GENE SIMMONS 'Can't Imagine' Continuing KISS Without PAUL STANLEY

Bill Louis of the WNCX radio station in Cleveland, Ohio recently conducted an interview with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons. You can now listen to the chat below.

Asked if he would ever consider continuing KISS without fellow founding member Paul Stanley, Gene said: "You know, I can't imagine it, but anything's possible. In fact, if anything, I think all of us would be proud as hell, because one day we're gonna hang up our platform heels, I'd like nothing better than if four new, young, deserving, hard-working guys would put on the makeup and carry the torch. That would be the coolest."

Simmons also talked about KISS' philosophy and the initial inspiration for the group's formation. He said: "The whole idea behind KISS was we wanted to put together the band we never saw on stage — a band that would combine Fourth of July fireworks shows and transformers technology and anything else that would give people bang for the buck. And as I sit here proudly talking to you, even though we never played the singles game, KISS is actually America's No. 1 gold-record-award-winning group of all time, in all categories. Which is really quite a mouthful, 'cause we never really tried to figure out what singles are. We don't look like your favorite band. We don't look like COLDPLAY or anybody else that's in style and fashionable. In fact, we have always been anti-fashion. Think about it: which band would wear more makeup and high heels than your mommy and simply think of the stage as electric church and that it's hallowed ground and only the few and the deserving should be on that stage. And just 'cause you have ripped jeans and a t-shirt doesn't mean you belong on stage. That's our philosophy. And in either case, if the audience looks exactly like you, why are you on stage? Get out of here! Give me spectacle. Give me somebody to look up to, who sweats, who doesn't use a backing track or disco boys on poles who escaped from Las Vegas. And nobody lip-syncs. We work for it. I think it's safe to say KISS is the hardest-working band in show business, period."

KISS kicked off its "Freedom To Rock" tour on July 4 with in Tucson, Arizona. The trek will hit 40 cities through the summer — many of them places that the band has either never played or hasn't played in years.