GENE SIMMONS On His Relationship With PAUL STANLEY: We Never 'Axl Rose' Our Way Out Of Anything

In a brand new interview with Goldmine magazine, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons spoke about his nearly five-decade-long partnership with his bandmate Paul Stanley and why their relationship today is better than it has been in a long time.

"You have to figure out that the person next to you isn't you," Gene explained. "So sometimes you don't understand why I might have a different appetite than him. I make no excuses for having a record company and now a film company. Our first film was just finished and it stars Anne Heche, Wesley Snipes; it's a good movie and I'll be doling lots of them. I wanted to act and produce records and have a record company because I'm unapologetically insatiable. If I have an appetite for something, I want it! But it is true, as other things take more time, you don't do your other stuff in KISS as well. So we do have a better relationship today because you live and you learn. You understand that, despite it all, we both share a great work ethic, we show up on time and do the work and we never 'Axl Rose' our way out of anything. I think the same way a 'Kardashian' became a 72-day-long time reference, I think Axl deserves that thing that could become a verb, 'Don't Axl your way out of this thing.' I think that's appropriate."

In his autobiography, "Face The Music: A Life Exposed", Stanley talked about the problems in keeping a partnership going with Simmons over the decades, explaining that it's taken a lot of work to keep the pair moving forward and on the same page. "Oh, sure," Stanley told The Pulse Of Radio. "That over the years that's been an ongoing theme in our relationship. But time is the ultimate judge, and the fact that we've been together, at this point for, 40 — my gosh — almost [47] years says volumes. There have been times where I've been very angry and resentful — and I'm not saying momentarily — I'm saying for long periods of time. But, in time, everything falls in place and you get a better perspective — hopefully. If you don't expect from someone what's not possible, then you won't be disappointed."

Stanley spoke frankly of a particularly icy moment in KISS history when, during the 1980s, Simmons seemed far more interested in an acting career than being the type of partner Stanley had come to rely on in KISS throughout the '70s. "It's much easier to do that when you know somebody else is gonna run with it. [Laughs] It's much easier to abandon ship when you know that someone is going to bail water. That was more than annoying and hurtful. It was unjust, because to cap that off — he still wanted to be paid equally. Well, that's insult to injury. Who gets paid for not doing their job? Doesn't work like that."