PETER CRISS Says 'Jealousy' Causes GENE SIMMONS To Belittle Ex-KISS Members' Abilities

Rod Harmon of HeraldTribune.com recently conducted an interview with original KISS drummer Peter Criss. An excerpt from the chat follows:

HeraldTribune.com: Your last recording experience, "Psycho Circus" (by KISS in 1998) was very much a confrontational one, where you and Ace were barely involved. So this must have been a refreshing experience for you.

Peter: Very much so. The "Psycho Circus" thing was another example of history repeating itself. Power and money is a scary thing. And when you get it — and I've gotten it and I've abused it, used it, as we all do — that's what happened. (Producer) Bruce Fairbairn died, God bless his soul, after that album. Talk about stress; I can only imagine. But what bothered me the most was probably what bothered the fans — it was a magical moment for the band to go in and be a band again and do an album ... there are some songs on this album that I wrote for that album. I wrote "Hope" for that album, and I wrote "Justice for All", which you'll hear on my rock album.

HeraldTribune.com: Back in the old days, they would choose at least one of your songs for each KISS album. Why didn't they do that for "Psycho Circus"?

Peter: It got vicious, man. A lot of changes happened. Yeah, you're right, it was kinda cool back then. But it just wasn't going to be that way this time, and I saw that and I went, "OK, well, I just hope to God I record it again some day."

HeraldTribune.com: Since we're talking about KISS and all the turmoil involved with the breakups, what happened? You left during the "Farewell Tour", came back for the Melbourne Symphony project ("KISS Symphony: Alive IV", 2003) and the (2003) AEROSMITH tour, and then you were gone again.

Peter: Let's put it this way — I thought Ace was going to be on the AEROSMITH tour, and he wasn't ... I said to my wife and friends, "This is it for me. Without Ace, it ain't the original band, and I'm just not going to do it any other way."

HeraldTribune.com: What was it like, looking over and seeing someone in Ace's costume and Ace's makeup, playing Ace's licks, and it's not Ace?

Peter: Absolutely scary. Some nights, I'd get so lost in the music and the crowd and the hoopla, I almost thought it was Ace. You look over for a split second, and there he is. The guy copied him so well, lick for lick, it was almost like it was Ace. And then it would hit me, and you'd go, "Wow, that's really scary." But in the dressing room, you definitely felt a difference. That's for sure. And it sucked. It just sucked.

HeraldTribune.com: How do you feel about (current KISS drummer) Eric (Singer) wearing your cat makeup?

Peter: I don't care. I cared at one point, then I thought, you could put a million people in the face, but it ain't me. It ain't my soul. And it ain't my voice and my heart, and whatever comes through my heart comes through my hands. It comes through my music. And that is an impossibility to do with another person ... You could put Bozo the Clown up there. You could put Jimmy Page up there in Ace's face; it won't sound the same.

HeraldTribune.com: One more question about the breakup, and then I'll leave it alone. People come and go in bands all the time. But in KISS, whenever someone leaves, Gene Simmons belittles their abilities.

Peter: Yes, I know.

HeraldTribune.com: Why do you think he feels the need to do that?

Peter: I think because of jealousy. I'm gonna prove that. We always said, the best way to get ya is being successful. And I find that if you laid down and called it a day, he'd be the happiest camper on the planet. And that ain't the way it is. Again, I'm a fourth member who discovered that band, who made that band what it is today. I came in with blue-black hair, I came up with this character, I came up with the drumming behind the biggest albums they ever sold in their lives. There's no denying it; it's fact. Y'know, talk is cheap. It's the walk. The Cat's still walkin' around. I've got a few more lives left. Granted, it's a sad thing to knock someone who made you so rich, who helped you buy that big mansion, that bought your new wife a Porsche. I would think those guys are the last guys you would want to call (expletive). It's the truth. To hear the insults bothers me, because I think it's sad that a man who's supposedly so intelligent (makes them).

HeraldTribune.com: You and Ace were both in street gangs when you were young. I'm surprised you didn't just kick Gene's (butt).

Peter: (Laughs.) Well, I was very tempted to, but knowing Gene, I would have been sued!

Read the entire interview at HeraldTribune.com.