ERIC SINGER: 'I Really Believe That You Gotta See KISS At Least Once In Your Life'

Penelope Biver of the Illinois Entertainer recently conducted an interview with KISS drummer Eric Singer. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On KISS:

"Whether it's going to Mount Rushmore or Yellowstone Park or the Statue Of Liberty, I say KISS is one of the Wonders Of The World. Maybe I'm biased because I'm in the band, but I really believe that you gotta see KISS at least once in your life. Even if you don't like KISS or don't know anything about them, I guarantee when you walk away from the show you're going to go, 'That was a lot of fun — I'll never see anything like that again.' I always say, 'It's rock 'n' roll meets the circus coming to town!'"

On how guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley brought up the idea of going back into the studio to record "Sonic Boom":

"I think what happened was he started thinking, 'Hey, this band sounds really good, we get along really good . . .' and when things are good you get inspired to do things. He also saw that the audience was getting younger, and I think things changed. Three years ago, I didn't think we'd do another record. In fact, I didn't think we'd be doing as much touring as we've been doing. But we started working on ideas while we were on tour; sometimes Paul or Gene [Simmons, bass] or Tommy [Thayer, guitar] would work on some riffs and when we got back to L.A. we'd go into the studio and record them.

“We did ['Sonic Boom'] the old-school way, playing together live to analog tape. Obviously we used some digital technology and modern stuff once we recorded basic tracks, because then it's easier to work. But it was done in a more easy, non-pressure, organic kind of way. I'd say it was probably about the easiest record I ever had to make, in the sense of not feeling pressure, like, 'O.K., you gotta do all your drum tracks in two or three days then you're done, later.' We took our time. It was a real pleasure to make. It was well-received, and we've had a blast the last year playing all these shows and we've already been talking about going into the studio and doing another record."

On touring:

"I don't want to say doing 'weekend warrior,' but the way our scheduling is sometimes we don't have to stay out on the road. We've been going out playing the weekend then coming home for a few days so everybody can have a little bit of recharge time, but more importantly everybody can have a chance to be with their families or deal with other things.

"When we go back out Friday, we'll be out on the East Coast and this time we'll be out for about two-and-a-half weeks before we have another couple days off. I guess this is the way country acts do it, I'm told, because, you know, they're very family-oriented. It's like people who go to work Monday through Friday and have the weekend off: We do it the other way around. It's a little crazy getting on a plane after you've played and have to fly across the country in the middle of the night and get home in the wee hours of the morning, but it's kinda nice because then when I wake up and I'm in my own bed and in my house and it isn't too bad."

On the band's audience:

"One thing we've really noticed is the demographic. There are a lot of young teenagers coming to the shows. Sure they've heard about the band either from their parents or from [the video games] 'Rock Band' and 'Guitar Hero', but when asked a lot of them say, 'I found KISS on the Internet!' The advent of YouTube was a novelty at first, but it has turned into a great promotional tool without people having to do anything. People just post clips and [other] people discover you!"

Read the entire interview from Illinois Entertainer.