PAUL STANLEY's Son Praises KISS: 'It's The Most Consistent Show I've Seen'

In a new interview with the X5 Podcast, Paul Stanley's son Evan Stanley reflected on the experience of opening for his father's band KISS as the frontman of his own rock group called AMBER WILD. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "For us to get to play and then watch them every night, it really makes you up your game and study what you do. 'Cause you never wanna be another band — you can't out-KISS KISS — but you can be the best version of you and take away a ton of just ridiculous insight from watching that show. And not only is the show amazing, but it's the most consistent show I've seen. It's every single night. The difference between a bad night and a great night, it's like, no, they're only great nights. It's, like, they're different shades of great. And it's wild to see a band that far into their career where every night they go out and just throw it all down. It's awesome."

He continued: "I think it's weird 'cause I grew up, obviously, so close to it. So I didn't grow up really listening to a ton of KISS. It was more dad's band and dad's work. And when I was maybe, like, 17, I was, like, 'I've gotta try my best to… Let me just try and listen the way a fan would or someone.' So I got KISS 'Alive', 'cause that seemed to be kind of — everyone talked about that. And I'll never be able to listen like a pure fan, but I did my best to kind of disconnect, and I'm, like, 'Whoa, this is actually so sick.' And then I kind of started listening to some of the earlier records and made my way through the discography."

Evan added: "All the theatrics aside, which are awesome, they're just great songs. If you close your eyes and go to a KISS show, they're killer, killer players playing great songs. And I think a lot of times people will try and go, 'Oh, it's all spectacle. It's not a real band.' It's, like, get up there and try and do that. Good luck. I'm, like, no. They have incredible songs, timeless songs, great, great players, and it's so cool-looking. And they blow up a million pounds of shit every show. How do you top that? It's, like, you've got everything."

This past January, Evan was asked by Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com if there had ever been any discussions about him leading a new version of KISS following the legendary rock act's final concert in December. He responded: "No. It's the funniest thing. People keep asking that constantly, and it's, like, dude, you can look at like a thousand interviews where my dad says it, Gene [Simmons, KISS bassist/vocalist] says it, I say it, Nick [Simmons, Gene's son] says it. It's, like, no. That's my dad's thing. I'm busy with my thing."

He continued: "I appreciate it. I'm grateful for it. I love it. I'm a fan of the music. I'm a fan of the show. I've gotten to have a really unique and very wonderful life as a direct result of it. Do I wanna put the makeup on and be 'Baby Paul'? Fuck no. I've got my own thing going. And that's not a knock — I think there's someone out there who probably would wanna do that and would probably do an amazing job. But it's not me. I've not spent my life trying to be that. So, no — I've got too much other stuff going on."

AMBER WILD started in January 2023 with one simple goal: make the kind of music they wanted to hear. After spending the year developing their sound on the Los Angeles club circuit, AMBER WILD made its festival debut at the 2023 edition of Aftershock in Sacramento.

Last October, AMBER WILD released a double-A side debut single "Breakout // Silver". The arrival of these tracks coincided with the first date of AMBER WILD's run directly supporting KISS on their "End Of The Road" tour in the United States.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Evan Stanley has always lived straddling the lines between multiple worlds: growing up, he split his time between school, touring the world with his father's band KISS and working as a delivery boy for his local deli. After school and a stint in New York, Stanley moved back to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music.

Evan's mother is actress Pamela Bowen, who appeared in 35 episodes of the soap opera "Days Of Our Lives" and in a number of TV series, including "Loving", "McGuyer", "Cheers", "Matlock", "Beverly Hills 20210", "Land's End" and "Broken At Love". She also appeared in the KISS movie "Detroit Rock City".