Lady Gaga is the only true new star
Musicians in today’s rock bands look like “garbage collectors” and the only true new star is Lady Gaga, members of the legendary heavy metal group KISS said.
“There are a lot of bands that have something. What’s missing is
stardom. The ability to get up on stage and rule, bigger than life,”
said KISS bassist and singer-songwriter Gene Simmons.
In a conversation during a promotional appearance on Tuesday for the
KISS Monster Book, the band explained their decision to record their
next disc, Monster, with analogue equipment.
They also defended the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, whose members were sentenced to prison last week in Moscow.
“There are no stars. There’s no Elvis, there’s no... even Prince,” said
Simmons. “Stage presence — none of the bands have it, they look like
garbage collectors. They look worse than the audience that comes to see
them.
“There’s no pride,” said the 62-year-old, who is known for his own
on-stage persona as “The Demon” in a band that flaunts over-the-top
costumes and black-and-white make-up.
KISS’s four band members spoke to reporters in The Viper Room, a
renowned Hollywood bar where the actor River Phoenix died of a drug
overdose in 1993.
Dressed in black, without makeup, in silver neck chains and long hair,
the creators of rock hymns like I Wanna Rock N Roll All Night and I Was
Made for Lovin’ You agreed the extravagant Lady Gaga stands alone among
new performers.
“The only new rock star is Lady Gaga. That’s it. She’s a star,” said
Simmons, in white crocodile skin cowboy boots and a silk scarf. “There
are some very, very good bands, I’m a big fan of Foo Fighters, but give
me the stars.”
It’s not just about the show, he said. “Elvis could walk up on stage with nothing. But charisma. Image. Mystique.”
Paul Stanley, the group’s star and lead vocalist, went further.
“Musicians who look like the delivery boy... don’t realise that there’s
more. When big bands go on stage, they deliver their goods,” he said.
“That’s why we’ve been around 40 years, because people know when they
come to see us, they’re going to get their money’s worth and they’re
going to be entertained. We are proud to be entertainers and a hell of a
rock band.”
Stanley, who was wearing a black jacket and checker-board shoes with
silver studs, and Simmons are the last members of the original KISS,
which they formed in the early 1970s.
Lead guitarist Tommy Taylor and drummer Eric Singer were brought in
later as replacements after a break-up in the original line-up.
Asked about the Pussy Riot furore in Russia, Simmons said they’re “not a
good band, but they have the right to do whatever they want to do”.
“And it’s too bad that politics gets in the way of rock bands.”
Stanley said: “A strong country should never be afraid of freedom. And
with freedom comes independence, a sense of independence, and many
countries still want to squash that.”
The band is promoting its megabook as a collector’s item. A limited
edition of 1,000 copies, it is individually signed by the band’s members
and spans KISS’s 40 year history. It includes 127 photographs, some
never published before.
The affable rockers, who showed little trace of the fearsome personas
they project on stage, said they are recording their next album using
analogue equipment, seeking beauty in imperfection.
Monster, their 20th studio album, is scheduled to be released in October.
“All the greatest music that was ever made, was made on tape, was
analogue. The problem with computers and technology is, when it’s not
used for enhancement, it becomes a noose around your neck,” Stanley
said.
“You wind up looking for perfection instead of passion. And all the
music that we grew up loving — Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Stones, James
Brown, Motown, you name it — none of them were perfect, and that’s what
made them great.”
