Gene Simmons’ son, Nick Simmons interviewed his father for Esquire Magazine. Portions of the interview appears below.
Nick Simmons: You once said the music business isn’t dying — it’s dead. What would you say to young musicians and songwriters today trying to navigate this new terrain?
Gene Simmons: Don’t quit your day job is a good piece of advice. When I was coming up, it was not an insurmountable mountain. Once you had a record company on your side, they would fund you, and that also meant when you toured they would give you tour support. There was an entire industry to help the next Beatles, Stones, Prince, Hendrix, to prop them up and support them every step of the way. There are still record companies, and it does apply to pop, rap, and country to an extent. But for performers who are also songwriters — the creators — for rock music, for soul, for the blues — it’s finally dead.
Rock is finally dead.
I am so sad that the next 15-year-old kid in a garage someplace in Saint Paul, that plugs into his Marshall and wants to turn it up to ten, will not have anywhere near the same opportunity that I did. He will most likely, no matter what he does, fail miserably. There is no industry for that anymore. And who is the culprit? There’s always the changing tide of interests — music taste changes with each generation. To blame that is silly. That was always the exciting part, after all: “What’s next?” But there’s something else. The death of rock was not a natural death. Rock did not die of old age. It was murdered. And the real culprit is that kid’s 15-year-old next-door neighbor, probably a friend of his. Maybe even one of the bandmates he’s jamming with. The tragedy is that they seem to have no idea that they just killed their own opportunity — they killed the artists they would have loved. Some brilliance, somewhere, was going to be expressed, and now it won’t, because it’s that much harder to earn a living playing and writing songs. No one will pay you to do it.
The masses do not recognize file-sharing and downloading as stealing because there’s a copy left behind for you — it’s not that copy that’s the problem, it’s the other one that someone received but didn’t pay for. The problem is that nobody will pay you for the 10,000 hours you put in to create what you created. I can only imagine the frustration of all that work, and having no one value it enough to pay you for it.
It’s very sad for new bands. My heart goes out to them. They just don’t have a chance. If you play guitar, it’s almost impossible. You’re better off not even learning how to play guitar or write songs, and just singing in the shower and auditioning for The X Factor. And I’m not slamming The X Factor, or pop singers. But where’s the next Bob Dylan? Where’s the next Beatles? Where are the songwriters? Where are the creators? Many of them now have to work behind the scenes, to prop up pop acts and write their stuff for them.
Here’s a frightening thought: from 1958 to 1983, name 100 musical anythings that are iconic, that seem to last beyond their time.
NS: [How] does this bode for the industry of the future?
GS: There is no record industry, unfortunately. Not like there was. There are some terrific bands out there — Tame Impala, which you turned me on to, and so on. And during the ’60s and ’70s they would’ve become big, I’m convinced.
But, strangely, today, everything pales before Psy’s Gangnam Style. Look up the numbers on that song. He blows everyone else out of the water.
Read more at Esquire.
source: esquire.com
186 Responses
Dead Sara, Flyleaf, Black label society, Bush, Lita Ford is still jamming.Even Rush put out a great cd. Alter bridge are all great bands with there own sound. On the alternative side listen to Metric last two cds. you will be shocked about their own sound and how they do rock! Theres great bands out there like the ones i mentioned. I love Kiss and Gene but the only thing that I really want to hear declaired from him is a reunion with ace and peter and for all them to get paid equally with a great new kiss cd and a tour. Maybe doing destroyer or Love gun whole cd on a tour! Ye Ha!!
Shawn, I agree. I am waiting to see Kiss when they decide to give the people what they want again. Gene and Paul know Ace is the secret ingredient of Kiss, and Peter is the rock and roll.
He’s right. But he is still a douche.
Everyone needs to check out Kyng & their CD, “Burn The Serum”. Saw them open for BLS last month & they’re opening for Chevelle now. Check ’em out!
There’s some great bands still and there’s always a ray of hope that rock music will triumphantly return to glory, but it looks more and more like that won’t happen. Rock, especially hard rock and metal, just doesn’t get the support and exposure other forms of music do. But the entire music industry to some degree has slipped. That’s why an artist can have first week album sales of 20,000 or so and end either in or close to the billboard top 10. That wouldn’t have happened 20-30 years ago. Who knows how much longer the iconic bands will be around and if there will be younger bands that will take over for bands like Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, AC/DC, Rush, Van Halen and so on and go on to achieve the God-like status and 40 year careers those bands have achieved. There still are “career” bands out there that have 10-15-20 under their belts now, but they have to tour their butts off to the point that it seems like they’re perpetually on tour just to make a living and that has to be a rough life for them. But still, we all need to support these bands and the great new bands, like Kyng and Rival Sons, and rock will never truly die.
You are right, bands have to be on tour constantly today to make a decent living. CD sales do not create enough money for an average band (in terms of sales or awareness level!) to make a living, they will only account for the production cost. But you need a new product to go on tour again. So it is a circular motion. Many of the great recording studios all around the wolrd have closed or close to closing because the sound quality only they can deliver is not as much requested – and paid for – as it was. Sound as part of the experience and of the indulgence into something you love lost its status among younger people. The big bands of old who are still around can go on tour and still make millions so they do not rely on album sales. They also easily afford the production cost. But those are few compared to the many and sometimes great new bands forced to make a living from touring.
Ace’s performance on Fallon was buried by most…..just brutal. Kiss is fantastic in ’14. Bach & Ace will try to get back their recording costs. Gene is correct.