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Paul Stanley says Kiss are about making “emotional” art: “We don’t make art that is intellectual”
“That’s why people remember their first Kiss concert, their first Kiss song, and they remember when Kiss first came on the radio.”
Image: Daniel Pockett / AFL Photos / Getty Images
Paul Stanley believes it is the “emotional” aspect of Kiss’s music that has kept the band and the fans going for the past 50 years.
In a new interview with Gulf News, the guitarist says that Kiss — at its core — is about making art that moves people.
“At every show we have tried to show our fans that they are important. When we first came on the scene, bands would go on stage like they were doing the audience a favour. But it’s the audience who did you all a favour and you [expletive] well owe it to them to make them feel special,” Stanley says.
“We have never lost sight of the fact that without our fans, there’s no Kiss. We wanted to be the band that gave everybody their money’s worth.”
“I always say this: ‘a crappy band with a big show is a crappy band’,” he adds. “We didn’t start as a band with everything. We started as a band making music we listened to.”
“When I was young, I saw Led Zeppelin, I saw Jimi Hendrix twice and I saw all the greats. They inspired me. And it was never about being a part of a band with make-up and [fireworks] … Our music doesn’t need intellectualising or philosophising.”
“I know there are entertainers right now who can draw bigger crowds, but I don’t know if they are going to in the next 50 years. We have done that. Our devoted fan base is almost like a tribe.”
He continues: “We don’t make art that is intellectual, we make art that’s emotional … That’s why people remember their first Kiss concert, their first Kiss song, and they remember when Kiss first came on the radio. It’s a powerful connection.”
Elsewhere, Stanley also describes the band’s End Of The Road farewell tour as ”kind of like the victory lap at the Olympics”, saying “This is our final tour and trust me, there won’t be another. I know people often say: ‘he will come back and we are actually not finished.’ But this is it.”
Kiss’s final run of shows will take place in New York this December.
Tickets are available on their website.