STRIKE 44
TALKIN' PSYCHO
Q: In many ways “Carnival Of Souls” was the “Revenge” album but taken one or two steps further. That means that during the 90´s you haven´t really written any of those old style Kiss party songs. Have you be able to write that type of material for the new album with Peter Criss and Ace Frehley?
P a u l : Oh, of course. You know, the great thing is that the songs that are being worked on right now sound very, very much like “Destroyer”. A band is made up of it´s members. In this way, by having the original members back, you have that same chemistry and that point of view. So I think the material sounds very much like we did in the 70´s. And the production on the new album will be nothing like the one of the “Carnival Of Souls” album. It´s produced by Bruce Fairbairn and it will sound like a vintage Kiss record.
Q: Will Peter Criss play on the new record?
P a u l : Yes, the new album will be Peter and Ace.
Q: Because to be honest with you on those three shows, I saw on the reunion tour, Peter didn´t really play tight.
P a u l : Right, right... Um, I can´t really... You can comment better on that one that I can. All I can say is that the schedule that we kept up was very often five shows a week. We did 200 shows in one year. And... I can´t say more than that. It was a very tough schedule we were trying to keep up. We were trying to please everybody by playing for everybody. Not a lot of rest and not a lot of breaks.
Q: But you have done negative comments on Peter´s playing before, haven´t you? You were very disappointed with him and his playing at the end of the 70´s and he didn´t even play on his last Kiss album, “Dynasty”, did he?
P a u l : No he didn´t play on “Dynasty” and “Unmasked”. There were problems, and that was the way to deal with the problems.
Q: To be honest right now there is a strong rumour about Peter not playing on this new album as well, with another drummer doing his parts.
P a u l : Really? Where does that come from?
Q: From Peter´s bad playing on the tour and that you and Gene have said he wasn´t good enough to play on “Dynasty”.
P a u l : Well, back then there certainly were problems but, uhm, at least now we have every intention of Peter to play.
Q: Peter´s drums sounded triggered on the tour, was that the case?
P a u l : His drums are a combination of live drums and triggered ones. It gives you much more control of the sound.
Q: It has been said that it is because Peter Criss is a bit old now and can´t hit the drums as hard as he use to do.
P a u l : Well, that is so silly because some of the youngest drummers trigger their drums. It just gives you a better sound live.
Q: What else can you tell us about the new album?
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