ACE FREHLEY: KISS Reunion ‘Would Be Magical If It Was Handled Right’ Paul Stanely Tears Bicep requires surgery, Kiss Performs Without Him

Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley took part in a live interview event with BackStory on March 23 at AOL studios in New York City. The interview was conducted by Brad Tolinski. Best known as the editor in chief of Guitar World magazine for 25 years, Tolinski is a respected journalist and the author of “Light And Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page”. You can now watch video footage of the question-and-answer session below. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the advances in recording technology and switch from analog to digital recording:

Ace: “When I listen to the first and second KISS record, they’re so dry… there’s no digital reverb. The production is just… Sometimes I cringe [when I hear it]. But, to me, the biggest advantage of what’s happening now when you record is digital. I mean, the flexibility you have with digital editing and digital recording… I mean, I come from the school in the ’70s, when we had to make an edit, we had to cut it with a razorblade. It was a two-inch piece of tape, and we had to cut it. And I remember, a lot of times, they took little slices of tape and put it off to the side and put it back together, and we’d play it and go, ‘Hey, it doesn’t sound right. Put that piece back in.’ And sometimes it took an hour just to do an edit. But with digital editing, it’s a click of the mouse.”

On whether he felt KISS’s extremely robust merchandising efforts ever got out of control during his time with the band:

Ace: “I talk about that in my book [2011’s ‘No Regrets: A Rock ‘N’ Roll Memoir’], and I was very explicit. What happened was, once we… Well, I shouldn’t say ‘we’… Gene [Simmons, KISS bassist/vocalist] got out of control with the merchandising. You know, the lunch boxes… whatever. Kids started coming to the concerts… We started out almost like an underground band, and then, obviously, our following grew. But we started appealing to younger kids, because of all the toys and whatever the case… We did that silly movie, ‘Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park’. [Laughs] And Paul [Stanley, KISS guitarist/vocalist] and Gene get upset about that; I just think it’s a riot. I had so much fun doing that. We’d get to a sold-out show, and there’d be people there with their kids, five-year-old kids, and my manager would say to me, ‘Ace, cool it with the cursing tonight, because you’ve got young kids in the front row, and you don’t wanna say ‘fuck.” So that was kind of the beginning of [me] realizing ,’Maybe we’ve become a little too commercialized.'”

On whether Stanley and Simmons ever acknowledged the fact that he was the “coolest” member of KISS:

Ace: “They never acknowledged it. Many times they didn’t think I was cool, because maybe I didn’t show up or I was late or I was too loaded. But it went along with the territory those days. I wouldn’t do anything any differently than I did. It was a learning experience for me. This September, it’ll be ten years sober. So it’s, like, I really feel I needed to go through that nonsense to get to where I am today. But I got cool from being in the streets. I grew up in the streets; I was in street gangs. I used to set up my friends with dates, and that’s how I got the nickname ‘Ace.’ I mean, it’s just a lot of things. The way I carried myself… I don’t know. I think you’re either born with it or you’re not.”

On whether he thinks there will ever be another reunion fof KISS’s original lineup:

Ace: “I don’t know. I mean, I always leave the door open. I’m the kind of guy that says, ‘Never say never.’ I know those guys are always saying I don’t deserve to wear the makeup, and ‘We’ll never work with Ace again.’ But, you know, they said that before the reunion tour in ’96. So who knows? It hasn’t been discussed, if that’s what you wanna know. It hasn’t been discussed. And who knows what the future will bring? If it did happen at some point, I think’d be magical if it was handled right.”

Ace has just released “Origins Vol. 1”, a collection of twelve newly recorded classics from his formative years featuring some of the biggest names in rock and roll. Most notably, Stanley joins Ace on FREE’s hit “Fire And Water”. This collaboration marks the first time that Ace and Paul appear on the same studio recording since KISS’s 1998 reunion album “Psycho Circus”. Other guests are Slash trading leads on THIN LIZZY’s classic “Emerald”, Lita Ford singing and playing lead on THE TROGGS staple “Wild Thing”, ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 playing guitar alongside Ace as he sings his classic KISS composition “Parasite” for the very first time, as well as Jimi Hendrix’s “Spanish Castle Magic”, and PEARL JAM’s Mike McCready also plays guitar with Ace as he finally sings his KISS “Alive!” mainstay “Cold Gin”.

KISS frontman Paul Stanley has undergone surgery to repair a torn bicep tendon. His condition is not expected to affect the band’s “Freedom To Rock Tour”, which is scheduled to kick off in early July.

Stanley revealed his injury via Twitter earlier today. He wrote: “Tore my bicep tendon. Surgery reattached it with a screw and stitches to anchor in place. Not much I can do now!”

He added in a separate tweet: “Thanks to my AMAZING doctor I WILL be great & ready to rock WAAAAYYYY before the tour! CAN’T WAIT!#FreedomToRock”

In a 2013 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Stanley talked about how his stage performances have damaged his body. He said: “My boots weigh 30 pounds. I’m running around and kicking with 15 pounds on each leg. We do at least four shows a week, and the days off are recuperation time.”

He continued: “What I do has taken its toll. I’ve had both my rotator cuffs surgically repaired. They’re all similar to sport injuries. I’ve torn my meniscus in both knees and had a hip replacement. This is all from onstage performances. It’s like doing a triathlon with a guitar around my neck. You have to jump, sing, swing your arm and play the right chord. With that combination, anything can go wrong. I used to jump up in the air and land on my knees. It didn’t hurt then, but it does now.”

Stanley reiterated those sentiments in a 2014 interview with The New York Times. He said: “Things that didn’t hurt me 40 years ago hurt me today. From 40 years ago. I’ve had both my rotator cups repaired, my knees. I’ve had a hip replacement. But I’m doing splits and everything on stage. I’m blessed. Every time I go out on stage, it is exhilarating.”

Stanley, who had his first hip replacement at age 52, told U.K.’s Independent that he had no regrets about the nightly strutting in his eight-inch heels. “Every scar on my body was proudly earned,” he said. “There’s nothing worse than looking back and wishing you had done things, but I did ’em all. That’s how life is supposed to be lived.”

Stanley, who grew up half-deaf and scarred with a deformed right ear, eventually had reconstructive surgery in 1982 to create an ear using a piece of his rib cage.

KISS performed as a trio at the Race To Erase MS fundraising gala last night (Friday, April 15) at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. Absent from the event was KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley, who was forced to sit out the show due to a shoulder injury.

KISS was introduced at the event by former “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson, who explained Stanley‘s absence and added that the KISS frontman would be well enough to tour with the band this summer. Special hosts for the evening included Ozzy Osbourne‘s wife and son, Sharon Osbourne and Jack Osbourne, the latter of whom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012.

KISS played four songs at the at the fundraiser that supports Nancy Davis‘s Center Without Walls program. The event, which also featured appearances by Eric Benet, David Foster and Jordan Smith, the winner of “The Voice”, included a one-of-a-kind live auction featuring fabulous vacation getaways and experiential packages.

Stanley broke the news of his injury yesterday on Twitter. “Tore my bicep tendon,” he wrote. “Surgery reattached it with a screw and stitches to anchor in place. Not much I can do now!” Several hours later, he added in a separate tweet: “Thanks to my AMAZING doctor I WILL be great & ready to rock WAAAAYYYY before the tour! CAN’T WAIT! #‎FreedomToRock‬”

Video of KISS performing the songs “Cold Gin” and “Rock And Roll All Nite” at Race To Erase MS can be seen below.

Race To Erase MS has been instrumental in funding many pilot studies that have contributed to drugs now on the market and other very important therapies that are improving the lives of people suffering from MS.

The Center Without Walls program is a unique collaboration of the world’s leading MS research scientists currently representing Harvard, Yale, Cedars Sinai, University of Southern California, Oregon Health Science University, UC San Francisco and Johns Hopkins.

KISS previously performed as a three-piece in 2007, when a heart issue forced Stanley to sit out the band’s concert at the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California.

KISS‘s “Freedom To Rock Tour” is scheduled to begin July 7 at the Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho. The two-month run will see the band playing cities that they haven’t visited in more than ten years.