Gene Simmons Talks AboutAssholes. Well, One InParticular...

Sat 22nd May, 2004 in Features

Gene is currently touring Australia with KISS – but the master of bass and tongue flexing has released a second solo album, twenty six years after his first gold and platinum solo album in 1978.  Asshole is a mix of rock tunes and classy ballads written by Gene mostly, with some songwriting in collaboration with an array of high profile musicians such as Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan.  So how do different musicians contribute to the dynamics of the Asshole album as opposed to the familiarity of KISS?  According to Gene there aren’t as many confines when working solo as opposed to his regular band.  And by that he means KISS fans expect KISS to be a certain type of band.  Asshole has allowed Gene to pursue various layers of his songwriting kaleidoscope.

“Releasing a solo album allows me to purge songs that wouldn’t normally see the light of day” says Gene.  He says that Asshole is a multi-faceted album and I couldn’t agree more.  Along with people such as Dave Navarro, Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer making guest appearances on this album, so do the angelic voices of his two children, Sophie and Nicholas.  Shannon Tweed, Gene’s long time partner and mother of his children makes a guest appearance as well. 

The first video from the album is Firestarter, made a hit the first time around by The Prodigy.  When asked why he chose this song as the first video from Asshole, Gene simply responded “Because I can”. Yes he can and he did. It’s a great song and Gene has put his branding on it.  The scream at the beginning of the song was done in one take and it’s quite an impressive scream.  Gene says he is a great fan of this song.  It’s a song to make your pelvic bone thrust – which I’m sure Gene has seen many of those in his days as rock’n’roll god.    

There are many musical influences on Asshole.  Some are obvious rock’n’roll influences but Gene covers the whole gamut of the musical spectrum from The Beatles and The Beach Boys to Patsy Cline.  I wonder how Patsy would feel Walking After Midnight with Gene?  The track 1,000 Dreams was originally written for The Dixie Chicks.  Once again, Gene has put his trade mark on this track. 

So is Gene going to tour for this album?  By the sounds of it maybe not.  He might be convinced if Asshole becomes a “monster album”. He also has a box set coming out soon called 100. No prizes for guessing how many songs will be in that box set but it will be a box set that every collector should have.  Gene has also released a Speaking in Tongues DVD.  This was filmed on his Australian Speaking in Tongues tour in 2003. How is a speaking tour different to touring with KISS or solo?  “You must love the sound of your own voice” says Gene. Obviously you must be able to speak well and capture the attention of an audience.  Gene has both of those talents. You won’t hear any skips or umm’s when conversing with him. 

It was only a matter of time before talking to Gene about solo projects turned to a question about KISS.  I’ve always wanted to know how it would feel sitting in a studio and laying down a song for the first time with that body rush of knowing that you’ve heard a hit song.  Has this ever happened to Gene whilst being in the studio?  Of course there is the obvious choice of I Was Made for Lovin’ You, but there were also songs that Gene thought  were going to be sure fire hits but weren’t – We Are One and I Love It Loud.  I guess you can never predict the general public, which brought us to the topic of shows such as American and Australian Idol.  Gene believes that these shows have their place but not in rock’n’roll.  “You would never have seen Robert Plant, John Lennon of even Gene Simmons make it through on one of those shows. It’s about pop and r’n’b.  Rock stars just wouldn’t be voted through on a show such as that. Pop music is the most professional of all styles of music at the moment. Artists such as Britney Spears and Michael Jackson put on a stage show and know how to entertain the audience.”

And what is Mr Simmons currently listening to?  He admits that bands prominent in music at the moment are lacking showmanship.  “It’s the difference between a woman walking out of the house without makeup on as opposed to the woman that walks out of the house with makeup on and with some thought put into the way she looks and smells. Bands today are getting up on stage and playing their songs with not much thought put into the way they present themselves on stage.”  In saying that though, Gene is quite partial to what Jet are doing at the moment. 

Gene Simmons and the rest of the band that make up KISS are on the last of their shows in Australia.   After touring Australia numerous times, Gene says that there are always new experiences to look forward to.  “There are always new fans and the girls have once again welcomed us with open arms and open legs” says Gene.  It seems some things in rock n roll are timeless. 

Gene will be appearing at Utopia Records in Sydney on Sunday 23 May 2004 to sign copies of his solo album Asshole.  You can also read more about Gene, his music and his Girls in Waiting here.