THE KING OF KISS VAULTS INTO HUB
KISS icon Gene Simmons brought the Vault Experience to City Winery yesterday, treating fans to an acoustic set before personally handing them Vaults — safes filled with exclusive memorabilia and music from the past 50 years that’s never been made public.
“It was a different time,” The Demon told the Track about when he first started making music several decades ago. “You had to do it the old-fashioned way: You had to roll up your sleeves, you had to get in the back of a station wagon and drive 10 hours, with two guys taking turns sleeping, and you had to take your case, your music, your vibe to the people day after day, city after city. That’s gone.”
“Nowadays, you just get on ‘The Voice’ or ‘American Idol’ because you sing in the shower,” he continued. “But that’s not paying dues, which is why so few ... get a career. The rest of them die in fiery flames.”
To be clear, Simmons added that it’s not like people lack the raw potential to rise to long-lasting musical greatness, much like Kiss and its contemporaries have earned. He just hasn’t seen any of that potential flourish into the makings of a modern-day legend.
“There’s great talent out there,” he said. “But you can’t tell me who the new Beatles are. From 1958 to 1988 is thirty years. We had Elvis and The Beatles and The Stones — even Madonna, Prince, (David) Bowie and the Jacksons. But from 1988 to today, where’s the new Beatles? Where’s Elvis?”
“It’s not that they can’t sing, but there’s no craft. Nobody’s learning how to write songs,” he added. “So unless people are willing to pay their dues, learn how to play an instrument, learn how to write melody and lyrics and chords, we’re doomed.”
And if the Vault, whose contents include 10 hours of neverreleased music, has anything to show, it’s that from early on, Simmons put in the work to learn his craft.
“I started writing songs in 1966, two years after I saw The Beatles, and that first song is part of 167 tracks that have never been released,” he said.
Among the gems tucked away within the Vault, Simmons said that there are three songs that he and Bob Dylan did together about 18 years ago, a tune with Joe Perry from Aerosmith from the ’70s, a few collaborations from him and the Van Halen brothers and original versions of KISS classics, like “Calling Dr. Love” and “Rock and Roll All Night.”
“It’s got girth. It’s got weight and mass,” he said. “I want to hold it, feel it, touch it, and that’s what the vault is.”