PAUL STANLEY Talks About New Solo Album, Upcoming Tour

KISS fan site KISS Underground recently conducted an interview with KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

KISS Underground: How was recording [your new solo album] "Live To Win" different than recording a KISS album, and how did it differ from recording your first solo album ("Paul Stanley" from 1978)?

Paul Stanley: "The difference between doing a solo album and a KISS album, or any 'band' album, is that when you do a 'band' album, you're tailoring the material to the specific band [you're recording with], and also taking into account the assets and what the band excels at. So you tend to limit yourself somewhat, whereas when you do a 'solo' album, you can bring in anybody you want for any song. So you really get TOTAL freedom. Both are a reflection of me. The difference is, in a band situation, certainly you have everybody's input more so. There's a certain amount of give-and-take, and a bit more compromise. As far as the difference from the first solo album, I've been doing this for THAT much longer and I was pretty clear on what I wanted to do. Outside of that, I don't think it was any different. It's not to say that the (two) albums are the same, but how they were done was the same. I did it without any compromise, and without any thought of what anybody else wanted it to be. If someone thought that this would be a continuation, or a sister/brother album of the first one, they're not taking into account that they're 28 years apart. Certainly the point of view is mine on both (solo albums),and the template for every song I write is melody and a good hook. That's something I always try to do."

KISS Underground: Even though none of the songs sound like they were written for a KISS album per se, do you think that any of the songs on "Live To Win" fit with any songs you've written on any past KISS albums?

Paul Stanley: "I don't really think so. I think the instrumentation and sonics of it are very different from what we've done in the past as KISS. Maybe some of the songs could have been on KISS albums, but they wouldn't have sounded like this. The last thing I wanted to do with my second solo album was to do something that sounded 'retro' and sound like an 'old' album. That to me was pointless. To pick up from where I left off would mean that I would have had to do the second album, maybe three years after the first.'

KISS Underground: A lot of fans have been curious as to why your solo tour is so short (15 dates). It's been stated they there MAY be additional dates added, but what's been posted is pretty much it?

Paul Stanley: "You gotta start somewhere. I'd rather commit to something short term and add to it, than do something long term and cut it. There's a lot going on right now. I wanna be home with my little boy and my family. (These initial dates) is a chance to go out there and see how it feels. In doing 15 or 18 shows, I get to play every major city in every major market, or close enough to it. For me to go out and do 50 shows wouldn't be any more productive. It would be less productive because it wouldn't be a great use of time.

KISS Underground: Being that this will be a "Paul Stanley solo" tour and not a "KISS" tour, will you pulling out some more b-side material like on your 1989 solo tour?

Paul Stanley: "It's my chance to do EXACTLY what I want. I'll play the songs that I enjoy and I think are appropriate, and try to balance things out betweem my solo albums and (my) KISS songs. In a sense, there is very little difference between any of them, because they're all written by me. It should be a good balance and a good mix-up of a lot of tunes that I really like. Probably some songs that I've never played before."

Read the entire interview at KISS Underground.