Peter Criss Interview Goldmine Magazine 11/20/98

Sitting behind the skins, Peter Criss is Kiss' wildcard, a man capable of creating brutal, driving rock and roll a la "Baby Driver" to elegant and dramatic crooning on songs like the megabit "Beth" and the new album's Lennonesque sleeper, "I Finally Found My Way." His unique swing-rock drumming style taught to him by drum legend Gene Krupa has propelled the band to new heights of superstardom, Since rejoining his old band mates in Kiss, Criss has been reborn, re-energized by the reckless spirit of adrenaline-charged rock 'n' roll. A highly emotional man, there is no pretense with Peter Criss, as he shows in this interview.

Goldmine: Bring us back to the band's first full reunion show at Detroit's Tiger Stadium.

Peter Criss: I broke down and cried, I got so overwhelmed. it almost seemed like some sort of dream I was in, We were working so hard for that night, hours and hours of vigorous training. Jesus Christ, training now is nothing like it was then. I'm in great shape now I never felt so healthy in my life. But at that time it was like bootcamp, Jesus Christ, I had to look at thousands of hours of Kiss on video. I had to go back to being "The Cat Man." I had to go back to this alter ego that I really put out of my life and then I had to deal with him again. It was a stone reality to me every night when I was sitting home alone in my apartment watching myself when I was twenty five years old, I was flipping out. And I knew I had to be that again so the pressure was enormous. But yet Kiss had so much pressure in those days that it was almost like "here comes the pressure again, we've got to prove we're the baddest band, the greatest band on earth. We're the American Beatles." All that shit we used to tell each other. One minute I'm sitting and talking to Gene and the next minute we're on a golf cart, the two of us, going up a ramp in a stadium and it was like, "Holy shit!" Either I'm drearnin' this and there is a time warp or there is a time machine. And maybe it was all a bad dream and this was the way it was goin'. All that shit ran through my head. And when I got behind the drums and started the show I was in shock. I think I was in shock throughout the whole show actually (laughs). I broke down during "Beth." It just flipped me out, even when we got into when the guys were movin' back and forth, moments like that I'd fill up.

Watchin' Ace take a solo and watchin' Paul dance across the stage, it was the most poetic thing. It was just "Wow!"

Share your experience of working with the original band again.

It was great. There were some nights I wanna forget. There was a lot of pressure again, all of a sudden we've got to do an album again. I had material but Bruce Fairbairn was calling the shots. Of course, I know my stuff was genius (laughs), I know it was brilliant. I had a ballad called "Hope," I had one that I wrote for Gene called "Justice For All." I wrote songs and they were presented but it almost got to be like, "let's have Bruce be the judge, let him be the bad guy" I liked working with him. We had our things (laughs), I had my shit with him. Through it (laughing) with Bruce denying my shit, there were major wars as far as I was concerned. I wanted to kill this guy. That took awhile for me to accept and go "okay, fuck it, it's a Kiss album and I've got to think like a team player. I've gotta move my ego away and make it the best I can. Play drums, sing harmonies, do percussion." Being back with the guys in the band was like a trip for me (laughs). We're all so Laurel & Hardy. I told my wife tonight, Gigi, after thirty years I can wack Ace one or wack Gene. I can look Gene in the eye and go, "I'm not gonna take this, this is how I feel." I'm right in your face. I've really changed in a lot of ways. I'm taking major control of my life. I'm very focused. Call it what you want, I'm in love with a great woman. My woman is totally Christian, no drinking, no anything, no asprins. She runs a major straight ship, I run a straight ship. I run my life incredibly straight these days, I'm in full control. So a lot's changed but what hasn't changed is still the honesty of the four of us. We've known each other- for almost thirty years, that's a long time to know somebody I had a ball with them. We laughed consistently. After a while we didn't even play, it's more laughter than anything. It's like (laughing) "well you play drums Paul, you play drums Gene." No one really cared after a while, let's just do this album.

Hopefully you'll pull out some gems that haven't been played live ever.

We're definitely doing "She," that's a great song. We brought out "Strutter" again. I've always loved "Strutter," I could play that every night. It's one of the best rock songs ever written. We were fooling around with "Nothin' To Lose." We were messing around with "You Wanted The Best" but it's not sounding like it sounded on the album. When we did the album we thought, "oh, that's gonna sound good live. Man, when we do "You Wanted The Best," they're gonna drop dead." But when we rehearsed it, it didn't sound so good. I played it then but now I don't like how the beat sounds and I'd like to change it around. There's so many fuckin' Kiss songs it's ridiculous. There's so many songs you gotta do. At this point we're really getting down tight a lot of the songs we did on last tour. If I went to see the Stones and they didn't do "Under My Thumb" or "Satisfaction," I would hate it. So for two hours we sat down and talked about it. I'm even up (laughing) to do "Hard Luck Woman." I brought it up and they said, "okay, let's throw it into the pot." So we all brought up a lot of songs that we wanted to do again. This might be, for all we know, our last tour. I don't know many tours we'll do. The tour's going on 'til 2000. 1 don't know what's gonna happen after 2000. If we took the year of 2001 off, by the time 2003 came we'd be ready That seems like a long way off to me. I'm gonna really enjoy this tour. I'm gonna really have a ball. I think all the guys have got that attitude.

Are there any Kiss songs that you would have loved the band to perform?

"Mainline" would have been cool, that would have been a gas. "Dirty Livin... would have been very hip. We rehearsed that for the Dynasty tour but again, that didn't swing. I thought it was a very good tune. They didn't get into the feel of it so adios to that, although they liked "Hooligan" more which we did live.

As producer of the Psycho Circus CD, do you think Bruce Fairbain really understood what Kiss was all about?

No, I don't think he understood the vibe of Kiss. I loved "Into The Void," I thought that was real Kiss. I said, "Okay, now we're getting close." Then he'd come in with this bullshit of something or the other. I'd be like, "I'm out of here." Ezrin knew what Kiss was, I'll put it that way Bob Ezrin truly knew where Kiss was at. I don't think Fairbairn knew where Kiss was at. He did a fabulous job on the album. I don't know if other producers would have been better 'cause my drums sound great. I just don't know if he really truly knew Kiss, what the real Kiss is. I was honored to work with Bruce and I know his rep but I still don't think he got it like Ezrin got it. Bob Ezrin got Kiss more on Destroyer than Bruce Fairbairn got on Psycho Circus. I would tell Bruce that to his face, it's nothing that I would hide, it's my opinion. I just think that Ezrin was really right on the heartbeat of Kiss. Fairbain was there too but I think Ezrin knew Kiss better than Fairbairn. I still think the album is fuckin' great. I can't take it away from him. It's like an actor having a hard time with a director and the director's still brilliant and it still comes outgood.

Tell us about "You Wanted The Best."

I really liked doing that song. it was like doing "Nothing To Lose" for me. But this time it was all of us doing it together so it was kinda cool.

The verses deal with the band's differences, how is the group getting along nowadays?

It's definitely brutally honest but with respect behind it. We don't use kid gloves with each other. We can do that with us but no one else can do that with us. I can say to Gene, "You jerk, I wanna fuckin' kill you." If the roadie said it or Tommy (Thayer) said it I'd cut his throat (laughs) and so would Gene. We've known each other to be able to do that, it's not done maliciously but in a playful, respectful way When we get heavy with each other then it's heavy, and then holy, shit! I get heavy with Paul or Paul and Gene get heavy, it's really something. Or if me and Ace go at it. We go at it differently, we go at it in a more streetsy way. (Imitates Ace) "Yeah, I'll kick your ass." And I go, "Yeah, it'll be the last punch you ever remember." We're getting along great. I played my ass off on the album and I played my ass off this summer, played, played, played. Like a reborn Christian, I'm a reborn drummer, I really love playing drums I again. So I'm at rehearsal every day, bright and early and on time. I bitch if you come in late (laughs). I've really taken control in tlie band which is the drummer's job. I'm there early, I go to the gym every day, work out for two or three hours. I just make sure that everything is running right and when it isn't, I really sit down with the guys and go "look it, you really don't know your shit Ace, you're really playing like shit and I'm not gonna put up with it. I come in here knowing my shit breaking my ass all night, learning the material and you got to fuckin' play the way you gotta play. You're Ace Frehley, you're one of the greatest, c'mon!" When we have arguments today, we'll talk it out, we get right to the honesty, get rightto the truth. We've all got kids, we're -all not kids. We call it "let's cut to the chase." It's very healthy Nothing's behind anything, everything is real honest.

And when it isn't then it's all questioned and we all sit down in a private room. They were up in my room a few nights ago. I didn't expect them, Gene came over and all of a sudden Paul comes in and then Ace, And I end up throwing my wife out and there's a major private Kiss meeting in my room. It was sort of a group type thing (laughing) where we all left there crying. Everything was Positive Ace broke down crying, I started crying, Gene started crying. All of a sudden Paul goes, "When we leave here we're gonna look like you guys beat the shit out of me 'cause I've got a crutch" (Ed. note: he recently had a knee 'operation). It was a really cool moment. Paul was filled up too. I mean, we go back a long way I'm starting to think we're pretty much going to be the last guys still around next to the Stones or whoever else is still out there. Rod Stewart.

There ain't many of us left and I think it's a great thing.

Peter what were your initial impressions of "I Finally Found My Way"?

It was really wild because the ballad I wrote, "Hope," had the same message, the same sort of vibe only a little different. On "Hope" it wasn't so much like I found my way back but I found more spiritualism, more hope and was not afraid of life and could deal with it. I was thinking positive. I could be so in love with someone, my wife, that I could unlock the doors of heaven and blow down Hell. (laughs). It was really one hell of a ballad that I brought in. Anyhow, I really loved "I Finally Found My Way." Here's Paul and Bobby (Ezrin) who wrote it. Bobby helped write "Beth" with me so he totally knew where I'm going, my vibes. The lyrics were great. It wasn't just so personal as far as my life story, it's everybody's life story Like "Beth" was a little personal for me but I sure knew everyone could relate not being with their old lady and out with the guys doin' something. I was touched. Everybody calls the song "Beth Two" but that's not really fair. "Beth" (laughs), it's in another world of its own. This song's a great song, it's a great ballad. I love singing it, I had a good tirne singing it, I got into it. Paul's really happy the way it turned out. I sang the bridge and I was like (to Paul) "let's sing it together, that would be really cool." We never even sang together before. I thought it was a pretty good move. He was fuckin' right there on the spot. Of course we'll do "Beth" in the show and this is not the new ballad in the show. But it's a great ballad and if it hits number one we will probably have to do it (laughs).

There are a lot of rumours circulating so I have to ask this, did you play drums on the entire album?

Yeah, sure, pretty much so. I did the album. Believe me, Gene didn't play bass on everything, Ace didn't play guitar on everything and Paul didn't play guitar on everything. So it's kind of the same for me. But we all played together, we all did it together so it's a Kiss album. I don't have to justify that I played on everything, that's bullshit, I played on the album. My drums are on that album.

Why are you dyeing your hair black instead of letting the gray come through like in your days with Kiss back in the Seventies?.

(laughs) I don't know, I don't know Ken. (laughs). Maybe I'm lazy that's why I'm dying it.

Do you like your Destroyer costume?

I love it! Oh man, I had my rhinestones on last week and thought "this is too cool." I'm pumped up.

Peter were you using drum triggers on the last tour?

Well every top drummer uses triggers. I don't know what people think triggers are, maybe they think it's a trick. It's hard to explain, all triggers do for me is louden my drums, broaden my drums and make my drums sound bigger. End of story I'm still hitting them with all my might. in fact lately I'm breakin' sticks, I'm breakin' heads, I'm breakin,' cymbals. I'm probably playing now the best I have ever played in my whole life. And that's scary 'cause even the guys are like, "Holy shit Peter, you're playing awesome!" So I think not only was the album good for me, the summer training I put myself through, the vigorous training, I fell in love with the drums again.

Are you bringing the big gong back?

No, I don't need it, I'm playing so well and I'm playing so accurately, the guys are like "Jesus Christ!" I'm gonna be on the cover of Modern Drummer which will be out by Christmas. As far as my playing goes, Paulie used to say, "boy, when you're on Peter, we're all on." So I'm cookin' these days.

Peter, when the band first started playing gigs, no matter how small the gig, you always treated it like you were playing at Madison Square Garden. On the band's last tour, you played four nights at the Garden, what was that like for you? In Kiss' heyday back in the Seventies, you only played two nights at the Garden.

It was hard for me. As a matter of a fact I met my wife at that gig so it was all good luck. But it was tough for me because my Mom and my Dad had passed on and they weren't going to be there and all the guys parents are still living. I remember I sent a dozen roses to all the guys moms, Paul's mom, Gene's mom, Ace's mom. It really meant a lot to me. Every night during "Beth" I passed out a blue rose to the audience because my mother's favorite rose was blue.

So I got it tattooed on my arm. That was special to me, doing "Beth" and then handing out the rose. I think I dedicated it each night to my Mom. So the Garden shows were amazing and very emotional. I think Paul, Gene and Ace were emotional about being back at the Garden too because the Garden was always a special place for us. We were back there, their parents saw them there for four nights, not two, in makeup, in all their glory with the audience going berserk. We had New York literally by the balls. For me it was emotional and out of it I married a great woman. My wife thinks my mother sent her there so it's possible.

Were you surprised at how successful Kiss' reunion tour was?

Yeah I was surprised (laughs). I remember one night we were on the jet and I'm sitting next to Ace and Gene was sitting there. It's really late and we were tired. But now we had played like a hundred and sixty eight shows. We did a hundred and ninety eight shows on the tour total. I only missed one because of my fuckin' arm. So we're sitting there and I went, "God, this is blowing my mind." And Gene said, "No shit." It was a really quiet night, I think Paul was sleeping. We all just knew that it ain't never been like that.

Alive! is cited by many as the best Kiss album. What live albums by other acts do you treasure?

I like Tom Petty's live album but I think it has to be Humble Pie Live At The Fillmore album. It's one of my favorite albums of all time. Steve Marriott had a voice of God, I wish I had his voice. I used to love his voice. His attitude... this little guy was electric, the energy that came out of his voice and his guitar playing, he was just awesome. I'll never forget, we were talking about him the other day, "Wow, do you remember Steve Marriott? We were all like, fuck, the live Steve Marriott!" It doesn't get any better than that (laughs).

What are your recollections of that night on the reunion tour in Columbus, Ohio where you had to sit out the show due to your injury?

I had nerve damage. Let's face it, we were doing a lot of shows. I was in great shape but my hands, my arms ... for a while it was like, "Jesus Christ." Paul's shoulder and knee was screwed up. Gene, who's Mr. Perfect, was also exhausted. It was hard. I know it got really tough for me. I just couldn't lift my friggin' arms that morning. I'm sittin' on a jet crying and goin' "I can't lift my arms" and I'm freakin' out. I went back to my room and I put ice on them and my wife to be is freakin' out. I'm going crazy because I'm gonna do the show, I don't give a shit how. That was the attitude that I had. Doc (McGhee), our manager came into the room and went, "Lookit, we've got Nashville tomorrow and it's huge and it's big and it's sold out. You've gotta be on that stage tomorrow night.' Not that this wasn't important but it wasn't as important as Nashville.

Nashville's huge. They sort of weighed Columbus against Nashville and Nashville kinda won. it was a tough decision. And then Paul called me and went, "lookit, I know you, and'I know you'll want to play the show and you'll cause some damage that'll be really bad. Then the whole tour will be canceled and then we'll really be fucked up and I can't have that. I really want you to be a man and consider not playing. We'll send the best doctor in, we'll take care of your arms all night.' He really cared about me. My tech, Eddie Kanon is the best. He's been with me for eight years. He also happens to be a really good drummer, great tech and good friend. And they trusted him enough to sit in, that's how good he is. I don't think Kiss would let anybody sit behind them if he wasn't good enough.

Did the nerve damage affect your playing throughout the tour?

Yeah. They said the only cure for it was taking time off so I've had a year off. My right hand's starting to screw around again. So I'm going again to the best doctors and it's getting better. Paul's had problems with his knee and his shoulder and it's getting better. I just think we did too many shows in too short of a time. We won't do that on this tour, we won't do that to ourselves. I think it'll be a lot easier for me to get through this tour.

Were there any celebrities that you met who surprised you by being big Kissfans?

Garth Brooks. I went one night with my wife and my tech to a Garth Brooks concert. They told me that Garth wants to meet me cause I'm his idol. And I go, "yeah, right." And they go (laughing), "listen, you have no idea, he's a huge fan. He did "Hard Luck Woman" cause he heard you sing it." Not cause Paul wrote it, He heard my voice, loved it. When he did it he said he didn't want to disrespect me so he sang it pretty close to the way I sang it., So I get dressed up, we go to the show. We go backstage and they're gonna surprise him, it's his birthday or something and they're going to.surprise him with me and he's going to drop dead. I walk into the room and (laughing) he freaks out and goes, "Holy shit, it's Peter Criss!" Garth was shocked that I was there, he couldn't believe it. I shook his hand and I'm going, "Holy shit, I'm freaking out, Garth Brooks is a huge star." He was a true gentleman, very big moment for me.

Neil Bogart was an integral figure with Kiss, how do you remember him?

Neil Bogart to me was the Barnum & Bailey of rock and roll. It's too bad that there's nobody left like him. That's the sad thing about this business, there should be more Neil Bogarts. But Neil told the truth, he shot from the hip. He would spend a million to make a buck. I loved that man. That man would put his house up to make a band work. He made Kiss, and I loved him. It broke my heart when he passed on.

Bob Ezrin really pushed you as a drummer on Destroyer.

Oh yeah, that's why I loved him. Ezrin truly knew how far to push us, he really had his thumb on it, especially with me at times cause I have a raging temper. He would really push me to that stage and then I would take it out on the drums. It would be great (laughs).

Peter your drum work on "Sweet Pain" is amazing.

Thank you. That was painful because Bob wanted drumming that I was not really accustomed to (imitates drumming). It was really regimented, some of it was really hard. It was really powerful. When I would get done with Bob and I would hear it back, right down to "Flaming Youth" to all the stuff we did on that album, "Detroit Rock City," I loved it. Sometimes I'd have to play along with a click track, I still sometimes work with a click, I think there's nothing .wrong with it. The greatest drummers in the world sometimes have trouble with time. But yeah, there were times I had to record on that album with a click track. I was always used to just playing from the fucking start, I was another Keith Moon when I was younger. But with Ezrin I would sit back and go, "Wow, holy shit, I didn't think I could do that!" But on the new album, I knew I could do all of that.

What tracks on Destroyer do you feel your playing far exceeded your abilities?

I think "King Of The Nighttime World" was really great. I played the shit out of that.

It was amazing if you listen to the drums, all the work in it is really brilliant. That was a lot of physical work and yet it was tasteful. The dynamics of that song were incredible. I felt like I was marching to a war and then all of a sudden I'm rockin' and rollin' (laughs).

I saw Kiss at a soundcheck in 1977 at The Philadelphia Spectrum playing an electric version of "Beth."

(Laugh) We thought about doing it live with the whole band at one point. Bill Aucoin, our original manager, who I still love very much, we thought that this is a great song, it was getting major airplay, we got a People's Choice award for it, this song has to be played live. Bill said there's no way around it. And we're going, "oh my God, there's not even drums in it!"

Peter have you ever heard The Elder?

Yeah, I hate it (laughs). I just never liked it. Some(imes you meet somebody and go I don't know what it is about that person that I don't like. It wasn't Kiss, man. I know it's the album they did without me and I had just left. But all of a sudden they got very tasteful in music and now they're doing this real serious stuff. What happened to the edge that Kiss had? I loved Eric Carr, don't get me wrong, he was one of the sweetest guys in the world. But the drumming, he was just learning Kiss' stuff. All of a sudden they got attached to double bass drums and Kiss is far from a double bass drum band, they're a single kick band, they always have been, always will be. Rock and roll all night, party every day. And now they're doing this stuff with kick shit and they're getting kind of tasty and I didn't get it, I didn't really buy it.

What do you think your mentor drumming legend Gene Krupa would have thought of Kiss?

I think he would have loved Kiss because he was the guy who made drummers come out front. He was the guy who said, "wait a minute, I'm not just in the back here. You waiina see somethingreally cool, watch this. I'm gonna spin my sticks, throw them up in the air and catch'em and still come down on the beat. I'm gonna show you really what drums can do, they can be a lead instrument." He would have went crazy about Kiss (laughs). I think he would have went 'it's about time that drummers are going up forty feet in the air' (laughs). I think he would have been very very into it.

Out of all the members of Kiss, it was you who had the most extensive, live experience, right?

Oh yeah. I already had ten years under my belt of club work. I played all the top clubs in New York City. I was in the Village circuit, way way before them. My dearest friend Jerry Nolan of The New York Dolls, we were hangin' where Dylan was at, we were hanging where Jimi Hendrix played. I got to see Hendrix jam playing a left handed bass with Buddy Miles and Johnny Winter. I was able to sit in a room and hear Dylan play acoustic guitar and mouth harp at a coffee shop. My band, "Joey Greco & The In Crowd," we were a jaines,Brown, Sam & Dave kind of band. If it wasn't for "Joey Greco & The In Crowd" I wouldn't have met Gene Krupa. I wouldn't have made my decision to quit everything in life and be a drummet. I already knew I wanted to be a drummer since I was five but this was a definite moment of truth for me when I went to s,Ee "Joey Greco & The In Crowd." Their drummer broke his leg and they needed a drummer to sit in with them for the summer so they offered me the gig (laughs). And I went, "Holy shit!" They paid me like ninety six bucks a week and I'd have to do four shows a night. Didn't matter. I was on stage where Gene Krupa was working, The Metropole. (Starts singing "I Feel Good" by James Brown). There were go-go girls with go-go boots (laughs).

Tell me about some of your other bands like The Barracudas, Brotherhood and Lips.

The Barracudas were a New York cellar band, basement cellar band. Three-piece, sax, guitar and drums. We did all cover shit, we did "Tequila" and "Sleepwalk" and La Bamba." I used to sing all the John Lennon songs. I used to sing "In My Life." I used to wait to sing that all night. We were a great little band, we played all the Brooklyn clubs. Brotherhood was another great band. We worked with The Hassles, Billy Joel's band at the time, The Vagrants, The Rich Kids, Mountain. We were a really hot band, we were like The Rascals, we were like a white black band. We did originals and cover tunes. We had a Hammond B-3 organ, lead guitar, bass guitar, drums. We would kick ass, we were a really kick ass band for the New York circuit. Lips was Stan Penridge and this guy named Mike Benvenga who's since passed on. Lips was another bass ass trio. We would do Cream and jimi Hendrix, all this speed metal trio shit. I thought I was Mitch Mitchell. Lips was really out there.

Select five albums that you own that you think should be in everyone's record collection.

I'd definitely have some Sinatra. I have all of them, so I would want a box of Sinatra stuff from 1945 to 1960; Definitely Benny Goodman Live At Camegie Hall, that's a must. I would pick Rubber Soul by The Beatles, I just love it, you absolutely have to have that, You gotta have a jimi Hendrix album, you gotta have Axis: Bold As Love. I love Jimi Hendrix. It's hard 'cause there's so many. I got Krupa covered 'cause he's on the Benny Goodman thing... I guess The Stones Between The Buttons, that should keep you going (laughs). That'll make you pretty happy

How active are you on-line?

Not at all. (laughing) I don't want to go near computers. Everytime I get near one something comes up about me and I go "oh really, another lie" (laughs). I think it's a great thing, of course we all know that computers are ruling the world, like in The Terminator, the machines take over. I think it's a good thing. I'm getting an IBM next month. I do think the on-line thing is great, there's information immediately, there's some interesting shit on there. I think it's cool. It's just a quicker way of knowing things. But with the Kiss on-line stuff, some of it's nuts. Some of the things I've seen on there is just nuts, just crazy stuff. I think the band should get more involved with that because that's the future.

How would you rate the band's Unplugged album?

I'd give it a four. Although I didn't play on many songs, they really got this acoustically pretty good. That night was a magic moment for me. I knew irpmediately when Ace and I walked out that this is it, this is really the shit. And I felt real cocly and I felt scared but I felt at home. It was like, this is the way it really should be every night of my life. It was wonderful.

Okay, how about You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best!!?

PC: I thought it was a good idea. It was as good we put something out as we didn't have anything to put out at the time of the reunion tour. Paul and Gene sort of came up with that idea. Of course I'm gonna give it a five (laughs) because a lot of that stuff was cool. Again, it was a really good idea and it worked and I got a gold record for it. It was a fun thing.

Is the Psycho Circus trek, Kiss' farewell tour?

I'd be open to doing another record or tour. I'm having a ball. As long as it remains fun and as long as we respect each other. The day we stop respecting each other I'm out the door. it's that simple. There ain't enough money to make me that happy. If you don't respect me, then I don't want to be, around it. That's really what's important. I don't care if you don't even love me, but if you disrespect me, I don't want you in my face.

Today, I think the band recognizes the importance of each member

I think so, Ken, I think you're right on about that, buddy. We all realize how important we are to each other, you better believe it. I see that at rehearsal every day. I mean, "Paulie, how's your leg, man? How you doing with your leg there bro?" 'cause he just had an operation on his knee. But no big deal, he's okay. Gene flew this weekend to New York and Ace went to see his daughter and they went together. So it's cool. There's a certain watch that Paul has that I like. He said, "Hey Peter, listen, how 'bout we go out next week and I'll show you where I got that watch." So there's a lot of sincerity and a lot of coolness. We're treating each other really well, Paul and I were amazingly tight in the beginning o f the band's career. Even recently we went up to see our 3-D thing not far from Laguna Beach and I said to Paul "I'll go with you" and then something changed and I didn't want to put him out. So I said, "lookit, I'll take my own car, I don't want to put you out because I gotta be back early in the morning to make it to my lawyers." And he's like, "No, no, no, man, I gotta make it back to the gym." (Laughing) So he was almost hurt that I didn't want to go with him so I did. We had a ball. Sat in the car, my wife was in the back, It was really nice. We talked about his son, his new house, I talked about my new house. We're pals again.

You can argue but there's a real friendship there.

Yeah. I got real pissed recently. I said to them, "two o'clock to six o' clock is Kiss, that's our rehearsal time. There's no wives, no kids, no bullshit, no Doc (McGhee), no nothing but Kiss, Just give me that for those hours 'cause we owe it to our fans. We ask so much of each other and of other people that we should demand more of ourselves." And the three of them are like, "Wow!" I said, "let's just do that, let's cut this bullshit, this song's better than that. Fuck all that! Let's play and get tight, we've got a huge world tour to go on." And they're all like, "Right on Peter, you're absolutely right." So it's done with respect and I really like the guys. There's a love affair going on again (laughs).