Absolutely. I previously found an interview with Gene Simmons. I similarly found him very intelligent and interesting, but very different from Paul Stanley. They were both super success driven, but I found Stanley more introspective. I think he's more introverted like I am. There's some misunderstanding about introverts. I read up a lot on it because that fits my personality type to a T. An introvert is not necessarily someone who sits in a room alone all day, although that can happen. You can be an introvert and socialize. You can work with other people. You can even be like Paul Stanley and perform in front of crowds of thousands of people. But you need your alone time. You don't feel bad being alone. It's like recharge time. An extrovert (like I think Simmons is) can party a ton and go-go-go without it bothering them. If I did that, I would go nuts. I had a roommate who could never shut the bleep up and who didn't respect my privacy. He would do three knocks and then just barge in without waiting for permission. I just couldn't get away from his constant bombardment of questions about trivial crap, and I was ready to lose it. But, anyway, I found Stanley very introspective, always examining his life and how he feels about things and wanting to understand himself. I'm totally like that, so I get it. I would love to meet him and talk about music and life in general.
I was super bummed out when I learned that there was friction in the band because I love all those guys. I was a huge Kiss fan growing up. I had Kiss posters all over my room and bought their comic book and every album up until Unmasked (which I thought was terrible). But I loved Ace. I learned to play guitar by copying a lot of Ace Frehley's songs and leads. Turns out some of my favorite Ace leads weren't even played by him. He was being all drunk and irresponsible and was in no condition to play the leads for All American Man and Larger than Life. The band had Bob Kulick play those leads. I remember feeling that something was different with those leads, but I didn't figure it out. I figured Ace just took a little bit of a different approach with those leads and was totally on his A game. Anyway, Ace, whom I adored, gave Paul and Gene a lot of frustration with his addictions. I don't hate his guts or anything for it. Addiction is a disease, but I can see why super success-driven guys like Paul and Gene were upset with him. I went through some of the same things playing for small-time rock bands in high school. I remember a bass player we had who was a very smart and good musician. His playing skills were top notch, and he was the best singer in the band. He showed up to a rehearsal really high on weed. It turned this very talented and smart guy into a moron. It made it totally impossible to rehearse with him. We were just preparing for a high school party we were scheduled to play at, but that was enough to really piss me off. I can imagine how mad I would be if millions of dollars and the release of a new album were on the line.
Well, sorry to ramble. I just love Kiss. I love anyone who's ever played for the band. I did feel really sad in Vegas over the fact that I would not be seeing Ace Frehley play, but I understand it. People don't always get along or be able to work together. I can still appreciate Tommy Thayer, who's also a very good guitar player. And I am going to try to catch Ace's band if at all possible. I wish I could meet anyone who's played in Kiss and just shoot the bull. Their music as been a huge influence on my life. I know exactly what I would tell Stanley or another band member, "My friends and I were huge Kiss fans, and it was because we loved your music." The biggest misunderstanding people had about Kiss fans was that we all loved the band because of their elaborate stage show with all the fireworks and the fire breathing. That was not true, at least not for me. I thought all that stuff was cool, but I was a fan of the band because I loved the songs they wrote.
