KISS drummer Eric Singer spoke with The Cassius Morris Show about the fact that some fans continue to criticize him for wearing original KISS drummer Peter Criss’ “Catman” makeup. Here is what Singer had to say (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net):
“It’s always been a non-issue for me, emotionally or otherwise. And I don’t mean that disrespectfully to anybody that it is important to them; that’s fine and that’s cool. The only thing I don’t understand… I shouldn’t say ‘don’t understand’… What I don’t get is for those fans either fans or former fans that continually complain not just about that issue, but anything to do with KISS, and continue to say how they’re done with the band, and ‘I’m over it,’ and ‘I hate it,’ but yet they continue to talk about it non-stop. I just don’t understand that point of view or that thought process, because me, myself, when I’m done with something, whether it’s a former friend, ex-girlfriend… anything… a band… or product. If I don’t like the way a product… If they change the way the product tastes or the way it looks, if I don’t like it anymore, guess what?! I go, ‘Oh, okay. I don’t really care for it anymore.’ I stop buying it, I stop supporting it, or I don’t listen to it, I don’t eat it… Whatever it is, I move on from it. And I go, ‘Okay, I move on. I don’t like it anymore.’ It’s like having your favorite restaurant and all of a suddent they change the menu. Or they change the cook and you go, ‘Hey, the food doesn’t taste the same anymore. I’m not really digging it.’ What do you do? Instead of keep going there and going, ‘Hey, you know, I don’t like that you changed the cook,’ and ‘I think that you need to get that old cook back,’ and ‘You need do this.’ I don’t do that. I just go, ‘All right. Something is not right,’ or, ‘I don’t care for it anymore.’ And I don’t go. And I don’t buy it and I don’t support it. It’s just simple.”
He continued: “Now, maybe I’m looking at it too ‘black and white,’ but, for me, I just don’t really fully understand fans, or former fans, that have that point of view. I get the passion part, I get that a band like KISS means a lot to them, or it had a real impact on their life — I get it — but it had a real impact on me too, ’cause guess what?! I play in the band, you know, so of course I care; it means something to me. But I don’t understand the people that can’t just move on and go do… If you don’t like it, or you have a problem with something, respectfully just move on and, great. For those who like it or wanna enjoy it, cool.”
Singer added: “I’m not saying that you should just blindly go, ‘Oh, I agree with anything the band does and I don’t care.’ No, I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is, if you really, really have a distaste for it, if you’re gonna be mad just because the band is not doing what you want, then go, ‘Okay, I’m not into it anymore.’ That’s what I did my whole life when it came to bands. When a band kind of changed the musical sound or direction and I kind of lost interest in them, I stopped buying the records and I didn’t go to the concerts, and like I said, I didn’t hate them; I just, ‘Okay, well, I’m not really into it anymore.'”
Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine earlier in the year, Eric accused Criss and original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley of being hypocritical in their criticisms of other people wearing their makeup. “This is something that I notice that nobody seems to point out. When I came in to play with the makeup, Ace was in the band, and had no problem with me playing with Peter’s makeup while he went onstage and made that KISS money. In fact, he loved it, and he didn’t want Peter back in the band. And then go forward the next year, when Ace decided to leave. When we fast forward, all of a sudden they bring Peter back, and you got Tommy Thayer playing guitar wearing the Ace makeup, and all of a sudden, no one minded it was Ace’s makeup design. Peter had no problem, did he?”
Pressed about the fact that some people see what he and guitarist Tommy Thayer do in KISS now as almost an impersonation, Singer said: “Here’s the thing that’s ridiculous. I love when people say that, because the reality is, I’m not impersonating. Because I wear the makeup that he wore? Did they come up with their designs? Yes. Of course. But it’s not an extension of their personality. Peter wasn’t a cat. Peter Criss was a cat? They had to create a character. You know something? I don’t know if he even had a pet cat. Come on, it’s ridiculous.”
Asked if he tries to play like Peter onstage, Singer replied: “I’ve always played the way I play. I play like Eric Singer. I don’t play like Peter Criss. I don’t try to play like Peter Criss. I don’t mimic him on stage. Bottom line is, though, am I playing KISS songs? Yes. Am I playing songs that were originally played by Peter, and learning parts that Peter played or originally wrote? Yes, of course. But guess what? I did the same thing when I played in BLACK SABBATH or played with Brian May or played with Alice Cooper.”
Listen to Singer’s interview with The Cassius Morris Show below.
additional source: blabbermouth.net
Eric, as usual, you’re missing the point. I don’t hate you, or Tommy, or Gene & Paul, I just hate what has become of the “band” Kiss! Maybe at one time Ace & Peter didn’t mind seeing you & Tommy wearing their former band members face, but at that time, they weren’t exactly “close”. Things change, times change, and now they are. I can’t understand why you can’t understand why it bothers most of us fans so much to see you & Tommy wearing Ace & Peter’s faces, no, even though I don’t “follow” Kiss anymore, still come across photos of you & Tommy, and yes, it still bothers me, because it’s just WRONG! You’re not just taking somebody’s place, you’re taking somebody’s face! DON’T YOU GET THAT??
One more thing, we know the CATMAN is “just” a character for Peter, but it’s HIS character!
I know, what an ungrateful schmuck. Classless. He stepped into huge shoes, the least he could do is give the man whose shoes he filled some props. But , no, he says that stuff about Peter not really being a cat. If Paul and Gene would’ve pulled this crap in ’79 it would have been total mutiny with the fans, and the press. It wasn’t just about money then. It was, but there was a limit to how far it would go.
A band is not a just “product that you stop buying.” You read that and go, “what drugs is this guy on?” but then, he’s just high on life…lol…
I love this one “Eric Singer has been in the band longer.”
With Ace and Peter, Kiss wins Super Bowls. With anyone else, they will never be anything more than a playoff team.
Some see things that are and say “why”. Others see things that aren’t and say “why not” Kiss fans just argue nonstop. Let the madness begin.
As I was reading this I could think about was Eddie, especially during the “move on” parts.
im sick of hearing….oh Tommy is the Spaceman now or Eric is the catman now….b.s…..yeah they wear the makeup and costumes….but they ARE impersonating Ace Frehley and Peter Criss…..all this they are characters is Gene and Paul spin to sell what the band is now……..growing up with KISS…to me they were never spaceman catman or demon and starchild…….they were Ace Frehley Peter Criss…they were people not bulls–t characters……all the people that like them now… great enjoy the band…..but the fact remains that they live off what the original four created……i’ve heard all the b.s. that they are bigger now than ever…playing sold out arenas…..tickets sales huge……..more Bulls–t….co headline tours……last show here in melb Australia…with Motley crew i might add….they were giving tickets away at half the price……..i wanted my kids to see KISS so i picked up 4 half price tickets the night of the show….i was sitting next to a guy and i told him how much i paid and he couldnt believe that he was ripped off for paying twice as much..they were great seats too……but not even close to a sellout……THE Brand KISS may be bigger…..But the band will never be bigger than in the 70’s
I like Singer as a drummer.
But I F$%&#*KING hate that he wears the CATMAN logo from the Rock and Roll album cover on his vest.
Eric and Toomy are just pawns in the Gene and Paul show.