Episode 96: Gene Simmons of KISS

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·18m 51s·analyzed·Dec 13, 2017

Analysis

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TL;DR

Gene Simmons interviews about Vault Experience, KISS pinball licensing, and brand philosophy.

Summary

Gene Simmons of KISS discusses his new Gene Simmons Vault Experience box set, the value of KISS brand licensing, and his philosophy on work and legacy. He briefly mentions the recent KISS pinball machine collaboration with Stern Pinball, emphasizing that he avoids micromanaging the design but ensures brand integrity is protected. The interview covers his upcoming personal vault deliveries to fans starting in January, his book Gene Simmons on Power, and his charitable work.

Key Claims

The original 1978 KISS pinball machine became the number one pinball machine and units 'flew out their factory window'
medium confidence · Gene Simmons discussing the success of the original 1978 KISS pinball and the recent new one from Stern Pinball
The Gene Simmons Vault Experience box set stands three feet tall, weighs 38 pounds, contains 150 never-before-released tracks, and includes an 11-hour runtime of music
high confidence · Gene Simmons directly describing specifications of his box set product
Gene Simmons will personally hand-deliver the Vault Experience to fans starting January 16th in Los Angeles, then expanding to Australia, São Paulo Brazil, and worldwide
high confidence · Gene Simmons explicitly stating delivery timeline and locations for the Vault Experience
Gene Simmons did not micromanage the KISS pinball machine design and left creative decisions to Stern Pinball, focusing only on protecting band image and integrity
high confidence · Direct quote from Gene Simmons: 'I didn't see it. You don't want to micromanage because I'm not in the pinball business'
Gene Simmons has never been hired drunk in his life as a personal life choice
medium confidence · Gene Simmons stating personal philosophy about sobriety and performance standards

Notable Quotes

“It's amazing that in 1978 they originally decided to do one. They had no idea that pinballs would fly out their factory window and became the number one pinball machine.”
Gene Simmons @ ~22:30 — Confirms the historic success of the original 1978 KISS pinball machine and references the new recent Stern KISS machine
“I'm not in the pinball business, and I couldn't tell you what's cool and what's not. They make pinballs every single day, and so it's important not to micromanage. All I can do is protect who we are.”
Gene Simmons @ ~24:00 — Articulates his licensing philosophy: defer to manufacturer expertise while maintaining brand integrity
“You don't want the demon with red lipstick, if you see what I mean. And you don't want Paul sticking his tongue out, for heaven's sakes.”
Gene Simmons @ ~24:30 — Specific examples of brand protection concerns regarding KISS imagery in pinball machine design
“I'm still afraid of heights. But when I get up on top, I feel like the God who walks the face of the planet.”
Gene Simmons @ ~46:00 — Personal anecdote about overcoming fears during God of Thunder performances
“You've got time to retire when you're dead. I don't know what you're going to retire from.”
Gene Simmons @ ~36:00 — Philosophy on work and retirement; aligns with his stated views on perpetual labor

Entities

Gene SimmonspersonKISSorganizationStern PinballcompanyGene Simmons Vault ExperienceproductJeff TeolispersonGene Simmons on PowerproductAce FrehleypersonPaul StanleypersonRock and Roll Hall of FameeventDetroit Rock Cityproduct

Signals

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community_signal: KISS maintaining strong fan engagement through multiple media and merchandise channels, with Gene Simmons emphasizing personal connection to fans through vault delivery service
high · Gene states his motivation is to meet fans personally, pet their dogs, meet their families before 'the game is over'
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market_signal: Historical reference to 1978 KISS pinball machine as a top-performing title, with recent new KISS machine from Stern Pinball generating continued strong market presence
medium · Gene notes original machine 'flew out their factory window' and became number one; references new machine is available in bars, arcades worldwide
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announcement: Gene Simmons announces personal hand-delivery service for Gene Simmons Vault Experience box set starting January 16, expanding globally to Australia, São Paulo, and other locations
high · Explicit timeline and locations provided for vault deliveries; described as starting in Los Angeles on January 16
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licensing_signal: Gene Simmons discusses ongoing KISS licensing partnerships with Stern Pinball, emphasizing brand control and image protection while deferring to manufacturer expertise on game mechanics
high · Direct statements about KISS pinball machines and Gene's approach to protecting band imagery without micromanaging design decisions

Transcript

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0:00

You wanted the best and you got it! The hottest band in the land, Pim! It's time for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host Jeff Teels. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at Pinball Profile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com and please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play. You wanted the best, you got the best. From the hottest band in the world, KISS, Gene Simmons, our special guest. As a lifelong member of the KISS Army, it is great to talk to you, Gene, today. Thank you very much for this. You're a powerful and attractive man.

0:40

There's my new soundbite. Thanks for the liner you just gave me. But you're going to be talking one-on-one with fans all over the world starting next month thanks to the Gene Simmons Vault Experience. Tell us about the best gift someone can give the ultimate KISS fan. Well, I'm afraid to let everybody know there are not many left. We're talking about jeansimmonsvault.com. It's literally the largest box set of all time. It stands three feet tall, weighs 38 pounds. It's on metal wheels. It's got metal hardware. It looks like a safe, which is why it's called a vault. First come, first serve. No stores, no online, no nothing, no cheaper version, only one version. the Rolls Royce of all box sets. Inside are 50 years of unreleased tracks from 1966 to 2016. 150 never-before-released tracks, including early Kiss demos with Ace and Paul and, you know, the entire gang, original versions of Dr. Love and all that. And 18 years ago, I was proud to have written a few songs with Bob Dylan. So those three songs are on the box set, including Bob and I talking about it and trying to figure out what the chords are and all that. And Joe Perry from Aerosmith. I mean, it's enormous. So if you sat there and just listened to the music, it would take you close to 11 hours straight without a potty break or flirting with your girlfriend or eating. And then there's a 50,000-word book that has hundreds and hundreds of photos from my private collection of where I was, when I was, the Van Halen brothers, you know, just everybody's in it. Behind the scenes, nobody's ever seen this stuff, plus a Gene Simmons action figure and gold coin, and then there's a secret door where you press, and every single vault has a different surprise gift from me. They're collectibles, stuff from the 70s or 80s, or the gloves I wore on stage, or all kinds of wacky stuff. And I'll tell you why I'm doing this. When I was a kid, Elvis didn't knock on my front door and say, hey, gee, check out my new record. So what I'm going to do this month is literally call the fans who've ordered. It's going to take a long time. And then starting January, I literally hand deliver the vault to the fans who buy it in their area. We pick a convenient time for both of us. I fly into your area. We pick a spot and I hand deliver the vault to you. Nobody's ever done that. You get the vault, however many there are left. By the way, when it's done, when we're run out of stock, that's all there'll be. There'll be no more. You can hear how emotional you are about this project, and I've seen it in interviews, too. Is this the proudest you've ever been of anything you've done musically? Well, it is, because when you first start thinking about stuff, and we all dream, you and I and everybody on Earth, and then we've been doing this a long time, and then to see it not only come true, but come true on a scope and scale that I never imagined. So here I am at 13 or so years old watching the Ed Sullivan show and seeing the Beatles. Of course, millennials have no idea what I'm talking about or no idea what anybody's talking about. Because anything older than a week, they have no idea what went on. Yes, Priscilla, there was an earth before you were born. And that's not a dig. That's an actual factual statement. And I'll never forget when my son walked up to a pretty young thing of 20 or 22 and complimented her on the Stones t-shirt that she was wearing. And she said, what's that? Oh, boy. What's a Stone? And it said the Rolling Stones on her t-shirt. Oh, gosh. He said, you've never heard of the Stones? No, I just like the way the t-shirt looks. I just want to kill myself. And it's just, you know, that's when you know the end of the world is right around the corner. So, you know, I wanted to do something that nobody's ever done before. and I wanted to change the relationship between the fans and me. And mostly I'm doing this for myself. Imagine you me and you can throw the biggest party on earth because you can afford it because you work for it And if the only thing that happens is you are the only one at the party that not much fun So for me to enjoy this I want to be able to meet the people who given me my life meet their kids, their families, pet the dog, do all that stuff. Which, you know, after 44, almost 45 years of doing this, I want to do something that nobody's ever done before. Not the Stones, not Elvis, not Hendrix, nobody. and I want it for me, you know, before the game is over. I watched the video on jeansimmons.com when you talk about the vault experience, and there's so much great KISS merchandise, but the one that jumps out to me, and I'm going to post this on our Facebook page, is my favorite licensed KISS product, other than the music, of course. It's that newest KISS pinball machine you've got in the background. How fun was it to work with Stern Pinball on that? Well, it's amazing that in 1978 they originally decided to do one. They had no idea that pinballs would fly out their factory window and became the number one pinball machine. And then to have them stand up and do another one that came out last year, again, massive. So you can go to bars all over the place and other kinds of places, arcades and stuff, and see them all over the world. You know, we have the slot machines and all kinds of other stuff. You can go to any casino and see our stuff there. I mean, it really has turned into a kiss world. You're just living in it. That big demon head on that pinball machine is great. I wonder if you had any input in asking maybe could it spit fire or blood? No. This was all the idea of the guys that designed it. In fact, I didn't see it. You don't want to micromanage because I'm not in the pinball business, and I couldn't tell you what's cool and what's not. They make pinballs every single day, and so it's important not to micromanage. All I can do is, all the band can do, myself, Paul, everybody, is protect who we are. You don't want the demon with red lipstick, if you see what I mean. And you don't want Paul sticking his tongue out, for heaven's sakes. Please don't do that. So you want to protect the culture and the integrity of who we are. But other than that, the pinball people should do pinball stuff. They do pinball stuff, we do us. Well, there's something about putting that KISS name on a product, too, because you mentioned that 1979 Ballet Classic. The value of that machine is ridiculously high compared to anything else in that era, and that's because of the KISS brand. Well, we take great pride in making sure anything is done well. And I have to come back to the box set. It's right here in front of me. I've got one. So I'm going to snap the side handles. You need two handles. They're made out of metal. For you to listen to what it sounds like when I let go. Listen to this.

7:16

That's the spring mechanism. When you put it down and you let go with your hands, it goes bang. I am so sick and tired of everything being made out of plastic. and a week later you come back and an ant has drilled a hole in it and the thing falls apart. I don't know if you talk to your granddad or your dad and they talk about cars from the 40s and 50s. These were made like tanks. They had heavy metal, pardon the phrase. I mean, they were made out of metal, none of this aluminum and plastic stuff. And they weighed a ton and they last forever. And that's what I want. I want something that lasts, that you can bring home that's a piece of art. because modern music, although it's fine and there's nothing wrong with it, the problem with it is they're all popcorn for us. It's like farting in the air. Where'd it go? Well, you can't touch it, you can't feel it, all you can do is hear it. Well, that's not enough for me. I want to be able to have a piece of art there with my music or my movies or, you know, books. I want to feel it, touch it, put it in my home as part of my home. It's all part of that KISS staying power, which brings us to your brand-new book, Gene Simmons on Power. It has gone into its second printing. And congratulations on another bestseller. Well, thanks. You know, you just do what you do. And I think my advice to anybody is forget the rest of the world. Everybody's going to have something to say about you. Look straightforward and be the best you can be. Everybody's always going to have something to say about you. There are always going to be people who are going to laugh at you. You're not tall enough or good-looking enough or rich enough or this enough or that enough. Forget it. Just be the best you can be, and you'll do better than not. and the book is kind of a cliff notes of how you can make immediately much more money but it also means immediately you're going to have to work hard you know i don't understand 20 year olds who go on vacation they must have more money than i do because i never go on vacation yeah i once heard you say retirement is more terrifying than death so i guess you're not going to be slowing down well you've got time to retire when you're dead i don't know what you're going to retire from i mean squirrels are afraid of being eaten by predators and so when you put them in a cage say thank you for protecting them and especially for feeding them every day But unless you put a wheel in there so they can move they going to die You got to keep your mind moving and your heart pumping and that what you got to do Warren Buffett and Bill Gates get up every day even though they both worth north of billion and they go to goddamn work. It's not whether you have a job. If you do, you're blessed. It's the love of labor. Get up every day and make your heart pump. Every once in a while, they hear a 20-year-old talking about, you know, I can't get to sleep at night. Really? Talk to a ditch digger who works hard all day. He has no problem going to sleep. That's because he's dog tired. Your book reminded me of an old boss who once said, he asked me actually, do you know what the golden rule is? And I said, what is it? And he said, the one with the gold makes the rules. It does sound like something from your book. Well, that's exactly right. You know, the guy that owns the basketball court, I mean, these are the rules. It's my court. These are the rules. Gene, here's the power you have over people. First-hand example, when I was eight years old, I was so scared of your image that I purposely filled my bedroom walls with kiss posters. And I thought, you know what, if I like them, maybe they can be my friends and they won't hurt me. So thanks, Gene, for not hurting me. I appreciate that.

10:29

It's not over yet. The other firsthand example of the power of KISS is when you put the costumes and makeup back on in 1996, I had to go see what I missed in the 70s, but I had to go one further. If KISS is going to dress up, then so am I. Full makeup. How do you make grown men and women do this? Well, I don't do anything, but when you meet somebody who smiles, it's infectious. When you go to a party and everybody's having a great time, it's infectious. If you sit alone in the corner in a dark thing with your crust of bread, nobody cares. It's like when you see anybody enjoying life and having the time of their life, you want to join in because it's fun. And so our concerts celebrate life. It's not political. I don't have the secret of life. I don't know anybody who does our job, and we've been doing it for a long time, is to make you forget about the traffic jam and about the fight you had with your girlfriend or whatever's going on along with your life. And they're all relatively small. Come on, you don't live in North Korea, right? So you're okay. Our stuff we complain about really means nothing. You have food in your belly and a safe place to sleep at night. The rest is just, you know, cream on top. So you come to our concerts, it's magic time. And I wish more bands would do that, you know, really put everything they've got into the show and not just stand on stage and strum an acoustic guitar. Nothing wrong with that, but don't charge me the same price as a Kiss concert, right? Absolutely. And that's what you said when you put Kiss together. You want to see the show that you never got to see. And it is a show. I can only imagine the power you get when you rise to the top of the stage for the God of Thunder song. I happen to be afraid of heights, actually. I always have been. But the best thing about anything is if you confront your fears, there's a real sense of self-empowerment. I know I'm using lots of big words, but people who are afraid of spiders or roller coasters or all that, I mean, you get on it a few times and you can master it. You can overcome your fears. So I'm still afraid of heights. But when I get up on top, I feel like the God who walks the face of the planet. From up there, the view, everybody down there going nuts is like, it must feel like what God feels like. I would never put it past you, Gene, to do anything you set your mind to do. And there's a perfect example, rising to the top when you're afraid of heights. But you got a little nostalgic, too, and gave the fans a trip down memory lane recently when you brought Ace Frehley on stage a few months ago. How was that? Well, you know, I do philanthropy and charity work all the time. Either I write checks, or somebody asks me to do a concert for them. And so I was in Minneapolis, and they wanted to do a concert to raise a few million dollars for the horrible storm that hit Houston because thousands of people were left without homes and all that. And so we decided to put on a concert, and Ace heard about it, and he called up and said, hey, can I jump up on stage and do a few songs with you? I said, sure, and that's how it happened. Well, you definitely do a lot of work, too. There's no question about that, and that was a great benefit concert, so a lot of fans really enjoyed that. And you know what the fans really enjoyed, too, being part of the Kiss Army? I know it didn't mean as much to you and to Paul and the other members of the band, but it did to the fans when you finally got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Well, look, there's no question that both Ace and Peter were every bit as important as Paul and myself. That's never been in doubt or in question, but not everybody's designed to run the marathon. So Ace and Peter ran as long as they could, and they were in and out of the band three different times. I don want to be a dead horse why they either kept leaving or why they were let go Use your own imagination the cliche of cliches that hits many bands And Kiss has always been a clean band no drugs no booze no nothing you know we have too much self and too much love and admiration for the fans i'd never get up on stage wrecked and also my private life i'd never break my mother's heart which is why i've never been hired drunk in my life and it really doesn't matter to me if anybody believes me or not i could care less it's just my personal life choice you You know, that's how I want to lead my life, and you're welcome to do whatever you want and spread crack over your cereal in the morning. You know, go right ahead. It's your life. Ye reap what ye shall sow. That's in a book my people wrote and gave to you people. It's called the Bible. So at the end of the day, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was half an honor, although it doesn't mean all that much to me, because neither Tommy nor Eric were allowed to be up on that stage, whereas the Grateful Dead, who you may like and who some people may think is ridiculous, just depends on your taste, had, oh, I don't know, something like 30 people on stage, including a lyricist who wrote the lyrics to the band's songs who was never in the band. Yeah, I know that was upsetting to the band too, but that's what I loved about your speech. You honored everybody, and I've had the pleasure of meeting Bruce Kulick, who's a really sweet man too, and you gave a nice nod to him and all the members of the band, so that was really big on you to do that. I mean, if you're on a football team or any kind of team or in a job, it's never just one person. Even if somebody's gone, they all helped move the ball down the field, right? The people who made it all possible, it's never just one person. So you must give credit because, hey, guess what? You can't do it by yourself and neither can I. We see Kiss in so many different forms of media. I love the movie Detroit Rock City, and I wonder if that funny story would ever be made into a Kiss stage show. We've seen the Queen, We Will Rock You show, Meatloaf's Bad Out of Hell. I could see a kiss being at Broadway. It's interesting you say that because there's a show being planned now. And this last year there was a movie that came out with James Franco and Brian Cranston called Why Him? And we make an appearance in that movie as well. You know, we have an awfully good time. This is, I'd be the last person on earth that would complain about anything. I'm the luckiest son of a bitch you ever met. And they're just tugging on my shirt sleeves, although I think that's not my shirt.