KISS Hell Interview's Eric Singer (12-4-96)

Part I

KISS HELL: How was the Australian clinic tour that you & Bruce just finished?

ES: Well it was actually not a tour, we were doing drum and guitar clinics. We were doing something a little bit different than something that I've ever seen done, we did a combined guitar and drum clinic, as well as playing together so they were billing it as a concert/clinic tour. I don't know if you've ever been to a guitar or drum clinic before but it was done that way except combined, instead of just like having two drummers which normally is done or a couple of guitar players.

KH: I'm sure there were a lot of KISS fans there too right?

ES: Yeah, of course, & we did 5 cities-Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney & Perth. In each city on the other day that we were there-2 days in each city-we would do what we call a master class or a small group workshop, we'd have something like to 10 to 15 people in the workshop & it would almost be like they were taking a private lesson-very instructional type thing & that was for people who were more serious musicians or that just wanted to be able to hang out, cause a couple times I did it in a few cities & the people didn't even play drums, they just wanted to like hang out, cause I would usually spend 2 to 3 hours just doing instructional type things, it was basically as if they were taking a drum lesson from me, rather than one on one it was a small group workshop or it's sometimes reffered to as a master class.

KH: What kind of stuff did you & Bruce play?

ES: We did a combination of stuff, we each played on our own, I had a couple instrumental pieces & Bruce had some things he had written on his own as well as a few little KISS diddies & then he would do some demonstration & poeple asked him to play particular solos or whatever & I would do like a little drum solo and then we would play together to a couple instrumentals that Bruce had done & then we also had a bass player come out & we would play cover songs of different bands we were influenced by. Like songs by either Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, that type of thing.

KH: What was the general reaction you got from fans over there about yourself & Bruce leaving the band?

ES: Fans were cool, they were real cool you know? I mean the fans in Australia, I think they're some of the better fans at least from my perspective-of my time in KISS because they always seem to treat Bruce & I more like we were the version of KISS that they really enjoyed. It felt a little more special I'd have to say from the fans in Australia than in any other place probably & also like in Buenos Aires I noticed they were like that too. Certain places tend to be more accepting of you-they're not living in the past so much they were living in the now.

Part II

KISS HELL: Is there any chance at all of you & Bruce maybe doing a clinic tour of the U.S. like this?

ERIC SINGER: I would say probably not just because it's not logistically possible from a financial standpoint, to get support from drum companies & the companies that we sponsor, it really takes a lot of support in a lot of ways to get something like that to happen, you have to have a store or a person in each area, a particular like music store that deals with not just drums but deals with guitars, that's willing to support the whole thing & it's not cheap you know that's the problem. We were very fortunate to have a guy down there in Australia. We were sponsored by a guy that has a drum shop and a drum magazine called Drum Scene. Drum Scene Magazine is who brought us down there & this guy doesn't even have anything to do with guitar stuff but he was willing to take the gamble and bring us down there & it was a new venture for him too, just as it was for us but it went over very well but I don't see it being an easy task to undertake in the United States because there's over saturation, in LA here every week there's like a half a dozen different kind of guitar or drum clinics at any given time if not in LA then in the surrounding area, there's just so many people doing it & the big difference is in America they're free that's the problem & over there in a lot of countries it's an accepted thing for people to pay to go to clinics and it's not in America generally so there's your biggest problem so I don't see it happening anywhere else. I mean if an opportunity presents itself & we could make it work where it's a good win-win situation for everybody I'm sure that we would entertain the idea again, I know I would & I'm sure Bruce would but I'd say it's not probable at this time.

KH: Do you have any comments on why you & Bruce left the band?

ES: To me I find it really puzzling that people even ask that question. I think it's pretty obvious. I think that people can put 2 & 2 together & they can figure it all out. I think it's pretty obvious that with the success of the reunion tour there was really no future for myself in the band.

KH: How would you rate the unreleased KISS studio album?

ES: I don't know that's not for me to decide that's for you to decide as a fan.

KH: Do you think it would've been successful had it come out?

ES: I have no idea, I can't speculate on something like that cause I could say yeah & it wouldn't & I could say no & it would I mean you never know.

Part III

ERIC SINGER: (cont.) I mean I would've thought Unplugged would've done better and it didn't do anything, the last few records that have come out, all the compilations and that, none of them have done anything in sales. Ironically I find it really puzzling because as big and successful as the reunion tour is I find it puzzling that the Unplugged record didn't do any better than any other records had done lately, I thought it would've done really well cause I think that is a really good record, I'm really proud of that record. I think the band showed we could play when you take away the smoke & mirrors in essence, I mean you took away the amplifiers, the jumping around and just stripped the songs down to their bare essence, I think it was able to show that we can actually play, we can actually sing, I was very proud of that from a personal standpoint.

KH: Can you tell us a little about your ALL ACCESS Video?

ES: Well the only thing I could tell is that it was self produced, self financed & put out by me & me only, I had a freind of mine help me named Rusty Lewis but basically I did it myself, it was not put out by anybody in the band or some company or anything it was done by me & I try to appeal to drummers as well as KISS fans so it was kind of a juggling act, some drummers might find that it doesn't get as technical as they would personally like, but I'm a rock drummer I'm not trying to be a technical drummer, although I can be a little technical at times but that's not what I feel my strength is so I was trying to basically convey my attitude & philosophies about how I approach drums, like what kind of things I practice to, what I work on, my attitude about being in the buisness, there's some live footage & I think there's some things in there for everybody. If you're a KISS fan-I don't think you have to be a drummer to appreciate it cause I've had a lot of non drummers buy it that really enjoy it and had good positive feedback about it.

KH: How did you get the idea to do a drum video? Is this something you wanted to do for a long time?

ES: No, actually one of the reasons I did it is my freind Rusty Lewis kept instigating me to do it over the last few years & after doing the KISS Conventions last year and having a chance to have a little time with myself with the fans doing those small mini clinics at each convention, then I started realising well maybe they might dig it if I did something like this cause I do like communicating information and I do like trying to pass something on to either drummers or other fans, even if it's in some small way, I thought I'd at least give it a shot, unfortunately not being in the band anymore and the timing of it couldn't have been worse but I can only hope that people will still try to be supportive.

Part IV

ERIC SINGER: I would suggest that if they are interested in getting the video that they should get it as soon as possible because it won't be available in this format for that much longer, meaning with that footage & with the KISS logo & stuff. I'm not just saying this as a sales pitch, it won't be available at least in this format for that much longer. For a while I was autographing all the copies, the first 5, 600 were all autographed personally. The company H&H who does the distribution might still have some autographed copies-so if somebody's interested in that they should see if they have any more. (H&H Co. - 1-888-686-5477)

KH: Can you tell us about your ALL ACCESS web site?

ES: Well a company "Next Level" did it for me.

KH: Do you do any of that stuff yourself?

ES: No, I don't have a computer, they did it all. I'm not gonna say I didn't have anything to do with it cause that's not true. I talked to them about the basic idea of some things included and hopefully I will get a computer soon and will get going where I can get involved with it more & be more active it. As of right now they're basically trying to handle it & it's kind of limited cause I can't be active without a computer so hopefully that will happen soon & I'll be able to do some neat things and some correspondence with the fans.

KH: How did you get involved in playing on Warren Dematini's solo album? What kind of music is this?

ES: I had met Warren a few times through the years, actually when I played with Lita Ford 12 years ago we opened up for RATT so I've actually known, not that well but I've known him for years. My freind Bob Daisley was writing songs with him and playing bass on the record and Bob got me involved to come play on some demos & Warren ended up asking me to play on some tracks. I don't know how many tracks made the record. I finally heard a copy the other day & it's real different so if people are thinking anything of RATT it's nothing even remotely close to that. Warren sings a few songs on it & he's got kind of a different voice, it's different it's more like bluesy, American rootsier kind of thing.

KH: How do you personally feel about the KISS Reunion?

ES: I don't feel either way about it. I'll be honest with you I was a fan of KISS when I was real young when they first started.

Part V

ERIC SINGER (cont.) After I got to be 18 or 19 I was not a fan of the band anymore. Once the little kids started going to the KISS shows, that turned me off. I liked KISS for the first three albums up to ALIVE! After that although they became real popular when little kids started going with their mothers, I remind you that's not cool to an 18 year old guy to go to a concert and see little kids, so I'd lost interest in them and I started getting into more different types of music, more technical music where there was more musicianship involved and I just started getting into different things. I always had a respect for them but I just didn't care about em any more and it's ironic that I ended up playing with them years later.

KH: I heard you were offered to play on the recent Vince Neil tour, is that true at all?

ES: Well actually my freind Brent Woods played guitar in the band and Brent came down to audition for Alice Cooper, I was playing drums for the auditions just to help out cause I'm still freinds with Alice and he had told me they were probably gonna get a new drummer and asked if I was interested and I said call me when the time comes up. He called me up and I just said look, I'm in the middle of doing this drum video and I don't know what's going on with this KISS situation-I don't know if it's a good idea right now for me to go and do something like that, I just think it's in my best interests to not do it right now, so they ended up auditioning drummers and Randy Castillo ended up doing it and now of couse he's (Vince) back in Motley Crue.

KH: Is there any chance at all of you & Bruce (Kulick) forming a band together?

ES: I don't know. Put it this way, I never say never about anything. I'd say it's probably not likely at this time. That's not what I wanna do. I kind of want to get away from anything to do with KISS to be quite honest with you. I don't wanna be associated always with KISS and I feel automatically by going and doing something like that I'm always gonna be judged against KISS and I don't wanna compete against that.

Part VI

KISS HELL: At the same time you must realise that KISS fans will probably never leave you alone?

ERIC SINGER: No that's fine and I think that KISS fans are great. They're the best fans in the world & I hope that they're always supportive with whatever I do, but I also realise that I can't compete with what KISS does and I'm not gonna try to, it's not about competition to me & I'm not gonna try to do that. I just feel like even if I did do something with Bruce people would always judge it on, oh there's the 2 guys that aren't in KISS anymore. I don't wanna deal with that kind of thing, that's not how I wanna be judged or thought of musically. I'd like to do something that's totally different and fresh and new with new people and that has nothing to do with KISS.

KH: But are you comfortable about being part of the KISS family?

ES: Well you know something it doesn't matter whether I'm comfortable or not, I have no choice do I?

KH: You don't, no.

ES: So I learn to take accept things for what they are and take advantage of em in a positive way. In every experience you have there's good and bad and I'm not gonna say that the KISS situation was by any means peachy keen, it was definitely not. But you wanna know something? Nothing I've ever done in my life was that way, whether it had to do with music, my carreer or my personal life, that's life. So I hate when people try to sugar coat everything and make it all glossy like everything was so swell and keen. That's not the way it is, that's not the way life is. I think if we all stop and look at our own life we'll realise, 'hey you know something? Nothing's ever perfect or great so how can I expect it's gonna be that way for somebody else?'

KH: Why was there such a delay on recording & releasing the "Carnival Of Souls" album?

ES: It wasn't really delayed, it's not released. The record wasn't recorded until the end of last year. We finished it up in January.

KH: It seems like it took a long time to get recorded.

ES: I don't know why. It seems like every time we tried to do something that was new music that Gene and Paul wanted to concentrate on doing things that were related to the makeup and the past. It seemed to me after a while that everything was focusing on the past, not on moving forward in the future. The new record was moving forward, the other stuff is moving to the past and I wouldn't be here without the past but I have nothing to do with the past so it was really difficult and frustrating to me. I mean they've put out five records since Revenge and none of em are new music. So you tell me, those are questions that I can't really answer. Obviously Gene and Paul decide what goes on with KISS and that's what they chose to do. You'd have to ask them why they chose not to do new stuff or why they chose to do things based on the past, but obviously they're gonna say that's what the fans wanted and they're gonna say that's what the fans want with the reunion tour.

Part VII

KISS HELL: How do you feel about the bootleg of Carnival Of Sould being circulated?

ERIC SINGER: The only thing I could say is I wish the album was released and they had a good copy because I've heard some of the bootlegs and they have really poor quality. So I'd say that's the real downside is that you guys don't have a really good quality copy to hear to see if you really like it and to really appreciate it and then you can really judge what you think of it cause I think a lot of people say they like it but I don't think they really get to hear it in it's truest form, unfortunately.

KH: Going back to the Unplugged sessions with Ace & Peter, was there any tension there?

ES: No. KH: Was it cool to meet up with Ace & Peter?

ES: I was indifferent about it. I mean you gotta remember I don't look at it from the same perspective as a fan does and I know it's hard for people to understand that, but to me it's just like they're another group of guys and other musicians. I've worked with so many musicians before that to me it's like okay there's another set of guys playing. I thought it was neat when we all six got to play together, but for me it wasn't anything special. it's just like here's another guitar player and another drummer. The one thing I thought was cool though is I never played with two drummers so that was something that was different and a new experience for me. That was kind of cool in the sense that I had never done it before and it's always fun to do something that you haven't done. Whether it's a different kind of music or like in that case two drummers, it's a new experience so it makes it interesting and fun at least from my perspective. But I don't get phased by that kind of stuff. I don't get impressed by other people or who they are cause to me everybody's just people. Nobody's better than me because they have more money or because they're more famous. Unfortunately a lot of people view people in that way, I don't.

KH: That's a question I was gonna run by you, is how you stay so down to earth?

ES: Because the bottom line is, you know something? What goes around comes around and people that wanna treat people the way they do-money and wealth and fame can change people and it can bring a really not so nice side of human nature and I have recognised this in people and I don't wanna be that kind of person and I will never be that kind of person. I'm not rich and I'm not wealthy so I don't know what it's like to be that way. But I know myself, because of my own character-I would never be any different whether I had a million dollars or one dollar. Money doesn't buy you anything except freedom. You can't buy happiness and you can't buy your health, you can only buy freedom and that's what money gives you but I think people have a misconception about that, but however people choose to deal with their fame and their wealth is their decision. Unfortunately-it's really a shame but greed creates like a disease and it brings out a really bad side of human nature from my experience with it.

KISS HELL: Have any newer bands caught your eye lately? Last time we spoke you said you were into Montrose & Sabbath and older stuff.

ERIC SINGER: I still like all the same stuff. I've found that you kinda go full circle with things and you kinda go back. I still like a lot of new bands but I just gravitate towards the stuff that I grew up on and that's what I relate to and let's face it music's very nostalgic and I think that's kinda like the reunion tour. It's very nostalgic for people, it brings 'em back to a place when they had a good time, when they were a kid or got their first group. I mean that's what music does for you. It's like a way of travelling back in time and it sometimes serves as a time table for your life. You know you can go back and hear a song, let's say like a Boston song & you go, 'I remember being in high school' or you hear like the first KISS album and you go 'I remember I was fifteen years old and went to the concert.' Whoever it is, whether it's Black Sabbath-'oh I went to see them' or going here with so and so and 'I went to see them in concert' and that's what's so cool about music-that just hearing a song or a group can conjure up such vivid memories and I think that's one of the great things about music and I really believe that's one of the big key factors in why the reunion tour has been so successful, it's bringing people back in time. Did you go to any shows yet?

KH: Yeah, I've seen six.

ES: Did you see any little kids there?

KH: I saw a few.

ES: But generally what was the age of he audience?

KH: Something like 18 to 30 years old maybe.

ES: Put it this way, it's not like going to a new band. To me it's very nostalgic for a lot of people. For them it's a way of going back in time and going-'wow this brings me back to '76 or '78' or whatever and that's what's cool about music. I mean look at all the bands that toured this year-there was a lot of bands from the 70's that were very popular (in the 70's) that were out touring.

KH: Speaking of the new KISS show, how would you rate it to the early KISS shows you saw in the 70's?

ES: I can't rate it, I don't do that, I don't make comparisons. I would just say KISS is not the same as they were when I saw them in '74/'75, it's not the same band and you know something? I'm not the same person and the same fan because that was 20 years ago and not only were they in their early twenties, I was 15 or 16 years old also, everything was different so you can't really compare. It's not the same. When you're a certain age, even myself as a musician I'm not the same drummer that I was 10 years ago. There's certain aspects of your playing that evolve and sometime's they don't.

Part VIII

KISS HELL: How do you think your playing has changed in like a decade?

ERIC SINGER: I think I approach things more mature, try to be more musical, try to be more song and band oriented on how I approach playing. I think you learn how to get more out of your playing with more economy, you just get more experience. You become more confident. You learn how to do what you do in an easier way. You learn how to deal with all the adversities like being sick , being on the road, not being in a good mood or having personal problems in your life and stress and all those things. You learn how to try to be a consistent player dealing with all the regular things that we have to in our lives. I mean that to me is the big difference is learning how to cope and tolerate with a lot of different situations in a better way and I think therefore because you learn how to deal with it all you become a more consistent player and therefore a better player. So I'd say I'm probably a better player than I was then.

KH: Do you have any advice to give to drummers-both technically and buisness-wise?

ES: I'd say make sure you watch what you sign. Always have a lawyer and if you think something's not in your best interests or not fair then don't get involved with people and don't sign it. I would say always try to get the best representation, but also be realistic and realise if something is a good situation for you in the long run, cause sometimes it may not be such a great situation but it could be good for your career & good for you in the long run. You can't look at things short term, you have to live day to day because that's what life is-one day at a time, and don't get too high hopes-be realistic. Hope for the best plan for the worst that kind of mentality and that way I think you keep yourself balanced in the middle. That way if things don't work out you don't have such a fall of a let-down, and if things do work out great then you say 'I didn't neccessarily plan on it' and you're able to enjoy it. And try to get along with people as best as you can, be proffessional at all times as hard as it can be-try to be as professional as you can.

KH: I think it's real important to have people in your band that you get along with.

ES: Well-every situation of how a band's set up is different. Sometime's a band's a true democracy, other times it's not and you have to basically find your place, realise your position and learn how to deal with it and make the best of it-that's the key is to make the best of a situation regardless of whether it's to your personal liking or even whether it's fair or not. Just realise what it is and try to make it work for you rather than against you-in other words; try to see the positive-you have a glass of water-is it half full or is it half empty? That's really the mentality. You kind of have to learn to take that positive approach to it and many times it's very difficult but you gotta work on it all the time.

Part IX

KISS HELL: Do you have any advice for drummers on developing double bass playing?

ERIC SINGER: I'd say the best thing to do is, there's a lot of cool videos out there that specifically cater that. There's some stuff in mine that talks about it and how to get started in some elementary ways and how to develop some exercises along the way. I think if you can do any bit of reading drum parts, obviously the more information you have available to you then the more greater you have of increasing your chances of improving. So obviously if you can read music you can go out and get different books and find things that work. Go and see as many different types of drummers as possible cause you learn from everybody whether they're good or not. If you're open minded you can learn from everyone and go and see as many bands that you like. If you like the way a guy plays go try to get inside his head, just dissect what he does. If you take lessons from many different people you get their perspectives on things and you'll find that sometimes there's a common thread that runs through most people on their philosophy on drums and teaching is and a lot of times you'll find some unique individual perspectives from people and that's what's important-get as much information-be a sponge-soak it all up and then throw it in a pot and mix it up and then that'll become you because you matter how much you copy anyone you're still gonna sound like you and that's what you wanna do. It's like knowledge-knowledge is power so if you have more information drum wise you're gonna have more to draw upon. Be open minded, listen to all types of music even if it's not what you personally like to play at least listen to it so you see what you can pick up and absorb some things.

KH: How did you get into the double bass style? And who would be some of your favorite double bass style drummers?

ES: The drummer that made me wanna play double bass and decide to get a double bass kit was Tommy Aldridge. It's like that-you go see drummers that you like and then you go find different records, find out what they played on-anything- whether it's videos, records, CD's, tapes, anything-start trying to listen to what they do, try to learn to emulate it and if you don't understand it find a teacher or someone that can show you ways to understand and comprehend what's going on. I'm not saying everyone has to be schooled or book taught because if you can learn by ear and sight that's fine too but just remember the more information you can get the easier it is to absorb it and comprehend it-which means like being able to read music and understand basically so you can use drum books. Then you have a whole wealth of information available to you that you can utilize and that's real important. The most important thing though is that you just be open minded, that's what opens up a whole wealth of information.

[More of this interview to come!]