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.
152 Responses
Peter’s been a fuck-up for decades. Didn’t he put up for sale a show in Connecticut right after he left Kiss, cancelled it and kept the money? How bout his NYC show back then that had 165 people show up and he drank himself to tears. Kulick won’t say a word…he’s inked contracts to replace Thayer if he’s injured. I’m sure Doc has offers from Live Nation for the real line-up up the gazoo.
Great, that’s all we need is The Tree as SpaceBruce. The man has the stage presence of an average musician or session player. The only memorable lead he ever played is on that awful song Tears are Falling.
Bruce is probably the best guitarist the band has ever had, from the point of musicality, but, and that is often the case with truly great players, does not have a stage presence anywhere near the others. But he is probably fine with that as he has never said anything official that was to bash somebody else, he is OK. So no need to bash him here.
Btw, I remember that I saw him doing a clinic in a small club over here in Cologne (he played live to demos of Revenge and explained the writing and recording of the songs, hell, was he good) to which the Dutch fanclub of Kiss came and they told me that the reunion was coming on when I did not have a clue about it because the media here had not yet taken up the subject; Bruce of course was asked what was going on in Kiss and how he felt about it, he was a true gentleman, he wished them all the luck. I think, from what we see on the MTV unplugged, he must have seen it coming.
Eddie, thank you very much for giving us fans the opportunity to express our feelings on your site. You truly are The Spokesman for all the passion involving the music we all cherish. Keep up the awesome work, fellow brother in rock!
Thanks Joe, as you can see ALL opinions welcome here regardless if I agree or not.
shame on paul and gene and the hall of lame!
I would beat the living crap out of paul at the ceremony if I was ace or peter.
Paul should stick with drawing penises instead of embarrassing himself everyday in the press.
El Duce, funny post! Btw love the Mentors lol