BRUCE KULICK Says KISS Fans Are Are 'A Unique, Wonderful Breed'

Full Throttle Rock recently conducted an interview with former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Full Throttle Rock: You have had a long outstanding career playing with some of the biggest names in the music industry. Could you have imagined your career would take the shape it has?

Bruce Kulick: Well, you know, the more I go back and look at all the things I have done, the more I realize, while I was doing them, of course, I was excited and as professional as possible, but I did not realize the impact that all the things, especially the KISS years, would ultimately have. Even prior to that, the dual lead guitars for MEAT LOAF and touring the world for the "Bat Out Of Hell" tour, you know, when it first came out, I mean, that album is still huge and the version of that record you buy now has a couple of live tracks on it featuring Bob [Kulick] and I. So I am very blessed to be a working musician all these years. Could I have imagined it? Not completely. Definitely not.

Full Throttle Rock: In terms of the KISS albums you were on, which one do you think was your best guitar performance or your favourite to play on?

Bruce Kulick: You know, it is a great question. Obviously, fans have different favorites of their own. There is highlights on all the albums, I always felt. I am going to give you the answer. Really, if I had to stick with one record, it would be "Revenge", because I just felt between Bob Ezrin's production and the commitment of the band at the time, I really felt it was one of our most cohesive, strong, hard rock melodic efforts. The lead guitar was in your face, take no prisoners, you know, balls to the wall, but I have to say I am very fond of the acoustic solo on "Forever" and, I think, the melodic guitar playing on "Tears Are Falling" are important moments in my KISS years. Some people think "Carnival Of Souls" is the best record the band put out, you know, but for me, as much as I am proud of a lot of stuff through those years, that record really held it together for me in, I felt, like a big showcase for me.

Full Throttle Rock: Having experienced this first hand, tell me about the KISS fan and what makes them so different from other rock fans?

Bruce Kulick: Well, I have got to admit they really do attract… I think being a fan, you could be a "Star Wars" fan, I do not think there is fundamentally a huge difference between fans of different genres, meaning a sci-fi fan could be pretty similar to a KISS fan, actually, in my mind. But just being specific with KISS, they are very loyal, yet many of them, not the majority, but many of them will also criticize but still be there for the band, many will support all eras, many will be a snob and just like say, only the original four, only the makeup, you get what I mean? So they kind of split off into opinions and passions of the band, you know. I remember for a while, I am a huge BEATLES fan, that I was like, "No, I do not want to listen to anything from the first couple of records; that is primitive BEATLES. No, I want to listen to 'Magical Mystery Tour', trippy complex music," you know, and of course, now it could be a rough demo from '62 and I am happy to hear it because it is THE BEATLES, okay. So I kind of change with that as well, but honestly, the KISS fans are a unique, wonderful breed that I am very blessed to have been exposed to, of course, because they have created a career for me, you know. It is as if I am still in the band, but I have not been with the guys since '96, and it is incredible to still be such a part of the family and everything. So I am really quite blessed about the fact that they are the way they are and that they are so passionate about the band and they really just want to celebrate the group and boy, you know, one thing about them they do not ever seem to hang it up, which is great.

Full Throttle Rock: Your last solo record, "BK3", was in 2010. Are there any plans to release another one soon and if so, will it be like "BK3", with vocals from guest singers as well as yourself or will it be more in the style of the previous album, "Transformer"?

Bruce Kulick: Right. Great question. I really do not completely have an answer. I am always writing, okay, and regarding my "BK4", we will call it, I just do not have a firm plan to how I would do it. The important thing is that I am staying creative, archiving good ideas, more and more serious about trying to write stuff and I, obviously… It cost a lot of money to do a record the way I want to do a record, because I am not going to do it in my bedroom, I am going to use a professional studios and the real gear and everything and I might go the route of a Pledge Music thing, but I would not do that until the songs were ready. And then, in essence, I am pre-selling it, you know what I mean? And who would be involved? And what? You know, I just befriended Joe Satriani at a Rock And Roll Fantasy Camp up in Napa Valley, the wine country, and he invited me, you know. He bought my CD. I could not believe it. I get the email order, "Joe Satriani." I am, like… "What?" But what a great guy and what a brilliantly talented guitar player. He did a great job at this quick three-day camp up at Louis M. Martini winery; it was like a hybrid kind of camp, not just a regular Fantasy Camp, it was involved with wine making and it was fascinating, but Joe was, like, what a guy. So obviously when something like that happens and I create a "You are great" and him saying to me, "I want to get your record. I really dig you," I am, like, "Wow." That makes me think: "Can I ask him to guest on a song?" You see what I mean? I start thinking about that, which takes me back to "BK3", where I was able to ask guests to help me out. But I do not have a firm plan yet. All I know is I have been very driven, especially since I am done with the summer crazy GRAND FUNK RAILROAD schedule, that I want to archive songs and move forward with staying creative. There are a lot of projects for next year I need to accomplish. I have also been writing with my brother. We have talked about doing an EP. We do not want to get crazy with a full-blown record, but I think the fans would love a nice appetizer, like an EP, from the two of us. And I do not know who would sing that yet; we have not even figured that out. But the important thing is we have a couple of really cool rock tunes that I think the fans would really like and that has taken us… God, we have been talking about that since the beginning of this year, so it takes time.

Read the entire interview at Full Throttle Rock.