (Lets Put the X in Sex – god i always hated that song!) but there is a lot of awesomeness also. I would LOVE to hear their take on Spit from Revenge and Hide Your Heart. 2 of my favorite Kiss songs of all time!
Animalize was the first album Jericho ever bought? Chris must be alot younger than I thought he was! But he is right, 80’s KISS is awesome! Here’s my top 10 KISS albums from the 80’s, including “Smashes, Thrashes & Hits,” – only 2 new songs, but it still counts! And of course, “Killers!” – not just 4 new songs, but 4 GREAT new songs! – better than anything on Music From “The Elder.”
10. Smashes, Thrashes & Hits
9. Music From “The Elder”
8. Killers
7. Hot In The Shade
6. Unmasked
5. Crazy Nights
4. Creatures Of The Night
3. Animalize
2. Asylum
1. Lick It Up
Not really a KISS fan, but from that era, I really like Heaven’s on Fire and Lick It Up.
Both of those songs are on my Top 20 list of my favorite 80’s KISS songs! And here’s my list! 😉
20. Under The Gun – Dana, I think you’d also like this one, Eric Carr’s drumming and backing vocals are phenomenal!
19. Nowhere To Run
18. Thrills In The Night
17. Tomorrow
16. War Machine
15. Turn On The Night
14. Get All You Can Take
13. What Makes The World Go ‘Round
12. I’m A Legend Tonight
11. Exciter
10. Down On Your Knees
9. Uh! All Night
8. Crazy Crazy Nights
7. Tears Are Falling
6. And On The 8th Day
5. Heaven’s On Fire
4. Who Wants To Be Lonely
3. I Love It Loud
2. Creatures Of The Night
1. Lick It Up
But they still wore makeup on Creatures of The Night. The era that Kuarantine is covering is make up free KISS.
Dana – not a Kiss fan? Thank you for putting up with all of us. 🙂
I’d like the band to play “Love is Like a Slap in the Face”
I have a handful of songs that I do like, so it’s fine. 🙂
Yes, KISS didn’t drop the makeup until 1983/Lick It Up, a year before Animalize, but being that Animalize – (“Under The Gun”) was the first album that Jericho ever bought, maybe that’s why they’re (as of now) only covering the songs from ’84 on? I think when Jericho says “the non-makeup KISS era,” he’s referring to all of 80’s KISS music. Because again, even though he dosen’t mention the Lick It Up album, that was the beginning of makeup free KISS, not Animalize. It’s really about the music anyway, not the makeup, the Creatures Of The Night album cover isn’t why I bought that album, it was because of the songs, and Eric Carr’s thunderous drumming! 😉
My point was, if Kuarantine is only covering the “make up free” era of KISS, then anything off Creatures Of The Night, should not be on your list, based on their parameters. right? So confused…LOL!
Ok, so now that I’m fully awake (sort of) before I forget again, I have to mention “Fits Like A Glove.” Should’ve been in my Top 20, so let’s just say it’s #21! I would love to do a 80’s KISS Top 40, or 50, but Dana would kill me! 😉 (figure of speech) anyway, I think I just realized why Jericho says “non-makeup KISS” as opposed to “80’s KISS,” to include Revenge, which of course came out in 1992. Eh screw it, it’s all good! – with a few exceptions… 😉
It’s Jericho’s fault, he should’ve been clearer! 😉
IMO, 80s non make up era Kiss has not aged well. I cringe when I hear songs like “Uh All Night,” “Bang Bang You” and “X in Sex.” Awful stuff! I like the Lick It Up, Animalize and Revenge albums, but the ones between those? Yikes! Forget it!
Bob,
I agree, all of those songs you mentioned, are terrible.
D 🙂
“Uh! All Night” is a great song! Thanks to Bruce Kulick’s excellence! His riff throughout the song, and his solo are amazing! Forget the lyrics if you want, but the music is excellent.
We usually agree, but to quote Denis Leary, “not this time, pal.” 😉
That’s cool, like we always say – to each their own.
Uh! All Night is an embarrassment!! A cringy embarrassment! The whole Asylum era is cringy! The album, the clothes! Puke!
Good lord, I gotta go listen to Alive and Rock and Roll Over to get this out of my head!
So, is , Let’s Put The X in Sex, good lord…
Bobrod, that’s just your opinion, millions would disagree, and I’m one of them. Silly to even mention the clothes, it was the mid 80’s for God’s sake! Remember Ozzy? What about his pink tutu on the cover of Circus magazine? Remember that? It’s moot and pointless anyway, the music is what matters the most. Asylum is a GREAT album!
Paul Stanley himself hates those songs. He detests “X in Sex.”
…and he should, what a embarrassment. LOL!!
I grew up with the original line up. My brother turned me on to Kiss with “Alive” and we practically had to buy separate copies of kiss records, cause he really didn’t like to share.
When I hit high school, just to keep the few friends I had, I had to hide my membership to kiss army (I even destroyed a Kiss album to prove I no longer liked them. It was a copy of my brother had).
When I was starting collage “Lick It Up” came out, and I said “Hell with it I’m a Kiss fan.” After that, I was transparent with what I liked.
For my brother Kiss was just a fad, and he was past it by the time I destroyed his album. A lot of good songs in that no make up era, even “Carnival Of Souls” “Childhood” end is a good song.
Charles, I’ve been a proud KISS fan since 1974! I’ve had to hide alot of things in my life, but being a KISS fan was never one of them. I never understood why anybody would be embarrassed about the makeup, I never heard anybody hide their love for Alice Cooper! Of course they had some clunkers in the 70’s, 80’s, and the 90’s, who hasn’t? Not every song can be a “Shout It Out Loud,” or a “Lick It Up,” but overall, I’d say 80-85% of KISS’ music is awesome, that’s pretty damn good.
I think the reason people hid being KI$$ fans is because KI$$ stopped being a rock and roll band and became a cartoon and a “boy band”, of sorts, with all the merchandising they did in the late 70’s. The fans’ perception was KI$$ wasn’t cool anymore, particularly if little kids were becoming fans cuz of KI$$’ merchandising efforts. That’s when KI$$ became a brand rather than a band. “KI$$ Sucks” became the new slogan rather than “You Wanted the Best….”
The 2 songs from the “Smashes, Thrashes and Hits” was usual lyrics for them, but there were other songs that were good. If people remember that “Kiss Exposed” video was pretty out there. The last Kuarentine video Jericho was doing some pretty dangerous distractive driving.