Gene Simmons - "Blast from the past" Part I
Fra 'Kiss Army Norway Magazine' #3 - 1996.

This is the 'blast from the past pages' where we take a look at things that have happen in the past. We would like to open this spot with a interview that was done for one of the biggest radio station in Norway, NRK P2. The interview was done at Lip Cafe, when Kiss visited Oslo the 11th of June 1992 on their promotion tour for Revenge. The interviews was sent on the radio the same mouth, but the Gene Simmons interview was mighty edited. As I were there together with Steinar Fjeld from NRK, I were lucky enough to take a part in a separate interview with Gene and Paul. Exclusively for the Kiss Army Norway members will I here give you for the very first time the hole unedited interview with Gene I hope you enjoy it!!

After shaking hands....This was how we started the interview with small talk...

Steinar Fjeld: As you see have I brought a sample of a fan.
Gene: Yeah...He's Crazy....

Stig Karlsen: So you do remember me??
Gene: honestly....No! How many fans do we meet in a day? Probably thousand, and in a year 300.000!

Stig: And you meet a lots of girls!
Gene: Sometimes.

Stig: Do you remember the girl from the airport last night?
Gene: Do I remember the girl from the airport last night...with very big tits... She just gave me this. (Gene holds up a t-shirts with drawings of several sexual exercises and the text that said; Gene's work-out.)

Steinar: Will you bring that home?
Gene: Yeah sure! Why not?

Steinar: You ain't married?
Gene: No, I have never been married in my hole life.

Steinar: But you have a couple of kids with Shannon Tweed, haven't you?
Gene: I have one child and Fm going to have another one soon, but marriage is out of the question.

Steinar: So, no matter how many kids, no marriage.
Gene: Absolutely not Because when you stand in front of a priest or the law, and you say that from now on, for the rest of my life, I will only be with one women, everybody know that it is a lie. And I refuse to lie.

Steinar: According to the book "Hitmen" your old lable-boss Neil Bogart was quite a guy. Was it really that wild at Casablanca Records?
Gene: Yeah it was a really strange time when the businessmen were not in charge of record companies and when crazy and wild people were in charge of record companies. Neil Bogart was crazy and wild. That's one of the recent that we were together because crazy people can recognize other crazy people just like that. My Fucking God....(Gene suddenly leaves the table and run to the window to look at a women that he saw outside. He then turns around with a put on smile, as he said: "I just had to look. When a girl takes that much time to look pretty why shouldn't we appreciate it".)

Steinar: I agree with you What made you put on the make-up in the first place? To get recognition?
Gene: Well I guess so, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. We didn't want to look and sound like everybody else so we just decided to do what we thought was a good idea.

Steinar: You guys have set the standard for stage-show for years to come with the flying drum kit, Gene's fire eating antics and a lots of special effects. It must have cost an enormous lot?
Gene: It cost a lot of money, it cost more money still in-fact. Every time we decide to go on an European tour it's an fortune. We're going to bring over the American stage-show sometime in February (Unfortunately which never happen) and it's going to cost a fortune, but it's only money.

Steinar: Some bands have stage-shows that are so expensive that they have to work many years to see any profit. Was it that way with Kiss as well?
Gene: We did okay.... How is that for avoiding the questions? We do all right. Everything we do costs a lot but ultimately you got to decide if what you wanna do is filled by economy or just having a good time. Sometimes when you're going to a party you don't know how much you have spent, but you're having a great time. That's the way we usually approach shows.

Steinar: You are known as the tongue of rock'n'roll. Is it no more tongue waging now?
Gene: Also the elbow of rock'n'roll. I have very good elbows!

Steinar: So you use the elbow to get ahead?
Gene: I use everything I can. The time to change and do things differently is when people is expecting it of you. Rock'n'roll should always be a little bit unexpected. If's like a magician who every time start of his act by pulling out a rabbit of his hat. Then you go; that's the guy who pulls the rabbit of his hat. And if that's all you do, it becomes a joke after a while. At least for a while I'm going to try to keep my tongue inside my skull most of the time.

Steinar: The Kiss comics sold a hell of a lot copies in the 70's. They are now collectors items and are very expensive.
Gene: Yeah they cost hundred of dollars.

Steinar: Do you have them yourself'?
Gene: Yes, I'm a big fan of Kiss.

Steinar: People say that there is no time like the present, but do you have a time that you think was the most exiting for Kiss, and maybe a record to link it with?
Gene: Well now is really exiting, the reason for it is really simple which is that its always easier to say something important at the beginning. Ifs always harder to do something much later on. Once you become the world champion boxer is a real accomplishment. But can you continue to be the world champion. When you break a record its nice, but can you break your own record. Do you care enough to want to break that record. So we're proud of the past, but the truth is that the present is much more important. Because when all you are is your past. Then ifs over, because then it is no different between you and your grandfather who sits next to the fireplace with his slippers and tells you stories about things that happen long ago. That's for the history books. Were not ready for the history books yet. There is still many chapters to be written in the Kisstory.

Gene Simmons - "Blast from the past" Part II
Fra 'Kiss Army Norway Magazine' #4 - 1996.

On the 11th of June 1992 was I, Stig lucky enough to participate at a Gene Simmons interview that Steinar Fjeld did for NRK P2, one of the leading radio stations in Norway. Part one of this interview was printed in last issue. Here's part 2 of the unedited interview done on the promotion tour for Revenge.

Steinar: Do you see Ace Frehley and Peter Criss nowadays?
Gene: Sometimes we run into each other. I saw Peter two years ago. You know it's always cordial. Hi, how are you, how's your family and that's about it. Because they know and I know that how do I say this nicely they fucked up. They made a big mistake. They made a choice in life that was wrong, and they know it. They choose alcohol and drugs instead of being in Kiss, and those two things can't exist together. You have to make a choice. You are either in Kiss and you show up on time, you do your work and respect your fans, or you get the fuck out. A lot of rock and roll musicians work really hard and were honest people when they were poor. When they become rich and powerful, they can't handle the success, they lose respect for themselves and they just don't care. Those people don't deserve to be where they are. Because on this planet with five billion people, how many get to do what I do? Very few. So it should be like a blessing, like a special thing. You're chosen for a special kind of life and not everybody should have that Which is why a lot of bands don't last a long time. They can't handle it, they break up, or girls break up the band, (in the background could we hear a barking dog) or dogs get killed for interrupting my interview. (It was a hysterical funny situation so we started to laugh, and we could barley continue with the interview.)

Steinar: I believe you say no to drugs?
Gene: I have never been high in my hole life. I know journalists don't believe it, but that's not important as long as I live my life my way.

Steinar: What's your favorite song from the new album?
Gene: Oh Boy! ! The favorite song of the whole album? Either "Domino", or "Tough Love" or I guess "Spit").

Steinar: Is this also your favorite Kiss album?
Gene: In a long time. It's tough to say what Kiss album is my favorite, out of ...who knows how many records or how many years. But this is the first record since 1982 when we did "Creatures Of The Night" that I like the whole album, and not just a song or two. And it's basically because the band decided to with all respect to the radio stations and the newspapers basically, go fuck yourself. We decided that the band had to listen to it's heart, and not try to figure out how to get songs played on the radio. It's like, if you're a chef in a restaurant. If you are great, you don't ask the people coming in how you should make your food. You put in your ingredient. Because if you ask them what do you like? Somebody would say ice-cream....okay I put in ice-cream....what do you like? you like ketchup....I put in ketchup. You're going to have shit at the end. A chef has to be true to it's own heart. And if you create art, food, music or anything else it has to be anarchy. You don't ask people how to create art. That's not the way you create art. Art is a dictatorship. This is what's inside of me, and you can take it or go fuck yourself, and it got to be like that. Unfortunately a lots of bands get raped. They get seduced by power, women, radio, newspapers. When people say; play a song that is a little nicer. When you do that, you lose your balls. Rock and roll always has to be on the edge, and always a little less accepted by your mother and father. Because on the day that your mother and father like the same music that you do Rock and roll are dead.

Av Steinar Fjeld og Stig Karlsen