gene simmons interview
What made you decide to put out a solo album?
Why not?
Ah, well… because you might want to stick with-
It’s my first solo record in twenty-six years. My first was in 1978. I was doing [unintelligable] writing and lots of it and I have something to say. That’s why.
One of the questions from fans I got referred to a whole bunch of demos that you’ve done over the years. Is it true you’ll be putting them out as a boxed set?
That’s true. I’ll be releasing a boxed set called One Hundred.
What will it look like?
I haven’t put it together yet. Everytime there’s a new record by the band, I start writing. I usually write twenty to thirty songs per record, out of which only four or five are used and the rest just end up sitting around. Instead of keeping those songs in a closet or some place, I’d rather put it out. You know, there are some people who might want to hear it.
Goremachine wants to know if money is still more important than love, and if it is, can you think of a scenario where you’d give up money for love?
Here’s the god’s honest truth: money is more important than love. Here’s why: because no matter how much you tell your child that you love her, or he, without money you can’t by them food for their lives. Saying “I love you” doesn’t mean very much. Of course I want it to be that way, but money is the currency of life. The first thing you need before love is survival, is food. In order to do that you need money.
Now the truth is that women, well, women have love to sell. Men can’t. Men must have money. With money you’re capable of giving love. Women unfortunately don’t need money, women have love to give. Then they get the money, and they use the money to survive.
So.. for women, love is their currency?
Well of course. A woman’s most important asset is being a woman. A guy can’t say “I want to get married and stay home and wash the dishes.” But a woman can say “Look, I want you to go out and look for work while I stay at home and wash the dishes.” She can say that. A man can’t.
What song on the album was the hardest to complete?
‘Waiting For The Morning Light’, the song Bob Dylan had co-written. Bob and I had actually written that song nine years ago and I’ve been after him to finish the lyrics. He said [imitates Bob Dylan] “Well Mr Kiss, I can do it. YOU write the lyrics.”
He calls you “Mr Kiss”?
All the time. So Bob came up with the chords and I came up with the melody and the lyrics.
Is there a greater meaning behind the album cover?
No. I think Gene Simmons is about women; all shapes, all sizes. I make no pretensions about this. I don’t know how to tell anybody this but I’m the male of the species, and the male of the species tends to be attracted to women, that’s plural.
Did you know any of the models before hand? Are they friends or…
Two of them I know very well. The blonde with the hat.
Who was the other one?
She was lying on the floor, but she’s cut out. Her legs were too… open.
I see her. Oh. Okay. Were all the rest from agancies?
Ah, they’re friends of friends. I’m trying to combine the style of women that really come in all sizes and shapes. I didn’t want them to be just lesbian [?] Playboy beauties.
I know you must get asked this all the time, but who is the old lady on the left?
She’s 78 years old ad I wanted to make sure that people saw her too because sex doesn’t just stopped because there are women… you know she’s 78 years old.
That’s amazing.
We never think about it but when we were twelve years old we were like “Put what where?” In terms of age, you become active sexually. Trust me, when you get to be 70 or 80 years old… You don’t imagine people that age having sex but they do.
I try not to think about it.
When you get to be that age you’ll be very happy that you’re thinking about it.
This is a bit of a personal question for me, but I’m a comic book fan. There’s a story that in the Kiss comic book series from the ‘70s you actually put blood into the ink.
True.
How much blood and how was it extracted?
A vial. A pint.
How much is a pint? I only know metric.
Almost a glass.
Really? How was it extracted?
Through needles, then it was put into the red ink at a printing plant in Buffalo, New York.
That’s awesome.
So the truth is that there are comic books out there with out DNA in them.
Was there blood from all of you?
Yes, all of us.
Wow, I thought that story was just bullshit. That’s so great. Which song on the album is the most autobiographical?
That’s a very good question… Probably ‘Waiting For The Morning Light.’ Because it’s about being on the road.
And when you co-wrote that songs with Dylan, what concepts to did talk about for it?
There were no concepts. I called him up and I said ‘Hi Bob. It’s Gene Simmons, you know, that guy who sticks his tongue out?” And he said “Hey Mr Kiss, how you doin’?” I said “Listen, I want to write a song with you and he immediately said “sure.” He came over to my house within a week and we sat down and started strumming. We both picked up acoustic guitars, and I still have the set of us tossing ideas together. I started strumming and then he strummed something, I was hoping that he’d write a melody or lyric because he’s Bob Dylan. But the exact oppposte happened. He started strumming some chords, and I immediately started sing a melody that he liked. Then we split and just said okay, let’s just finish this piece. But I couldn’t get him to write the lyrics so eventually I wrote the lyrics. And demo’d the [unintelligable].
You can hear the influence of Dylan on that track, but what do you think is the signature of Gene Simmons on that track?
My love of the Beatles’ ‘Here, There and Everywhere.’ I don’t know if you know that song [starts singing it]. If you here the backgrounds, my point of view is the backgrounds. Probably the background is myself…
[a few seconds of silence] That didn’t impress you. It impressed me.
No, no. From my perspective, you’re quite famous and it’s a bit easy to get awestruck. So I want to stay quiet and let you say what you have to say.
Well, remember that I’m delusional. Standing on ceremony doesn’t work with me. I’m pretty matter-of-fact about things, which is exactly the way people want you to be about things, you know? People forget that celebrities are human beings.
I’ll keep that in mind. What track off the album would surprise Kiss fans the most?
‘Waiting For The Morning Light.’ The last song, ‘I Dream A Thousand Dreams.’ It’s a pyschedelic country song with blues guitar.
Why do you think you need a solo album to depart so far from what you usually do?
What I do isn’t a departure, this is who I am. Kiss is a very narrow picture of who I am. In other words if someone took a photo of you at a funeral… what was that? Was that birds in the background?
Um, it was somebody coughing.
Oh. So let’s say that somebody took a photo of you at a funeral and you’re dressed in black and that’s the only photo that was ever taken of you in your life. Okay? So people’s visual impression of you was this guy who was dressed in black who is sombre. While that’s true, it’s an honest and clear depiction of you, it’s certainly not a clear depiction of all that is you. Because you go to parties, to the beaches in swimming trunksand you’re happy and sad and all the other things. But here you are, the only thing people see you sa is this photo of you at a funeral and mostly the Gene Simmons that people know is the Lothario, the guy that’s after their sister or their mummy. The guy who wears more make-up than the both of them. Now that’s true, but that’s only one facet of him.
Here are some more fan questions. Some of them are a bit lame.
There are no lame questions from fans are fans as I’m concerned.
Kay Serra, for example, wants to know if you’ve ever tried surfing.
No. I never have.
Would you consider yourself a sporting or a non-sporting person?
I used to be a life guard. I was on baseball teams and archery teams and stuff. I enjoy sports , but it’s not a mental challenge. It’s just physical exersion. My favourite kind of sports is indoor sports.
[Silence]
I thought that was funny, I guess you didn’t.
Oh, was that like a double entendre?
Well, what do you think indoor sports are?
Badminton. Inddor cricket. Bowling.
You know what an indoor cricket is? It’s a bug inside your home. You can’t call a sport ‘cricket.’ “I have a sport called cockroach.” Get out of here! You can’t call a sport ‘cricket.’
It’s like baseball. It’s not like you’re using a base for a ball.
That’s true, but ‘baseball’ isn’t a gay name like ‘cricket.’ Fuck me. Even wearing the white sweaters doesn’t help. What the fuck is that? At least dress with some spice. Be a man for fuck’s sake. You can’t call it cricket. It’s like [males chirping noises].
What if we renamed it ‘bashstick’ or something like that?
Yeah. The ‘kill human beings’ sport.
Sounds really tough.
‘Stab.’
‘Stab’ sounds really good. Or ‘punch.'
Why not?
Ah, well… because you might want to stick with-
It’s my first solo record in twenty-six years. My first was in 1978. I was doing [unintelligable] writing and lots of it and I have something to say. That’s why.
One of the questions from fans I got referred to a whole bunch of demos that you’ve done over the years. Is it true you’ll be putting them out as a boxed set?
That’s true. I’ll be releasing a boxed set called One Hundred.
What will it look like?
I haven’t put it together yet. Everytime there’s a new record by the band, I start writing. I usually write twenty to thirty songs per record, out of which only four or five are used and the rest just end up sitting around. Instead of keeping those songs in a closet or some place, I’d rather put it out. You know, there are some people who might want to hear it.
 |
I hate you thiiiis much. |
Goremachine wants to know if money is still more important than love, and if it is, can you think of a scenario where you’d give up money for love?
Here’s the god’s honest truth: money is more important than love. Here’s why: because no matter how much you tell your child that you love her, or he, without money you can’t by them food for their lives. Saying “I love you” doesn’t mean very much. Of course I want it to be that way, but money is the currency of life. The first thing you need before love is survival, is food. In order to do that you need money.
Now the truth is that women, well, women have love to sell. Men can’t. Men must have money. With money you’re capable of giving love. Women unfortunately don’t need money, women have love to give. Then they get the money, and they use the money to survive.
So.. for women, love is their currency?
Well of course. A woman’s most important asset is being a woman. A guy can’t say “I want to get married and stay home and wash the dishes.” But a woman can say “Look, I want you to go out and look for work while I stay at home and wash the dishes.” She can say that. A man can’t.
What song on the album was the hardest to complete?
‘Waiting For The Morning Light’, the song Bob Dylan had co-written. Bob and I had actually written that song nine years ago and I’ve been after him to finish the lyrics. He said [imitates Bob Dylan] “Well Mr Kiss, I can do it. YOU write the lyrics.”
He calls you “Mr Kiss”?
All the time. So Bob came up with the chords and I came up with the melody and the lyrics.
Is there a greater meaning behind the album cover?
No. I think Gene Simmons is about women; all shapes, all sizes. I make no pretensions about this. I don’t know how to tell anybody this but I’m the male of the species, and the male of the species tends to be attracted to women, that’s plural.
Did you know any of the models before hand? Are they friends or…
Two of them I know very well. The blonde with the hat.
Who was the other one?
She was lying on the floor, but she’s cut out. Her legs were too… open.
I see her. Oh. Okay. Were all the rest from agancies?
Ah, they’re friends of friends. I’m trying to combine the style of women that really come in all sizes and shapes. I didn’t want them to be just lesbian [?] Playboy beauties.
I know you must get asked this all the time, but who is the old lady on the left?
She’s 78 years old ad I wanted to make sure that people saw her too because sex doesn’t just stopped because there are women… you know she’s 78 years old.
That’s amazing.
We never think about it but when we were twelve years old we were like “Put what where?” In terms of age, you become active sexually. Trust me, when you get to be 70 or 80 years old… You don’t imagine people that age having sex but they do.
I try not to think about it.
When you get to be that age you’ll be very happy that you’re thinking about it.
This is a bit of a personal question for me, but I’m a comic book fan. There’s a story that in the Kiss comic book series from the ‘70s you actually put blood into the ink.
True.
How much blood and how was it extracted?
A vial. A pint.
How much is a pint? I only know metric.
Almost a glass.
Really? How was it extracted?
Through needles, then it was put into the red ink at a printing plant in Buffalo, New York.
That’s awesome.
So the truth is that there are comic books out there with out DNA in them.
Was there blood from all of you?
Yes, all of us.
Wow, I thought that story was just bullshit. That’s so great. Which song on the album is the most autobiographical?
That’s a very good question… Probably ‘Waiting For The Morning Light.’ Because it’s about being on the road.
And when you co-wrote that songs with Dylan, what concepts to did talk about for it?
There were no concepts. I called him up and I said ‘Hi Bob. It’s Gene Simmons, you know, that guy who sticks his tongue out?” And he said “Hey Mr Kiss, how you doin’?” I said “Listen, I want to write a song with you and he immediately said “sure.” He came over to my house within a week and we sat down and started strumming. We both picked up acoustic guitars, and I still have the set of us tossing ideas together. I started strumming and then he strummed something, I was hoping that he’d write a melody or lyric because he’s Bob Dylan. But the exact oppposte happened. He started strumming some chords, and I immediately started sing a melody that he liked. Then we split and just said okay, let’s just finish this piece. But I couldn’t get him to write the lyrics so eventually I wrote the lyrics. And demo’d the [unintelligable].
You can hear the influence of Dylan on that track, but what do you think is the signature of Gene Simmons on that track?
My love of the Beatles’ ‘Here, There and Everywhere.’ I don’t know if you know that song [starts singing it]. If you here the backgrounds, my point of view is the backgrounds. Probably the background is myself…
[a few seconds of silence] That didn’t impress you. It impressed me.
No, no. From my perspective, you’re quite famous and it’s a bit easy to get awestruck. So I want to stay quiet and let you say what you have to say.
Well, remember that I’m delusional. Standing on ceremony doesn’t work with me. I’m pretty matter-of-fact about things, which is exactly the way people want you to be about things, you know? People forget that celebrities are human beings.
I’ll keep that in mind. What track off the album would surprise Kiss fans the most?
‘Waiting For The Morning Light.’ The last song, ‘I Dream A Thousand Dreams.’ It’s a pyschedelic country song with blues guitar.
Why do you think you need a solo album to depart so far from what you usually do?
What I do isn’t a departure, this is who I am. Kiss is a very narrow picture of who I am. In other words if someone took a photo of you at a funeral… what was that? Was that birds in the background?
Um, it was somebody coughing.
Oh. So let’s say that somebody took a photo of you at a funeral and you’re dressed in black and that’s the only photo that was ever taken of you in your life. Okay? So people’s visual impression of you was this guy who was dressed in black who is sombre. While that’s true, it’s an honest and clear depiction of you, it’s certainly not a clear depiction of all that is you. Because you go to parties, to the beaches in swimming trunksand you’re happy and sad and all the other things. But here you are, the only thing people see you sa is this photo of you at a funeral and mostly the Gene Simmons that people know is the Lothario, the guy that’s after their sister or their mummy. The guy who wears more make-up than the both of them. Now that’s true, but that’s only one facet of him.
Here are some more fan questions. Some of them are a bit lame.
There are no lame questions from fans are fans as I’m concerned.
Kay Serra, for example, wants to know if you’ve ever tried surfing.
No. I never have.
Would you consider yourself a sporting or a non-sporting person?
I used to be a life guard. I was on baseball teams and archery teams and stuff. I enjoy sports , but it’s not a mental challenge. It’s just physical exersion. My favourite kind of sports is indoor sports.
[Silence]
I thought that was funny, I guess you didn’t.
Oh, was that like a double entendre?
Well, what do you think indoor sports are?
Badminton. Inddor cricket. Bowling.
You know what an indoor cricket is? It’s a bug inside your home. You can’t call a sport ‘cricket.’ “I have a sport called cockroach.” Get out of here! You can’t call a sport ‘cricket.’
It’s like baseball. It’s not like you’re using a base for a ball.
That’s true, but ‘baseball’ isn’t a gay name like ‘cricket.’ Fuck me. Even wearing the white sweaters doesn’t help. What the fuck is that? At least dress with some spice. Be a man for fuck’s sake. You can’t call it cricket. It’s like [males chirping noises].
What if we renamed it ‘bashstick’ or something like that?
Yeah. The ‘kill human beings’ sport.
Sounds really tough.
‘Stab.’
‘Stab’ sounds really good. Or ‘punch.'
posted by Lumpen at 7/09/2004 08:44:00 pm
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