KISS' Paul Stanley | JCCSF

Paul Stanley is one of the single most recognizable front men in the history of rock and roll yeah as as chief songwriter and driving force behind kiss he's been a visionary and trendsetter since the early 1970s he's also performed the title role of the Phantom in the Phantom of the Opera and was chosen to be the final phantom in the ten-year run of the Toronto production during his time in Toronto Paul became spokesman for the Canadian based about-faced organization which deals with children with facial differences and its impact on them in this role he met and spoke with both parents and children about his own personal experience with the birth defect known as microtia which is a deformity of the outer ear an additional loss of hearing on his right side Paul Stanley is here tonight with his memoir faced the music the shockingly funny smart inspirational story of the incredible highs and equally incredible lows in his life both inside and outside of kiss he appears in conversation with San Francisco Chronicle pop music critic eye Dean Missouri please welcome them both to the Jay CCSF everybody can hear me right I just got to thank everybody for coming down and I got to thank everybody it's the second week the book is on the New York Times bestseller list and I really wrote the book I wrote it for my kids and I wrote it for you I hope you get something out of it it meant a lot to me and now I'm gonna sit down and we're gonna converse congratulations on the number two thank you placement egg was that something you were thinking about when you wrote this book that you were gonna be a New York Times I never thought it that there um I never wanted to write a book at all I think that most of the autobiographies that come out are pretty much trash I mean most of the the books that people write especially entertainers they tend to be kind of like love letters to yourself it's people writing things that are kind of doubtful may have happened may not have happened maybe worth commending them for or not so unless a book about somebody's life has something to offer then I don't see any purpose in writing it so once I started thinking about I thought I want to leave my kids something so that they understand what I went through and what it takes to succeed not in music but in life so I started writing the book I never wanted to write a book that was a kiss book I wanted to write my story and I just found in life as I got older that the most you get out of life is when you give the most and when you open up and tell people what's going on in you they find out that you're not much different than they are and maybe if that's inspiring great we all need we all need to be inspired did you read the other kiss books because there are so many out there and we're there did you go into writing this book with the intention of clearing up anything or I'm not a big fan of fiction you know honestly there was no sense of law I'm gonna write the tell-all I'm gonna write the ultimate you know honest version of what happened although that's what it is you know I was writing a book about myself and there's there's there's no separating me from the band so it's a kiss book in that sense but it's so much more that's what what I love so much about the book so far is the response it's gotten from people who aren't necessarily kiss fans you know I think it's a book that somebody can read and go that's me you know people people struggle with all kinds of difficulties learning difficulties um not looking like other people and what do you do you know how do you how do you deal with it you know I grew up being taunted I grew up being made fun of and my family wasn't that supportive and interestingly I thought because I love music I said I'm gonna become famous and then lights gonna be great I was really fortunate that you people may made my dreams come true and with everything that you did suddenly I realized I was still personally pretty miserable you know I was so grateful for what I had but it didn't change my life any you can hide secrets you can hide what's going on inside you from the people around you but you can never hide it from yourself so at that point like a lot of people you either put a needle in your arm a shotgun in your mouth or you stop being a victim and you know you get your together and my my journey has been to have a great life and and what I found was you know you get nothing like this you know you have to open your hand and you know it was eye-opening for me to to live the life I've lived somebody said to me or was it like cathartic to write the book I said no it was cathartic to lived a life you know I you I think the most surprising aspect of the book when I started reading it was realizing how difficult you had it right from the beginning and how much of an outsider you were as a child because if someone looks at the story of kids it's very successful it's all straight up and but you had a very rough start yeah but um you know I try to tell people that your success and what you make of your life is totally up to you the people who tell you what's impossible are always the people who failed and if you innately have a sense of what you're capable of doing then you should be able to do it don't fool yourself if I had decided I'm going to become a great mathematician I would be probably flipping burgers because you know you you have to know your limitations and you also have to know what you're capable of but once you once you identify something that's a passion to you and that you love doing and that you're good at the only thing that separates you from success is hard work hard work never killed anybody that's right you were for those who haven't read the book you were born with an ear deformity you cannot hear out of your right here how did that affect you early on well you know the the tough part is to be different on your child you can choose to be different when you get older but when your child you have no say in it kids can be cruel but it's surprisingly adults can objectify you people can look at you and forget there's a human being there and kind of look look at you as a specimen and there's no getting away from that so it's kind of relentless it's it's incredibly draining and you have this sense that you can never never get away from it if you put on a shirt or you put on a dress I'm not talking to the guys wearing the dresses until but if you put on something that you find out as embarrassing or people are staring at you go home and change your clothes when you have a facial difference when you have a deformity you don't get to change it it's something you have to live with and it's it's never easy and what can make it harder is you know sometimes parents want to give you what they think is tough love I don't think that that's tough love it's just it's just a misunderstanding of what a child needs if you tell a child that they're just like everybody else and they're not well how many times they're going to confide in you you know if somebody says to you you're you're just like everyone else you know mom I'm not like everybody else and so you know I tried to speak to a lot of parents and say listen you know the the most the most refreshing thing and embracing thing you could say to your kids is the same thing that I've been saying to kids when I meet them is a you're not like everybody else and life's going to be more difficult for you but if you're willing to work hard you can you can win you can come out on top so I think it's it's important for parents to acknowledge what's going on yeah you can get you know the kid who's got a limp to win the race but you leave out this the emotional component and that's I mean that's so important to who we are is connecting our hearts in our heads your parents weren't that supportive in other aspects of your life as well did you feel like you had something to prove to them yeah and in what's interesting is I think that never leaves us I think even as adults you know I would find myself trying to get you know trying to get acknowledgment from my parents I think we're always kids when it comes to our parents when you see your parents you want that acknowledgement I remember when I did Phantom of the Opera I had this sense ah now they think I'm legit you know you know our crazy sons not on stage and a pair of tights beating off a guitar if you can say beating off a guitar a lot more tonight I think we found the answer um so your parents aren't that supportive you have this pretty drastic physical difference and you see the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show what happens to you in that moment it was a Epiphany it was like this revelation I'm look I'm a little fat kid whose devil on one side has a deformity and I see this band and I loved music from the time I was little and I see this band on Ed Sullivan and I just went I can do that I may not be able to be them but I can touch that nerve now what's that based on it's just based on a gut feeling and I think that when we're young we have a very clear idea of what we're capable of and as we get a little older adults beat it out of us you know we have we have an innate sense of what's possible until somebody tells us it's impossible and the people who tell you what's impossible are the ones who failed so misery loves company so a lot of times people don't champion you and tell you yeah that's possible so look I mean that being said I wasn't initially very very talented or gifted it my parents couldn't afford to send us my sister and I both to music school at the same time so they sent my sister for mandolin lessons and then they took her out of this school and sent me there for guitar I didn't realize there was different styles of guitar it was classical guitar but in any case I was there for about a month and the teacher said to me tell your parents we'll take your sister back for free if you quit so there's another part to that because you saw the Beatles and then you realize that hey I can I can do this with my life and then you saw Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant was it in 1960 69 yeah and then that was the puzzle really started yeah yeah um I was a huge Anglophile I loved all the British bands um wasn't a big fan of most of the bands that came out of this area and neither are you so you know I I was fortunate I could go to the Fillmore East you had to Fillmore here in Winterland so on any given weekend four three four and five dollars you could see humble pie Derek and the Dominos and somebody else or you could see Jimi Hendrix Sly and the Family Stone it was always three act bills and great eclectic groups of musicians and music so that was like church to me was going to see The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page old you know while other kids were doing god-knows-what I was just making a pilgrimage downtown so and when I saw his Epling was for less than 2,000 people but it was so palpable what they were doing the energy and the focus the sexuality the musicianship everything was just so perfect that it was it was all inspiring and humbling at the same time when I left I said to my friend let's not even talk about this because anything we say will minimize what we just saw they were it was so incredible it raised a bar and set a bar for me that I said I'll never reach that bar but work towards that you know know that that's possible maybe not for me but you know Zeppelin I mean Jimmy Page's is it is it I mean so you have that bar but you did something quite remarkable which is you transformed yourself into not just the rock star but this comic book hero this icon this superhero really you you became this superhuman character when you first put on the the star on your eye on the makeup did you know that you were gonna transcend just a mirror you know the Robert Plant type a mere Robert Plant I'm still trying it is kind of walking around all over the place yeah um we always wanted to be more than what we had seen we wanted to be the band we never saw it just came about very naturally this evolution and interesting that that the the painfully shy kid the introverted kid whose social skills were like next to none created this character and it was really interesting because when we first started playing in clubs everybody would talk on stage and it was embarrassing I mean it's something you have to work at to know how to you know focus a band and also focus an audience so very quickly I kind of put my foot down and said I'm the one who's going to do the talking and and you know thankfully everybody shut up incidentally my favorite things on YouTube are the 90 minute stitch to put together as you know your stage man yeah so you actually you were studying you studied like Steve Marriot and you you put a lot of thought into that what you were not saying we all are inspired by people who come before us I didn't create anything I you know I'm I'm the result of all these other parts I'm like the sum of all these people who I respected and was inspired by so Steve Marriot was humble pie was in a just an amazing band and he really turned these theater shows that I saw into like evangelical events he was a preacher and that's what I wanted to do and that's what I want to do still when when we do shows I want the person in the back row to know that I'm talking to them everybody at our shows counts and I owe everybody my last drop of blood and sweat so and it's exhilarating I'm look I'm thrilled to have the kind of following that we have and it's a big responsibility and to this day you know we'll go out on tour in June I designed a new stage that arguably is the best stage we've had so it's always about not only living up to the audience's I don't want to call you the audience my friends my fans not only you know your expectations but the cool thing about my position is that I'm not only in kiss but I'm a huge fan of the band so I want the band to be the band continue to be the band that I hope and wish it it would be so and the Bucky is like it's very serious you know don't worry I get to the girls boy he can talk in a quiet voice and put sentences together we get there yeah Haitian we have a lot of time ah in the book you talk about that shyness and how you you would go on stage and be star child and just exude this confidence yet you'd come upstage and you couldn't even function in the most basic social situations you you want to go to a party and you drive out and you can't you can't go it's a restaurant actually yeah and you can't go inside you you play Madison Square Garden and you're sitting alone after the show and a deli in New York eating money nobody would believe I just said goodnight and had a great time and look what I was onstage wasn't an act and it's not an act today it's very much Who I am what was missing was a person when I left the stage to this day look I know I know guys in other bands who never want to go home because they have no home I didn't want to be one of those people and I was you know I came off stage at the garden Madison Square Garden and and literally found myself in a deli going nobody would believe that I'm here by myself you know we have three sold-out nights or whatever so you know there's a at least for me there was the challenge to integrate my life not to just have this great life on stage but to have a great life off stage and that took a whole lot more work well the flip side of that was which is another story you tell in the book you saw a woman on the cover of Penthouse magazine you called up your manager and she was in your bathtub but that day basically uh good the one thing I never want people to think was is I was so lonely you know I don't want anybody to feel sorry that bad but it wasn't that bad um don't you know those those moments weren't deep in every sense but you know um yeah it was it was a great time to I could go shopping through any magazine and just go send that one oh I'll take that I'll take it I'll take that they come over the house and I looked for the staple in the stomach did Jean claims to have had 46 hundred plus did you keep track of your yeah but those weren't all human a couple of cattle you know there's livestock in there let me tell you out so kiss kiss performed here in 1977 at the Cow Palace the night that they were there the night Elvis Presley died do you remember that yeah in the Cow Palace like dedicated rock and roll all night to to Elvis Presley and you know we used to have some great times here we would stay at the miyako yeah and we had some very very good times I in your first appearance here in 1975 there was a review in The Chronicle not written by me obviously and it said the Ludacris hard rock band hard rock quartet that appeared Friday at Winterland made them maybe the most crass worthless rock band to run through town in years the entire performance was silly but not funny and barely worth dignifying by comet does it did things like that bother you or worth it man dig the Jefferson Airplane that's real music I never wanted to look like you know a musician who just got out of bed alone and walked onto the stage so most of those critics are long gone and truthfully when people are that vehement and vocal about disliking something it's got way more to do with them and their issues than mine you know so I did it bother me no no um I always knew what we were doing I was always proud of it I had a plan and those were like those weren't even obstacles those were like mosquitoes those are just like pests you know um if you believe in what you're doing you don't listen to the people who tell you it's no good right so that brings us to the Rock and Roll Hall named after after 15 was it 15 years 14 years yeah they decided okay well we've run out of bands let's let kissing that's about that's not more off why did why did you accept you could have turned them down because because because our fans a lot of them see that is a validation of their belief in us and they're fighting for us and for that reason I was there to get the award those slimy weasels you know when somebody doesn't invite you to a party for 15 years it's pretty clear they don't want you to the party and the more people know about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the less they give it any credence the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of the people that's why whenever there's an induction each year most people scratch their heads about half the people who were being inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is winter from Rolling Stone magazine who hasn't bought a ticket or bought an album in decades Jon Landau a spring C's manager you know I know Bruce is phenomenal but I think that the three or four people who are The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame these are guys who trademarked a name you could have been the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame if you had trademarked it so these guys decide who they want in their little Club and we clearly look I'm as proud of the people who hate me as the people who like me and I couldn't pick a better bunch of weasels to hate me than those people I mean even when we were accepting the the induction and we went to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn we showed up there there were no passes for us we're standing in the hall we can't go into any rooms they didn't tell us the running order we had no idea when we were going to go on we didn't even know how to get on the stage everybody else is giving acceptance speeches and I'm going wow they're doing really great I look and there's a teleprompter that they're all reading off they didn't tell us that we could use a teleprompter they were there weasels you know and the people who don't pay for tickets and don't pay for albums should not be the people who decide what is or isn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as far as as far as I'm concerned you put us in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 40 years ago and as everyone knows they would they only wanted to let the original 41 yeah they they were it was interesting to me because they were very insistent on it just being the original four and to me that was I the only way I could rationalize it is we're a bit Hollow suitable when I said to the member the later members mind you but people who played on multi-platinum albums played to millions of people I didn't that's spell their names um so I said what about those guys they went it's a non-starter what means a non-starter you're a pencil pusher and I'm a guitar player I'm the one who was being nominated for induction so I was really offended by the fact that I was told well we're not going to discuss that so as far as I was concerned we were there to celebrate the entire history of the band if they wanted to minimize it and and make it the original four that's fine I don't play by anybody elses rules except mine so tell us a little bit about that night what do you regret not performing no god I was so you know I'm I mean look they wanted us to perform you know as some sort of like first of all they hate us so the fact that I would do anything for them is ridiculous but they wanted the original band in make up a and I didn't want to do it because look the original two guys and I was there so whatever everybody else thinks they know you know is it's just a matter of what you've heard but they wanted the original guys those guys both quit the band or were thrown out of the band once twice and to risk putting them on stage in makeup and yeah you have to remember we're not like other bands you don't go up on stage in jeans or something and go oh that's the old guy oh oh that that's the newer member if there's four guys on stage and make up you're going to say that's kiss and if the man happens to suck by chance I'm the one who bears the brunt of it because I never left the band I've been there 40 years every day and I was and I was working and I wasn't going to roll the dice on behalf of an organization that I think is a sham and two guys who honestly don't deserve to wear those outfits anymore they we couldn't have accomplished what we've accomplished without them in the beginning but they don't belong in it now and I wasn't going to I wasn't going to relive the past when they're when I'm jeopardizing the present did you talk to them that night well absolutely was it I spoke to them weeks before I spoke to Peter again about a week before and said look we have differences and we're always going to have differences we're never going to agree on most things anymore but let's enjoy this moment let's enjoy what we created together and forget about everything else so you know it was it was it was a moment to see them and it was interesting but and hopefully they had not read the book before they saw I'm not sure each one of them can read a book ha ha ha I know them you don't it's always I understand but it's always interesting when I hear people having these opinions pro or con and I have to go hey you weren't there you know you don't know what it was like um you know I'm sorry what were you what are you worried about hurting anyone's feelings with the things you wrote in the book were you thinking about other people I didn't write anything to be vindictive I didn't write anything to be mean-spirited but I wrote the truth and did it hurt my dad absolutely but what's the point in writing something unless you're truthful I was truthful about myself how could I not be truthful about everybody else the reason of one of the reasons the book is doing so well is because the truth sounds like the truth because it's the truth when you read something and it sounds like the truth chances are it is it's true you know um so look I didn't I you know if anybody nobody got thrown under the bus a couple of people walked under the bus but I didn't throw him I I'm curious about your relationship with gene after 40 years just in the first when you introduced them you described him as a character like a character from he huh he's like a overalls and yeah I think he had a beard uh but anyway so 40 years later again he's written about prominently in this book and you guys live down the street from each other you what what is that people are curious what that relationship is like cuz it seems like it hasn't always been so he's like a cuddly porcupine um look you know gene is is a really unique person and he's my brother and I've been furious at him at times and not spoken to him for long periods of time but it's 44 years we've been together and we've always had a strong work ethic and I think most of the time his heart's been in the right place so look he's um he enjoys rubbing people the wrong way he you know you didn't notice you know he gene loves to say things that are sound bites that are either abrasive or annoying that's you know I I don't deal with that we don't have that kind of relationship and who you see and who he is when he's uh in front of a crowd like this is not really the the gene who who I know we go back you know to a time we lived with our parents so we know each other very well and he certainly doesn't do what I call the gene show for me so you would are you saying you would never go on a reality show that's that not well you there's two things everybody should know you can either have reality or you can have television but there's no such thing as reality television if if somebody was if somebody brought a camera into your house and documented every day most of those shows would be really boring so you know there's not a lot of there's a not necessarily a realistic picture of reality when you're doing television and I would never do it because I want to live a real life if you're busy in front of a camera at least in my way of thinking you're not really living a real life you're not living you're pretending life's too short you know for that for me yeah well great to see that you guys despite all your differences and times you made each other angry it's great to see that you can still go back on tour together and kind of tolerate each other at least for that 90 minutes on stage yeah I I have to say truthfully we've never gotten along better if you realize that we started out let's see I was 17 and he was 41 I think if you realize that we started out you know as is I I think I was 17 and he was 19 or 20 but we've made possible with our fans and the people who've stuck by us we've made a life for each other clearly very very different lives he was slit his wrists if he lived my life and if I lived his I'd slit his and mine but you know but we we have something very special we have something very special right he's turning into the comedy stories I told you it'd get better what was your favorite time to be a member of kiss was there was there a certain era that you look back fondly on it everything really came together this can sound really corny there's never been a better time than now right now absolutely yes because because kiss shouldn't be my life kiss should only be part of my life and that's what I have now um you know from here I'll fly back home this evening you know so I can get up with my kids and you know in the morning so sooner sooner or later if we're lucky we realize that life is really about family for your children your family and your friends without that the rest is is hollow you can build something really great if that's at the center thank you so I only ask you how many times did you legitimately think kiss was over and done and that you when you walked off that tour bus that that was the last time you were doing it never because even after the farewell tour no the interesting thing about the farewell tour and you know hand you know hand of God I really thought that it was over but the farewell tour was because Aysen Peter was so frigging unbearable that we just decided we had to end the band and then later on I was at a car wash and I accepted that the band was over and a guy at this carwash said to me I saw the farewell tour and it was so great when's the 35th anniversary tour anyway it was like you don't want us gone and and suddenly it dawned on me that the farewell tour maybe was just farewell to to the guys we've never subscribed to the idea that we follow what we do based upon one or two guys if you want to take your guitar or your drums and go home that's okay but I I love what I do and as far as I'm concerned kisses my band and I'd like everybody in the band to feel that it's their band but I know in my heart that if things go south and people aren't holding up their end I'll hold up their end for them because I love the band you I feel like you ever see that show Inside the Actors Studio yes and then my third film in your third film yes let me ask you about films Lawrence's Laurence Olivier once said that no kiss was such a visual ban yes why did you leave things with Kiss Me The Phantom of the that was you know when you do something of that caliber where can you go after that what's left to do I still don't understand the end of that movie I don't understand how you made your voice do that in that movie it's a you know that that film was you couldn't you couldn't follow it up even if you chose no way that's as good as it gets yeah I'm gonna watch it tonight after this how did in your mind how did kiss change the music industry what was the band's greatest contribution I think I think um I think we were we have been a wake-up call to audiences that they don't have to accept apathy or disrespect from the people on stage that the people on stage oh you everything and they're not doing you a favor by being on stage you're doing them a favor by showing up and when you come to a concert you deserve to see something great and it's just you know the proof is that everybody from country acts to rap acts have kiss DNA and their shows now because people don't don't accept less at this point so I think that that's a great thing is that when young people go and see kiss as their first band the next band they go to see they go where's the fire where's when's when's that guy gonna fly through the air no how come they're not wearing tights and eight inch heels that's the thing I remember I was quite terrified of KISS when I was a kid cuz you guys I thought you were evil I mean what what but you the funny thing is that thought never crossed your mind that people might think of you is that i never i i i always sauce it is very high-energy you know really like a adrenaline just like a ab and self-possessed and i think for people who were sitting at home and perhaps had very sedentary stationary lives to see somebody up there jumping around like that you you might go that's got to be the devil's work you know but um you know the I was always astounded when people would say well it stands for Knights and Satan service or you know which part of the show do you step on the chicken you know I always say you know the person pointing the finger at you is the one who you have to watch you know that's the person who you should be most suspect of the one who accuses everybody else you know it's always interesting that whenever a evangelical preacher is tempted by the devil or tested it's in a cheap motel with a hooker but those are the people who are pointing the fingers at us so and that's the remarkable thing is you guys stayed clean throughout throughout it all like even though you weren't Casablanca Records you you were going to studio 54 but you were actually going to dance you're one of the few people who is there to dance and ultimately do a horizontal day but you know look I even back do you get it what um what's this horizontal dance what do they call it the horizontal mambo was you know even when when they were I mean the amount of drugs that were around the band at the early part was just crazy I mean everybody was just giving us stuff all the time and that the idea was sex drugs and rock and roll I said you keep the drugs I just want the rest you know so and look I mean the fact is that I'm here today and you're not here interviewing Jimi Hendrix or Jim Morrison or Janis Joplin or Philip Seymour Hoffman or Belushi you know drugs or drugs kill whether they kill they either kill your spirit or they kill your soul so I'm I have I've never understood the attraction to drugs and if some people are addictive personalities and and people who have are predisposed to that before you start go get help you know it's it's it's a terrible thing to start and then try to stop much better when we look at ourselves and go I've got some issues and take care of them before the take care of you I feel so grown-up tell me what's your favorite kiss album which one would you put on if you think think of a better one think of a better way yes um I think the album that really captures what this band has always been about is your name Paul Stanley he's talking to me um I think kiss alive we've always been we've always been a live band we've always been a band that brings it so destroyer is a great album and they're you know the rest is a matter of taste but I think a live really captured the essence of what the band is it's a it's a live breathing animal it's a jug or not it's like being at the end of the world it's like rock and roll Armageddon do you feel bad that it's so expensive to be a kiss fan because you can't just go buy the record you have to buy the belt buckle you have to buy the Hello Kitty mints you have to buy this I know you might know this but nobody comes to your house with a gun and says you have to buy anything you know truth be told the reason those things are all successful is because people tell us that they want them there's no genius there's no genius who's you know coming up with these great ideas the fans tell us what they want and then it's still up to them whether or not they they want it look there's people who love the band for what the band is and there's other people who want you know some of the paraphernalia and I'm glad and proud that we're a band that has that broad a scope that we appeal on so many different levels you know there's a reason that you know nobody has a Fleetwood Mac doll and I love I love Fleetwood Mac and I love Stevie and I love you know I love all of them but I you know that was just an example off the top of my head but we're but you know I would take a Stevie Nicks doll by the way and preferably one that blows up yeah but I think my point is really that we don't we're not defined and we don't want what rock and roll is defined by other bands we define what we are and we live by it um I'm not not ashamed of any any aspect of what we've done because at the end of the day when I go on stage I go this band kills and you know I've had people who I respect immensely and people who inspired me come to shows and go this is a great band and so it's never been about sizzle without a state we couldn't be doing this 40 years as successful as we've been unless there was something far beyond the makeup if it was just a matter of you know a bunch of guys wearing makeup then we'd be some other band I already put my foot in my mouth with Fleetwood Mac so that's a great idea that you should make this is there is there's he he wants to Stevie Nicks blow-up doll and maybe the mick fleetwood one he's kind of cool what Who am I to judge what what song will you notice the City of Brotherly Love in there yeah yeah so you're brothers Mick Fleetwood what what song will you never get tired of playing I'm sorry what song will you never get tired of playing um Detroit Rock City loved uh rock and roll on my shouted out loud god of thunder firehouse got to choose I'm strata love you know heavens on fire um black gun I asked him what song he'll never get tired of laughing so quite a few yeah I'm proud of all the songs I'm certainly proud of all the songs I've written how did things change for you once you took the makeup off because you went you know you have this mask on for all those years where that helped you become this confident person who could go onstage and do all these things and then the 80s come around and you guys take the masks off you have new players in the band well I am it didn't change anything for me because what I've always done is me and it comes from inside me um so thank you so when when the makeup came off I was still out there doing what I do so it didn't change anything I just thought it was imperative that we take the makeup off because I think we've made some mistakes along the way and of course everybody's entitled to their own opinions but I think once we started bringing in new members and new characters it lost a certain I don't know whether I could say it was disingenuous it reached a point where you know we had the Fox we had the Egyptian warrior we could have had turtleman you know it was just it lost something and I think that we we kind of polluted the water and at that point I think that people were tired of what the band looked like they were listening with their eyes and when an album like creatures of the night came out which was a really good album and was met and was met with pretty much apathy I thought I wanted to take it off for that one but I went we really need to do this and of course we took it off and lick it up sold five times what what creatures sold so if we couldn't be a great band without the makeup then we didn't deserve to be a band at all so it was really trial by fire as far as I was concerned and there's no way to compete with the the kiss imagery and what those four iconic figures are so to take the makeup off sure makes us much more generic and very much like a lot of other bands who were around at that time but it was necessary it was it was something we had to do we had to give something up in order to continue and then what made you decide to put it back on when you and then I am I suddenly started thinking about the mortality of the people in the band and started to think I didn't know quite honestly how long some some of the guys in the band might last and I hate the word closure because I got so overused but I I just began thinking what if maybe we you know and I had sworn I would never do it maybe we can regroup maybe everybody can learn from the past maybe you know people can see the gift that this band is and we can move forward so we we did the unplugged which was MTV Unplugged was really an outgrowth of us doing a kiss convention tour where we played acoustically so for the unplugged what had happened just prior to that is we were doing a convention in LA and Eric said why don't we invite Peter down so Peter came down and it was no it was fun I hadn't seen him and I don't even know how long it was probably sixteen years or something like that and we thought maybe maybe we can do this and it was not an easy easy time to get ace and Peter in agreement you know to do this and once they agreed there was a lot of wrestling and trying to get everybody in shape because the last thing we wanted to do at least last thing I wanted to do was shatter somebody's memory by going out there you know a bunch of fat guys in leotards you know so you know we hire trainers and and had very strict contracts to make sure that people would would not abuse themselves or abuse the fans by substances being put in their body it's futile you can't really get anybody to stop anything but um so it just seemed like maybe we can get back together wiser older and move forward maybe I thought maybe we can do this to the end maybe we can get back together and see this through the end and pick up where we left off that was not the case it just it very quickly disintegrated and instead of I mean you know in in Peters case Peter said I am so lucky to be back I mean these two guys were broke at that point which is something to put in Ripley's Believe It or Not because how you can be broke after you you know you were in kiss is hard to believe but you know the they came back and Peter said I'll never do that again I'm so thankful to be back and it wasn't too long after that the same stuff started happening and instead of being thankful for what they had they were more envious of what I had and that's unfortunate there's people with more than me I'm happy with what I have and you have to remember to once again I never left the band so are you going to come back and be an equal absolutely not but be thankful that you're back at all and I again you know I hope I hoped that we would be able to really create something and it just wasn't wasn't to be and that my friends is life you know we're gonna take questions from them in a minute but I wanted to ask you one more thing and the you and the book by kind of insinuating that kiss can continue without you is that do you actually see that happening sure um you know if you go to a you trust me I I think I think I'm really really good at what I do but I'm not crazy enough to think that I'm the only person who who can do this doesn't mean you have to copy me any more than I copied the people who inspired me there's there's people out there who have incredible talent does anybody you know I we're not a rock band like other rock bands we're we're a way of life we're a way of dealing with us a stage where we're a lifestyle we're about preaching self empowerment celebrating life putting on a great rock show I mean does anybody go to the Yankee games and and hold up signs where's Babe Ruth I mean so I liken us much more in the best ways to a team or an army but we're still make no mistakes we're a rock band but the people who thought that it could only be the original members and I was one of those people well there those people are 50 percent wrong now you know unlike on the last tour you know we showed every night from the shows on KISS online 10,000 up to 110,000 people coming to the shows so I would like to see this go on after I can't go on anymore because people deserve it whether I'm there or not ok so now we're going to take some questions from the audience just put your hand up and Andy and I will get you hold on hold on wait for the mic to get to you please hi Paul welcome to the JCC you and the band have been big advocates for giving back to the community from the walk and rock you did in Sacramento to the Wounded Warriors support does it have a sparked part of a special meaning to you to give back to the community you know sometimes things can sound so cliched but the truth is the more you give the more you get you you feel better about yourself when you help other people giving really is its its own reward and in the case of soldiers and wounded warrior care project on this tour 2 will be giving $1 from every ticket you've got people who volunteer to risk their lives risk their limbs to give us the security and to give us the liberty and freedom that we enjoy so when those people come back we owe them everything so if there's some way that we can focus a spotlight on them it honest to God it makes me feel good to you make the world better by helping other people our next question over here on your guy's right thank you my questions in regards to a live music are there artists that you're seeing coming up today that bring a production value that you think is inspiring for the new generation I think I think live concerts have reached a point where the state of the art is terrific what's missing is music it's unfortunate that because somebody has a hit album that they did in their living room and has never played for people that those people have to go out and try to entertain the reason a band like us still thrives is because we've learned our craft and when you've got machine made music with vocalists that are auto-tuned it's just I think people miss out on the incredible power that music can have when it's made by human beings the next questions right here in the front hi Paul Adam like you're an amazing songwriter and from a songwriting standpoint I always wanted to I was always curious to know do many of the songs you've written come to you in just a complete order they ones that you really really have to get a riff and really have to work to get them to the end or are they this comprehensive the song just comes to you the only song that ever came to me almost in total was love gun and that I pretty much wrote on an airplane without a guitar I just knew knew the whole song but most of the time it starts with a guitar a guitar figure I'll just sit and play until something interesting comes out and then build on that and then start singing and the singing will will become the framework and I'll sing a few words here and there and then it becomes kind of like filling in the blanks some of it comes organically so it's almost like stream of consciousness and start singing and then grab bits and pieces of that and filling fill in the blanks our next question over here on your guy's right hey Paul thank you for everything that you've done my question is the book that came out nothing to lose are you gonna be coming out with any other books such as that with the different time errors um sure it's a great idea I thought that the great thing about nothing to lose was it was the recollections of the people around us and so it's it's pretty accurate I found it fascinating when I read the book because maybe I was sheltered from a lot of what was going on it was interesting back then because Bill Aucoin who was as important to the band as anybody in the band really sheltered us in a way anybody who worked for us was told what they could tell us what they couldn't tell us what we like to hear what you know he we were really a pampered in a way that we were insulated from the world so interesting to read that book and hear people's memories some that were all new to me the next questions right here in the front hi Paul um you'd mentioned about you know keeping the band going future generations so do you look at like Evan and like Nick Simmons continuing on or do you do a franchise official kiss franchises er right this isn't McDonald's you know um I I would never wish for anybody's child to take their place you know the the worst thing in the world would be to have to be Frank Sinatra jr. you know I mean to walk in your parents shadow I I don't want that for Evan I want Evan to find his passion which I think he has and to follow that but to try to be dad jr. it doesn't appeal to me and I wouldn't I wouldn't want that for him so um but I do believe that there's great great talent out there that could blow you away and blow me away you know you you there are people out there who deserve to be heard and her next question back over here on the right hey Paul are you doing good to have you here tonight good to be had hey um Eddie trunk who's the host of that metal show in a big town of yeah uh will you ever show up on the show will you ever go there come on honestly honestly that that's I guess an acquired taste for some and to me it's it's Wayne's World the only thing missing from the bits I saw years ago was party on Wayne or party rock star um but I I I really I don't think no I the less said the better but no I I can't I can't imagine being a part of that the next questions right here in the middle hi Paul thanks for coming to San Francisco and hanging out thank you thank you thank you um pause it true that you didn't invite Jean to your first wedding um he was at my first wedding maybe that's what was wrong cuz he wasn't in my second my you know I have nothing I think that everybody's entitled to their opinions and we should respect each others opinions what becomes the problem is when somebody insults you for your opinion Jean was very vocal and and very derogatory in his words about marriage and about the people who got married and honestly I'm close enough to him that I said you don't belong at my wedding you know I happen to value the idea of marriage and you know the the sanctity of it and to have somebody there who be rates not only the the institution of marriage but the people who get married you it would have been it would have been I would have been false to myself and that's the worst thing we can do the best thing we can do in our lives is is be honest with people and and not not do favors that impact badly on us our next question over here to your right again hey Paul I'm Aaron question is what role has Judaism played in your life well I think I grew up in a household where most of my parents friends had numbers on their arms and from the time I was little I was always aware of the Holocaust and I was always aware that I was Jewish and although we didn't we didn't practice as much as many other people to this day I'm proud to be Jewish I think it's my obligation to all the people who for centuries have been persecuted it's my obligation to make sure that their story is told that my children know it and that it never gets minimized or distorted so I think you know I think all religions are great until they claimed to be better than another or judge it to another religion you know spirituality and and a love of God in its purest form is terrific religion can often get in the way of that spirituality and the purity of it but that being said you know you can ask me and without any hesitation I'm Jewish next questions right here in the middle hi mister Stanley are you gonna ever me mr. Fela am i your teacher yeah call me Paul call me are you gonna ever make any solos like any other solo albums I'd like to if I did another solo album it would be much more like my first one my second my second solo album was really kind of like a project for me to get away from doing what I do and kiss because some of the kiss albums have basically been almost solo albums so little win was really me trying to push the boundaries but if I was to do another one and I certainly plan on it it will be a guitar through a Marshall amplifier our next question here in the center hi mr. Stanley oh please you educated me a little bit I had a question about before the makeup came off - you have any funny stories about people recognizing you or not recognizing you before the makeup came off yeah like you're out and about and someone knows who you are no I I don't remember that but I remember I remember one you think how this happened um some guy came over to me in the seventies and said that it his girlfriend wound up going to bed with some guy who said he was mean and I said I hope he was good next question also here in the center hi Paul I'm Jonathan hi uh take a little question about your guitar the brown Firebird that you used that you had paint in black by your father you - Sun a little bit in the book but the cover of a live was shot at Michigan Palace yes and he used it but your main guitar during that time was the V so I just wonder how it came about you use the Firebird on the photo and not the V since it was your normal guitar you were playing on that tour I don't know you've been waiting all night and look at the answer you all right huh I don't know in our next question right here in the center hi my name is Tammy hi I'd like to say thank you because when my family was homeless and my children your younger they didn't have friends but they had kiss oh my my son is looked at differently because he doesn't dress like what they can show what people society thinks a straight boy should look like Jenna I told him it looks like your closet Mason hi I'm Brandon I just want to say that I love you very much indeed inviting inspiration in my life thank you thank you let me to say let me just say you know to Brandon and and other people too you know being different is a great thing but don't do something that makes life too difficult for yourself you know I mean we only get one trip here so um be good to yourself and you know don't put yourself in a position where other people can be mean or bad to you you know you have a choice to make it a little easier for yourself and I don't want to see you in pain thank you all for coming tonight thank you for steadily take you ID Missouri thanks you

Channel: JCCSF

Views: 328,256

Rating: 4.8392859 out of 5

Keywords: Kiss (Musical Group), Paul Stanley (Musical Artist), Gene Simmons (Celebrity), Rock And Roll (Musical Genre), Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (Venue), Ace Frehley (Musical Artist), Kiss Alive! 1975--2000 (Musical Album), Author (Profession), Hard Rock (Musical Genre), Rock, Heavy Metal (Musical Genre)

Id: SiM_tnMmYjQ

Length: 74min 39sec (4479 seconds)

Published: Sun May 04 2014