News Archive November 2010

A Rock And Roll Derby Weekend
From: The Gazette
by Al Kratina (photo by Phil Carpenter)
Posted: November 19, 2010

Despite years of blood-spitting, fire-breathing, and salacious tongue waggling, Gene Simmons is probably not the Antichrist. But the legendary KISS bassist, reality TV star, and marketing mastermind might be channeling Mammon, the demon of wealth, or perhaps whatever Horseman of the Apocalypse rides the most expensive thoroughbred. At least, that's the impression he seems to playfully cultivate in interviews and his long-running A&E reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, as he shrewdly and pragmatically discusses dollars and cents with a devilishly sharp wit, and one eyebrow perpetually arched above impenetrably dark sunglasses.

As a founding member of KISS, one of the biggest-selling bands in rock history, Simmons continues to tour arenas all over the world. But he's in town this weekend for a different reason. At the M for Montreal music showcase, he'll be scouting talent for his new label, Simmons Records, and promoting his first signing, Toronto rockers The Envy, who gave a free show Wednesday night at Cafe Campus.

Partnered with ex-MP Belinda Stronach, Simmons' latest venture is focused exclusively on Canadian bands. "I really believe that the next generation of superstars is going to come out of Canada," he says, "you've got perhaps the biggest marketing entity in the world right next door. You can take advantage of America, but you've got to have the goods."

And those goods can be found right here. "There's plenty of talent (in Canada)," he says, listing off a number of national songwriting treasures and also Nickelback. "What's missing up here... is not the talent, but the ability to market and sell the talent."

Canada, says Simmons, is a gold mine of great music. But don't compare it to former musical meccas like Seattle. "Seattle was a disaster. You have one band that survived, and that's Pearl Jam. All the others are dead and forgotten," he says. "I love the music. But whining white boys complaining about their lives? I never bought it." To Simmons, it's not about fads or scenes, but promoting solid bands. "We're going to make sure the music's there, the marketing's the right way, the branding is the right way. It's a big opportunity for Canada."

Branding and marketing are among Simmons' specialities. After forming KISS in 1973, Simmons helped created the band's distinctive look, surrounding their driving party rock in a glam circus of science-fiction and funhouse horror, like someone dosed an episode of Battlestar Galactica with Joker venom. Since then, he's presided over an empire of KISS branded merchandise, from action figures to pinball machines to coffins to an upcoming series of high-definition televisions.

That combination of music and image, Simmons says, is essential to any band's success, and that's what he's hoping to find in Canada. "What we're looking for is not necessarily originality, but a combination of songwriting ability, identity, the focus of a band... and then the ability to deliver that live," he says.

It may seem an odd time to be starting a record label, with many predicting the downfall of the record company at the hands of downloading. Simmons agrees that things are tough. "It's like a riot... it's chaos," says Simmons, of the state of the music industry, "and it's not just bands that are being hurt... there are no record stores anymore. All the people who work there are gone. All the manufacturers are gone. All the people who used to drive the trucks to deliver (albums) are gone. The poster people, all that infrastructure is gone... because some college kid thought he should get (music) for free."

But where others see challenge, Simmons sees opportunity. "Buy low, sell high," he says, "when there's chaos, go in there. It's the perfect opportunity to launch the next big band."

Though The Envy have yet to release their first full-length album - that's coming in 2011 - they've already felt the full force of Simmons' influence, opening up for KISS on their most recent North American tour. For a band that formed less than two years ago, that was a stunning change. "Walking on stage the first day of that tour was pretty unbelievable. 18 000 people every night," says The Envy vocalist Shaun Frank, "in the span of a year our lives totally changed."

And Simmons is already bringing his branding expertise to bear with The Envy. Already, he's suggested a potentially iconic symbol for the band. "He was the one that came up with the idea of the fingers crossed logo, which he trademarked and gave to us," Frank explains, "it's totally universal, it's international, and it'll hopefully be a huge symbol." That, says Frank, allows the band to focus on the songwriting. "We can concentrate on the live show and the music... (because) he's so great with the business and marketing."

Not that there's much of a distinction between the creative aspect of the music industry and the business side, according to Simmons. "The creative decision is also the good business decision," he says. "You know who uses the word 'creative' a lot? People who haven't made a lot of money. When you talk to the successful people in the world, they hardly ever use that (word). They use (phrases) like "does it work" or "doesn't it work." Whether it's original or not is beside the point." What's important, says Simmons, is marketability. "(Say) I can fart through my mouth. That's original. I've never seen that before," he says, "Well, how do you make money off of it? I can't make a fucking dime from it, but it's original. 'Creative' is highly over-rated. More important is... do people like what you've got?"

And Canada, Simmons believes, has exactly what people want. Though maybe not its journalists. "You did well," he said at the end of the interview, before throwing in some of his trademark sly humour. "Your questions were very insightful. Very 'creative'."