GENE SIMMONS: 'A Benevolent Dictator Is The Most Effective Way Of Running A Country'

Gold 104.3 radio DJ Gav conducted an interview with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons ahead of the band's recent concert in Melbourne, Australia. They discuss everything from the spider stage set KISS brought with them, Australian accents, make-up techniques, creativity and whether Simmons has political aspirations.

Asked if he would ever run for office, Simmons responded: "You know, in all seriousness, they don't pay enough. Teachers, policemen, firemen… The most important jobs don't pay very well, which is why you're not gonna get the best talent. The best talent are in the financial sector — you know, big corporate entities, hedge fund and venture capital and so on. So… Or if you'd make me the benevolent dictator, just give me six months, I'll do it for one dollar — 'cause I make a living — but I want total power. You can fire me — if the masses vote and so on, 'Get rid of him' — without cause. As long as the majority wants me gone, I'd be gone. But while I'm in office, democracy is wonderful, but it's messy. A benevolent dictator is the most effective way of running a country. I would clean up the mess immediately; you know I would. The bad guys are going, 'Uh oh, he knows.' Yeah. I'd have to have lots of security, 'cause all the bad guys would wanna take me out."

Back in 2012, Simmons expressed regret over his endorsement of President Barack Obama in 2008, telling Fox News' "Fox and Friends", "Hindsight is 20/20. I have some real issues with the economy and how it's being done. America should be in business and it should be run by a businessman."

He continued, "America is a business. If you can't afford to do something, no matter how much bellyaching everybody does… I'm so sorry, if you can't afford it, you shouldn't do it. If you can afford to take care of two kids. Have two kids. Don't have ten kids. If you can't afford to have a $400,000 home, you can afford a $100,000 home, then do that."

Asked by host Gretchen Carlson who his pick for president was, Simmons responded, "Strictly speaking on the economy and in my humble opinion, Mitt Romney."

During a 2012 interview with Noisecreep, KISS frontman Paul Stanley made it clear that he didn't share his bandmate Gene Simmons' views on voicing their political opinions publicly.

"I don't know what's more embarrassing, these musicians and actors talking about politics in interviews or the media actually giving them credibility about it," Stanley said. "It's absurd that a celebrity could speak out on the economy or politics with no more justification than a hit album or a movie. Not to deride Gene, but I just think he's part of a symptom of absurdity where you'll see somebody on television whose only criteria for being there is success in a field far away from what they're being asked about. I really don't know who is more ridiculous, the celebrity answering these political questions or the person asking them."

He continued, "I'm usually not at a loss for words, but this whole celebrity political thing always gets me. It's so embarrassing to see people with absolutely no inside knowledge of anything they are talking about. I have friends who are intimately involved with world affairs and these are the people who won't give opinions like these celebrities do. For my friends, it's far more complex and sensitive than that, unlike these celebrities who read some newspaper story, or watch CNN, and then spout out some opinion on something they truly don't know anything about."