News Archive October 2009

Paul Stanley On KISS, Sonic Boom And Life
From: Reuters
by Dean Goodman
Posted: October 9, 2009

I went to Paul Stanley's place high above Beverly Hills in September. "The house that bad reviews built" was being renovated, so we sat in the pool house that doubles as his art studio. We talked about the philosophy behind the new album, his relationship with Gene Simmons, and his political views.

DID YOU RUSH OUT THIS MORNING AND BUY THE NEW BEATLES REMASTERS?

What did I do this morning? I rushed out and took my son to school, that's what I did. I got my 3-year-old, put him in the car with my 15-year-old and drove my 15-year-old to school. So that was dad's morning, and then doing press for the album for Europe.

FOR YEARS AND YEARS, YOU WERE ADAMANT ABOUT NOT DOING A FOLLOW-UP TO "PSYCHO CIRCUS." WHAT CHANGED?

I think the band has become so, so strong live, with the lineup that's been stable for quite a while. I thought we had a great album in us. The only road block was my producing it. I wasn't interested in making another KISS album that was going to be confused, diffused or unfocused. It's very hard to be in the studio with 4 guys who have their own sense of what we should be doing and oftentimes unfortunately in the past we've had situations where people were more concerned with having their songs on the album rather than having the best songs on the album. Or dealing with lawyers when we should have been dealing with band members. It was not productive. There have been times in the past where outside songwriters have been involved, which allows some people to do less work, and perhaps for the band to lose part of its own identity and take on someone else's interpretation of who you are. First and foremost, I had to produce the album and that was agreed to pretty much immediately. Everyone was very gung-ho for that. It was very smooth sailing from there. I started thinking during the big run we did through Europe -- I think we did 30 shows in 7 weeks and played to about 400,000 people -- I began thinking we have a great album in us but somebody has to harness it.

ARE THERE DIPLOMATIC SKILLS INVOLVED IN TELLING GENE TO MOVE OVER SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE CONTROL?

No. Gene and I have a terrific relationship and have for 40 years. The length of time speaks for itself. Whenever we've disagreed it's always been with the best interest of the band usually at the center. He certainly went along with it because he saw that I felt strongly about it. As time moved on quite quickly, I think he was a bit surprised at how productive a decision it was. I don't think we've ever had more fun, according to everybody in the band, working together making an album. Everybody was focused on making a great album, and somebody just had to be there to, every once in a while, remind everybody who we are and what we are, and not stray from that. I think in the studio democracy is very over-rated.

I THINK IN A BAND SITUATION DEMOCRACY IS OVER-RATED

It's certainly over-rated when you're dealing with people who are delusional in terms of what their contributions or abilities are. Thankfully we have a band where everybody is very focused on what's best for the band. But somebody needs to have final say, somebody needs to corral everything. It worked terrifically. That's why there's 11 songs on the album and there's no filler. Filler usually means somebody twisted your arm into putting something on the album that didn't belong there. There were no quotas on this album for songwriting, and it worked terrifically. So far, universally, the critics' take on the album is pretty spectacular.

THAT THROWS OFF THE WHOLE KISS PARADIGM OF THE BAND VS. THE CRITICS!

Yeah, it's great to believe in what you're doing because then no matter what happens you have at least one fan. But it's terrific when you do something just because you believe in it and then other people agree. It's like Christmas twice. It's very, very rewarding. We knew we were doing something very special and great, and it's great to have the same sentiment echoed by critics. The last thing I wanted to do was make a retro album. I didn't want to make an album that somebody would mistake for an album from 35 years ago. But we wanted to capture the excitement, the vitality, the commitment to the music that once was there and certainly is there now. It would be insane for anybody to think we could have made this album with any other lineup. This is the band at its best.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM WORKING OVER THE YEARS WITH PRODUCERS LIKE BRUCE FAIRBAIRN AND BOB EZRIN AND EDDIE KRAMER?

I think in the best scenario the pupil becomes the teacher. Certainly every producer we worked with, they weren't all on equal footing. But I don't believe you can do this as long as I have and not come away with some concept of what's right and wrong, or good and bad.

WHICH BEGS THE QUESTION WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THIS A LONG TIME AGO?

I always believe that things happen when the time is right. Again, you can't underemphasize the lineup. The four of us made this album, and no one else could have made this album. We certainly couldn't have made it years ago. And Psycho Circus honestly was a valiant attempt to make an album where there was pretty much no band. There was Gene and myself and attorneys phoning in, and people making demands with what they wanted, to come to the studio. It was like going into the ring with one arm tied behind your back. We did the best we could, but that was probably part of what soured us all on the idea of doing it again. But with this lineup, it was just a matter of direction and ground rules. It was effortless. All of us would agree it was the most fun and easiest time we've either had. We were either writing, rehearsing or recording. The whole recording process took us I think 6 weeks.

DID YOU KEEP OFFICE HOURS IN THE STUDIO?

It's a good way to work. This idea of waiting for inspiration is highly overrated. I learned the discipline of being creative on demand about 25 years ago when our business manager at the time said, 'You need to do a new KISS album.' And I said, 'But I'm not feeling inspired.' And he said, 'I'll show you your bills. You'll get inspired.' It was a good lesson. If you're not inspired every day, you probably are not living the right life, or you should go back to sleep.

THIS IS THE FIRST RECORD WITH 5 SIMMONS-STANLEY CO-WRITES (INCLUDING 2 WITH THE OTHER GUYS) PLUS NO OUTSIDE SONGWRITERS?

It was terrific. I was very adamant that for this album to be what it needed to be, Gene and I had to write together. He was hesitant, and I think it's because we both have had such a long time of basically doing things our way, which means doing things apart, and that doesn't necessarily yield the best results. What it yields is what the individual may want, but it's not necessarily for the better of the band. As soon as we started writing together that magic is there. But again it was about making a great album, not about furthering your ambition as an individual.

WHEN YOU SAY WRITING TOGETHER, YOU MEAN SITTING ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER LIKE WE ARE NOW, HOLDING GUITARS?

Totally, totally, absolutely. Sitting like this. And it seemed like yesterday we had done it. It was either Gene and myself, Gene, Tommy and me, me and Tommy, Tommy and Gene. It was done like this, sitting with guitars. That's also why the music itself has such honesty because it's not a studio creation. Once we wrote it and rehearsed it we went in and recorded it, virtually live, all of us just like this looking at each other playing. That's been lacking and lacks with a lot of bands for a long time.

AS A PRODUCER, WERE YOU TOO DEFERENTIAL TO GENE?

That's funny, because Eric became worried when on a few tracks we had to do a third take. Almost the whole album was two takes, between first and second take. And the few songs that worried Eric were because we had to do a third and it was just kind of like as a safety. One has to remember that music we grew up loving was not made under a microscope. The music we grew up loving was made by people sweating and facing each other and playing. And not always perfectly. What made some of that Stax/Volt or Motown or James Brown or Led Zeppelin or Beatles music so brilliant is the vitality and the fact that it's not perfect. The idea of creating music that you look at on a computer screen to see if it's good is insane. That's what we avoided on the album. The tenth take wouldn't be better than the second. If anything, it might be worse. Technically could it be better? Possibly. Would it be what we captured? No, we would have lost it.

AS A PAUL STANLEY PRODUCTION IS THIS ALBUM YOUR BABY?

Umm, that doesn't do justice to everyone else. This is a KISS album in the best sense of the word and the classic sense of the word. I certainly produced it, picked the songs, had final say. But I'm far from a one-man-band. I want credit where credit's due, but I don't want credit that should be someone else's.

WHAT HAD YOU BEEN LISTENING TO ON YOUR IPOD WHEN YOU STARTED THE WRITING AND RECORDING PROCESS?

I've never gotten far from the things I love, which is the early KISS stuff and the early KISS stuff was, I guess, spurred by the Beatles, the Who, Led Zeppelin -- the staples. My writing and Gene's writing, when we focus in a certain direction, we're more Brill Building than anything else. When I was 15 I was knocking on the doors of the Brill Building playing songs. If it's not good on one guitar, one piano it's not good. You can arrange it all you want, but it will only get better if it starts off great. It's like, Don't bore us, get to the chorus. There is a format to writing and there is a formula. My influences are classic, whether it's Lennon-McCartney, Goffin-King, Mann-Weil, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. Can you top that? You can't. So that's where I come from.

I THOUGHT I HEARD A PEARL JAM/"EVEN FLOW" INFLUENCE ON "MODERN DAY DELILAH"

Delilah's actually close, at least for me, when I came up with the riff, the spirit was more "I Want You" -- early KISS. There are only so many notes in a scale.

THAT'S WHAT ANGUS YOUNG SAYS TO ME!

And what else should he say? "Thank you." Angus knows when you do something well, why stray? I'm always thrilled when I hear a great AC/DC song. I know it immediately. Whether it sounds like another one, that's great. That was a great song too.

SPEAKING OF CAROLE KING, IT SEEMS LIKE THE LYRICS OF "STAND" ARE REMINISCENT OF "YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND"

That's interesting. Somebody asked today if it was kind of a tribute to Gene's and my friendship. You can read anything into it. Some people who knock some of the KISS philosophy as corny tend to be people who I see as bitter. The idea that we shouldn't revel in the idea of camaraderie or teamwork or what people can accomplish together is silly. It's the team that wins. What we hope for in life is companionship, people we care about. It's timeless.

YOU SHOULD CELEBRATE YOUR FRIENDSHIP. HOW MANY GUYS OF YOUR AGE ARE FRIENDS WITH GUYS THEY'VE KNOWN FOR 40 YEARS?

Yeah. As I said at his 60th birthday last week: Shannon and I are very similar. We both have these long relationships with you, neither one of us are married to you, and thankfully I don't have to see you naked! But things we sing about -- freedom, love of life, the value of friendship -- if that's corny, then I stand by it.

HOW HAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS? HAVE THERE BEEN TIMES WHERE YOU HAVEN'T SPOKEN FOR LONG PERIODS?

Sure. And always knowing that neither one of us was going to go away. We get pissed off at each for all kinds of reasons, and nobody ever had the thought of not staying together. But I think the key to a good friendship is knowing the limitations and knowing what you can expect and not. Gene and I trust each other. I think we always know that anything we believe or any point of view is heartfelt. It's sincere and comes from the right place, even if it's misguided -- like his sometimes his!

IF YOU LOOK AT PEOPLE IN OTHER BANDS, LIKE THE WHO, DALTREY AND TOWNSHEND ARE NOT FRIENDS. THEY DON'T HANG OUT

One of the things we have in common is a sense of work ethic. Hard work. And honesty with each other. We want very different things from life, I think that's fairly apparent. Gene literally lives 2 minutes from here. I've probably been to Gene's house 4 times in the last 10 years. Just because, just because.

DO YOU WATCH HIS TV SHOW?

I've seen it a few times. It's good entertainment. If you're asking me if it's "reality" -- it's fun to watch, and people enjoy it. More importantly, he enjoys it. He's blessed, as both of us are, that we can do what we love doing. The fact that outside of KISS it's completely different what we both pursue, is fine.

HE IS IN THE LIMELIGHT MORE THAN YOU ARE. DID YOU EVER FEEL AT POINTS THAT HE'S GETTING TOO MUCH AND YOU SHOULD BE GETTING SOME MORE?

Oh yeah. And at some point I just said, That's more draining than anything else. It's a drain on me to wrestle for a spotlight. Find your own spotlight. Maybe because he's an only child he's much more apt to use "I" or "me" than "we." I tend not to be that way. As I said, I threw his birthday party last week. We're very close as family, You can love your brother and not want to see him all the time.

YOU HAVE DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS TOO. YOU HAVE A LIBERAL MIDDLE-CLASS BACKGROUND, WHILE HE WAS RAISED IN POVERTY SHARING THE BED WITH HIS MOTHER

It sounds good. When I met him he certainly wasn't sharing his bed with his mother. He was living in a nicer place than I did. Was it George Orwell who said "the autobiography is the most outrageous form of fiction"? When I met Gene he was living in quite a nice place.

HIS PARENTS WERE REFUGEES-

My mom was born in Berlin and fled with her family and left everything behind and fled to Amsterdam and came to the States, and my dad's family came from Poland. In that way, we actually have more similarities. It's a Jewish immigrant-based family. Who had more income? I believe he did. I think what was instilled in both of us was a work ethic, that you work hard and hard work pays off.

ARE YOU A NEO-CON ?

Umm, I think that there's a certain amount of idealism you have as a youngster that perhaps you grow out of. Idealism tends to lead to realism. What you might believe in an idyllic situation as you grow older you realize doesn't hold weight in the real world. It's almost like those bumper stickers I see people have that say "War is not the answer." And I go, Yeah tell it to the guy who's shooting at me! OK, war is not the answer, I'll go along with it. There's a certain practical aspect to life that only hits you as you get older. As a kid, as a teenager, I was a big believer in socialism, the idea that we should all share equally. Then I realized the person who wants to share the most is the one who has the least.

WHY HAS KISS NEVER REALLY TOUCHED ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC OR POLITICAL ISSUES?

There's nothing more embarrassing than seeing a celebrity who thinks that they got an IQ transplant with their fame. There's nothing more embarrassing than somebody standing on a soap box talking about things they know very little about. I don't want any part of that, and I don't want the band to have any part of that.

BUT YOU'RE NOT STUPID. YOU COULD WRITE SOMETHING FAIRLY ELOQUENT

Yeah, I think I've shown myself to be not stupid. But I'm smart enough to know where to draw the line. There's an old Chinese saying, "It's better to keep one's mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." I don't want to speak about things that I don't really think I'm qualified to. I don't want to be the guy that I see on TV who makes me uncomfortable. The actor or the musician, there are very, very few of them who really are qualified or know enough to be talking about the things they do. I've always shied away from that, and don't want the band to do things like that. Everybody needs to find their own way.

SO "NEVER ENOUGH" SEEMS A FAIRLY ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF YOUR VIEW ON LIFE

Give me everything, I define myself by the challenges I take on. Throw 'em my way. Life's for living, so whether I do Phantom of the Opera, or I paint, or I do music, or I do a duet with Sarah Brightman, that's what makes life terrific. My children, my wife, my friends, life can be spectacular. It's never enough, just more.

HAVE THERE BEEN TIMES WHEN YOU'VE NEVER FOLLOWED YOUR INSTINCTS AND REGRETTED IT?

Sure. I think when you follow your instincts, even if you fail, you will always feel better than if you don't. I think that oftentimes if you try to second-guess somebody else and you fail you kick yourself. If I do what I love, I've got one fan.

WITH THE GENE SONGS ON THIS RECORD, LIKE "RUSSIAN ROULETTE," DO YOU COMPETE WITH EACH OTHER TO UP THE ANTE, MAKE THEM MORE LASCIVIOUS?

No! That's more his thing -- no pun intended -- his tongue-in-cheek, lascivious point of view. That's in his blood. Maybe my job was to make sure it came out, was to make sure it was there, and classic.

ON THE SIMMONS-STANLEY COMPOSITIONS, WAS THERE A DIVIDE BETWEEN THE MUSIC AND THE LYRICS?

Oh gosh no. There never has been. It's whatever we throw into the mix that works.

HOW MANY DID NOT MAKE THE CUT?

I think one. There was no reason to write as an exercise. If you start writing and something doesn't sound good, stop.

BUT IF YOU SPENT ANOTHER 5 MINUTES ON IT, IT MIGHT TURN INTO THE NEXT NUMBER ONE HIT

Egh. So far so good.

WAS "ALL FOR THE GLORY" SUNG BY EVERYONE AND YOU WENT WITH ERIC'S VERSION?

No, that song was written for Eric. We didn't want an obligatory throwaway song for the drummer to sing, or a rehash of something else we had done. "All For The Glory" was a great song to showcase Eric's voice, and another song about the team: We're all for one. We truly are. This is the band in every classic sense. It's 4 members and 4 distinct personalities all working for the betterment of the band.

WHERE DOES KISS FIT IN, IN THE MUSICAL LANDSCAPE?

I don't know. It's not a question for me to answer. It's a question for others to answer.

BUT YOU MUST LISTEN TO THE RADIO?

I don't know how relevant. There's certainly stations that specialize in different kinds of music, so wherever it falls or doesn't fall is OK. We made a career of rarely having hit songs. If that's the criteria for radio, then we're not designing anything to meet that.

FOR MANY HERITAGE ACTS, THE TOURING IS CLEARLY WHERE THE FOCUS IS AND THE ALBUM IS OFTEN AN AFTER-THOUGHT.

This tour is beginning as the continuation of the Alive 35 tour, which played Europe, South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, celebrating KISS Alive. But at this point it will, I guess, segue or morph into a KISS Alive/Sonic Boom tour. But initially we have to wait for the album to be out. When people talk about classic rock or classic bands, the reason those bands do so well is because they're great at what they do. You don't learn to become a great live act by having one multiplatinum album. The reason people buy tickets to see bands that have been around a while is because they know they're gonna get their money's worth. That's not a sure thing, that's a pretty big gamble when you're going to see some new band. At this point it's become a positive to be a ... classic rock band.

IS IT A TRAP, THOUGH? A BAND THAT CONSIDERS ITSELF VITAL MIGHT WANT TO PLAY MORE SONGS OFF THE NEW ALBUM, BUT FANS JUST WANT TO HEAR THE HITS

There'd be no reason to play more than 3 or 4 new songs unless it was warranted. When you've been around as long as we have the biggest challenge in putting together a set list is what to leave out. We've got too many songs that are well known, and it really comes down to: We only have so long to play and what can we give up.

BUT AS ARTISTS WOULDN'T YOU RATHER TEST YOURSELVES AND PLAY THE NEW MATERIAL?

Nobody wants to hear new songs that they don't know. When, say, "Love Gun" was out they were coming to hear "Love Gun" because it was a hit album. Our philosophy has never changed. Even in those days, we never played unknown songs. It just doesn't make any sense. Nor would we rearrange a song to do it in a version that nobody would recognize. If I had ever gone to see Led Zeppelin and they came out and played "Whole Lotta Love" as a reggae tune, it would have pissed me off. When a band gets bored with what they're doing then the audience suffers. I love every song we play and they deserve to be played properly.

I SAW YOU AT A PRINCE SHOW AT THE STAPLES CENTER. HE DOES MIX THE OLD AND THE NEW AND REARRANGE HIS SONGS QUITE A LOT

But for the most part the reason everybody came to see Prince that time, because I had seen him in the past at the Kodak, and that was not a time when he could have been filling Staples. The reason everybody was going to see him was because it was basically a hits tour. He went out there to reclaim all those great songs that people knew him for.

WOULD YOU PLAY STUFF OFF ANIMALIZE OR ASYLUM?

We do. We do. Even on the Alive 35 tour, "KISS Alive" made up the body of the show and then the encores were "Detroit Rock City," "Lick It Up," "I Love It Loud" ... It was all the tunes that weren't from the "KISS Alive" period. There's some great tunes there. "I Was Made For Lovin You" ...

EVERYONE KNOWS THOSE. BUT WOULD YOU GO DEEP, DEEP INTO THE CATALOG AND PLAY OBSCURE STUFF?

I'm a big believer that the reason certain songs are obscure is because they deserve to be. That's why they're obscure. They're obscure because the general public didn't embrace them. I remember going to see the Stones one night where the big draw was that they were playing the more obscure stuff. You sat there and went, I kinda know why this stuff's obscure. Let me hear "Honky Tonk Women," let me hear "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Let me hear "Start Me Up." Let me hear the stuff I wanna hear. This is the stuff that I skipped over on the album, why would I wanna pay to hear it now?

BECAUSE EVERY BAND HAS THEIR HARDCORE FANS WHO LIVE AND BREATHE THEIR HEROES NIGHT AND DAY AND THEY MIGHT HAVE HAPPEN TO WORSHIP "CRAZY NIGHTS" OR SOMETHING

That's terrific, but the general public -- the mass -- is who we have to try to satisfy. Very funny, I saw Brian May last year, we were doing a show. And his first question was, "Are you gonna play Crazy Nights? That's my favorite song." Everybody has their own take on things. Interestingly enough, "Crazy Nights" was a top-five single in England. If there is a die-hard following that would love to hear the obscure songs, that's terrific but the overall masses don't. We'll have people say, Play something from "The Elder." And I'll go, So you're the one who bought it.

A LOT OF THESE SONGS SHOULD BE PLAYED LIVE. WHEN I HEAR "STAND," I KNOW EVERYONE'S GOING TO GO CRAZY

We played those songs during soundchecks. They sound every bit as good as anything else. They have the soul.

HOW MANY OF THE NEW SONGS WILL YOU PLAY ON THE TOUR?

... We'll play "Modern Day Delilah" because that's on the radio.

AND THAT'S IT?

That's it. Again, what do we take out? C'mon and Love Me? Love Gun? Shout It Out Loud? God of Thunder? Firehouse? Deuce? Strutter? What do we take out?

IT MUST BE TOUGH TO BE IN YOUR POSITION!

As long as I can smile about it.

IS THERE A THEMATIC OR LYRICAL THREAD TO THIS ALBUM?

The only concept that binds the album is a point of view. Back to that KISS philosophy, and also a reasserting or restating the personalities within the band.

HAVE YOU HEARD ANY FEEDBACK FROM ACE OR PETER?

I haven't called to ask ... I spoke to Ace about 2 years ago, a year and a half ago. Peter, I haven't spoken to since I told him that he wouldn't be rejoining us (in 2004). That's quite a while ago.

HAVE EITHER OF THOSE GUYS EXPRESSED ANY REGRETS?

The problem has always been that if you don't learn from your mistakes, you repeat them. It's interesting to have someone come back into the band and say. "I'm so thankful for a second chance. I'll never do that again." And then do it again. I guess that's human nature, You can tell that person, you can remind them of what they said, and it falls on deaf ears. In Ace's case, I'm just glad he's alive. He's celebrating sobriety. That's way more important than music. He's alive, and supposedly healthy and happy.

DO YOU RESENT THAT THEY WERE MILLSTONES AROUND KISS' NECK?

The band never could have been what it was without them.

BUT THEY OUTLIVED THEIR USEFULNESS?

I don't think they outlived their usefulness as much as I think people became delusional about what their contribution was or should be. Or what it entitled them to. This band couldn't be here today had it not been for the 4 original guys. That was the template and the foundation for everything that came after it. The problem was a cancer that just continued to grow from the very beginning.

WILL TOMMY AND ERIC BE THERE UNTIL THE BITTER END?

I sure hope so. It's so great to have a band of guys who all love the band, and all want to do what's best for the band, as opposed to further themselves at the band's expense. The bigger the band is the bigger you are. And the better you are the bigger the band is. I want those guys to get as much spotlight, as much attention, as possible. It makes the band bigger and they deserve it. There's a real healthy relationship in the band, refreshingly so, and anybody who would kid themselves into believing that "Sonic Boom" could have been made by any 4 other members is out of their mind.

WHAT IS THE LONG-TERM PLAN FOR KISS?

We'll do the States through December, then decide whether we want to do any more shows, how long we want to do the States. Again, we're in that enviable position: It's a matter of where we want to go. We'll do Europe. South America is always open, as is Australia and New Zealand. The world is a big place but it's all reachable by jet.

ARE THERE ANY PLACES YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THAT YOU'D LIKE TO?

We were in Eastern bloc countries which we've never been in before. I'd love to get to Singapore, I'd love to get to China. We've done Russia, which was interesting. All good, all fun.

HAVE YOU DONE ISRAEL?

No we haven't. I could see us going over there and being inducted into the army! They'll take my guitar and give me a gun.

DO YOU GET THE SAME EXCITEMENT FROM THIS ALBUM AS YOU DO FROM, SAY, DESTROYER?

My perspective is different and my life is different. The band is a piece of a terrific puzzle of my life. What satisfies me and excites me now is different than then. I get much more self-satisfaction out of what I do, and everything else is a bonus. I think back then certainly the idea was how many will we sell? How big a success will it be? The bigger your life becomes in terms of content, the less important those externals become. I'm thrilled with the album, anything else is a bonus. Back then, I think, I would sit in anticipation of what the album would sell. I already won: We made the album.

ABOUT YOUR ARTWORK, YOU PAINT ON COMMISSION. HOW DOES THAT WORK?

I do portraits for commissions .... through the gallery chain Wentworth Gallery, which shows my work. I tend to do a show a month. If any of the patrons or people who come there are interested in a portrait -- whether it's a portrait of me and them or their wives and their kids -- I'll do those.

THEY'LL SEND IN A PHOTO?

Yeah. Or we'll get a photo taken. Basically the same way Warhol did it. Basically that was a Polaroid and that was projected onto an acetate, and that would be projected onto a canvas he would paint, and then silk-screen on top of it. That was the process that he used and Peter Max uses. Most of the portraits are done using that technique. All the other pieces are more or less stream-of-consciousness. I go in and purge. So it's stream of consciousness using color and texture as opposed to words. I have to say the the success of it's staggering. There are large and small pieces, and there are also giclees, which is a high-res scan on canvas, and then brushstrokes are added. You can basically put that next to any original and it will hold its own.

DOES YOUR DAD GET A DISCOUNT?

(Paul motions to an unclaimed portrait of his father.) He wouldn't take that for free! What am I gonna do? My philosophy has been whether you live in a van or a villa, art's a good thing. The great thing about giclees as opposed to what people used to buy, looked like they were torn out of a magazine. A print looked like a print on paper, and now they're virtually indistinguishable from the original. Look, nobody's gonna deny that the success is helped by my notoriety or my standing but again your fame will get your foot in a door, but people are free to slam the door on your foot. It will only get you so far. People aren't going to spend hard-earned money, more than likely, on something that they don't love. Serious collectors buy some of the works, but there are people coming to galleries who've never been in a gallery, because they've been intimidated. And that's usually the work of critics, because a critic wants you to believe that your opinion is only valid if it's educated. That's a brilliant point of view for a critic because it keeps them on salary ... The more people who have your work, the more popular you are. Why is that a sin? ... I found early on that I was never gonna be the starving artist. If validity comes from starving, I guess I have to forsake it.

WHEN YOUR PURGE YOUR SOUL ON THE CANVAS, DOES THAT TRIGGER ANOTHER PART OF YOUR BRAIN WHERE YOU ARE THINKING LYRICALLY?

No. The beauty of art, for me, is that there really are no rules. The boundary is the edge of the canvas. Songwriting has much more structure. Painting is purely emotional.