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From: Dave's on Tour Dave's On Tour's David Iozzia posted a NEW interview with ERIC SINGER on his Website. A portion of it follows. You can read the whole interview, including questions about Eric's involvement with Alice Cooper, Ronnie Montrose, and others, at www.davesontour.com Dave: Alice Cooper, when he tours supporting a new record, always seems to play four or five new songs mixed in among all of his classic hits. As a music fan, I love that mix and I feel it keeps it fresh. How challenging is it for a band to work new material into the set list when most of the audience only wants to hear the classics? ERIC: Don’t I know that! Just like when I’m touring with KISS, the fanatics want obscure songs and the average person wants all the hits. It’s a fine line you try to walk. I give Alice or any artist a lot of credit for doing new records and putting new product out when at the same time you have an established career and a big song catalog. There’s only so much time, and the show is the length what it is. You can only do so many songs. Alice has to do "I’m Eighteen," "School’s Out," and "Billion Dollar Babies." If you don’t play those songs, it’s sacrilegious. The remaining percentage of the set list lets you put in an obscure song or something you haven’t played in a long time, and then you can’t overlook the new record you’re touring to promote. Dave: Is there one "golden oldie" that KISS never plays that you’d like to dust off and work into the set list? ERIC: I always wanted to do "Strange Ways" with KISS. That song is great on record, but when we tried playing it live it didn’t translate. I always thought that was Ace’s best solo on a KISS record. You can hear his Jimi Hendrix influence on that tune. Dave: I’ve seen you quoted, and it obviously speaks for most KISS fans, that you’d love to see new studio material recorded. How important and how necessary is it for KISS to add new material from the 21st century to their legacy? ERIC: I think that’s an artist’s choice. Using Alice as an example, it’s great that he keeps recording new records despite not having any big hit songs. He wants to keep making music because that’s what he does. He has so much energy. With KISS in mind, it would be a good thing to do a new record. It certainly wouldn’t hurt. If Gene and Paul can do solo records, they can do a new KISS record. I don’t make those decisions, and I wish I had more say and input in those things. If it were up to me, I’d say let’s do a new record. But you know what? Somebody’s got to pay for the record and somebody’s got to write the songs. Those guys are the songwriters. They could put everything down and walk away any time they want. They don’t need the money, and they don’t HAVE to do anything. It becomes all about what they WANT to do. Dave: KISS played six one-off shows this summer. When you guys were together, was there talk of any new material? ERIC: No, there was no talk of new material. Whether KISS will write new material remains to be seen. Dave: Is there anything in the pipeline? Eric: PAUL STANLEY is in "solo mode" with his new record being released on October 24 and a subsequent tour. His wife, Erin, just delivered a baby boy, Colin Michael. Paul’s a new father for the second time. TOMMY THAYER is compiling and editing material for the forthcoming KISS DVD box set. That’s going to be a real cool thing and it encompasses the band’s entire career, including some live shows in their entirety. It’ll finally give KISS fans some high-quality, officially released stuff. Gene’s got so many other multi-media interests, including the new TV show he’s producing, "Simmons Family Jewels." It’s all business with Gene, 24-7. Every day is the same as another with regards to potential. He stays focused and workman-like. For him, that’s what has made him successful. I wish I had that drive and focus. Dave: Have you seen Gene’s TV show, and if so, what do you think? ERIC: I only saw the first episode. I don’t watch much TV and I’ve been out on tour. I might watch CNN in the hotel room, but when Gene’s show is on, I’m either on stage or on the bus traveling. I thought the first show was kind of funny. We all have different facets to our lives and personalities. This show should shoot down the myth that Gene is an evil, mean guy. It shows that he’s a loving, doting father with his kids. Dave: Does KISS have touring plans for 2007? ERIC: I hear the same rumors and rumblings, and I usually hear it from fans and through people like yourself in the business before I hear it from Gene or Paul. I would imagine that at some point, something’s going to happen. Exactly when, I don’t know. We all take things one day at a time, so after Paul and Gene do their individual things, they’ll have a look around to see if going out again to tour is a good idea. It may just be the random, one-off shows that they did the last two years. My impression, based upon the talk I hear when I’m around them and the sense of their vibe, is that they don’t have any interest in a full-scale tour. But that could change at any given time. I don’t think we’ll hear anything until Spring 2007 at the earliest. Dave: What about Gene’s quotes recently about a 2007 KISS tour with Queen? ERIC: Don’t go by that. Paul already posted a message and there’s no plans for such a tour. We’re all friends with the guys from Queen. The talk came about because we both did a VH-1 show and the KISS dressing room was next to Queen’s. I was hanging out by the pool with Brian May and everybody was talking that it would be pretty cool to tour together. That was spun into something that’s not really there at this time. Dave: You’ve drummed for Brian May and you’ve seen Queen featuring Paul Rodgers in concert. What was your impression? ERIC: Queen is one of my top all-time bands so they can’t do wrong in my book. Brian May is not only a friend, but I love his guitar playing, and that alone is worth the price of admission. Paul Rodgers is a great singer yet nobody is ever going to replace Freddie Mercury. When you look back upon it, he may have been the best front man ever. He transcended a lot of boundaries that most singers never get away with. He was openly gay, he was very flamboyant on stage, and he was very charismatic. Queen filled stadiums all around the world with all types of fans, even the most macho guys. Nobody cared about Freddie’s persona, and I can’t think of any other singer who had such mass appeal despite his sexuality. Dave: You’ve sat behind the drum kit for KISS in different lineups with three very good, yet quite different guitarists: ACE FREHLEY, BRUCE KULICK, and TOMMY THAYER. What did Bruce and Tommy do differently that lets them put their individual stamp on the KISS material? ERIC: Ace, of course, along with Gene, Paul, and Peter defined how the songs should be played and how the band and its performance should look. In the 80’s, everybody was into a little more shred type guitar playing, with sweeps and a giant arena sound. Bruce, like all of us, was a victim of those times and the style he had to play. Bruce originally is a more blues-based and early 70’s influenced guitarist. When he played with KISS in the 80’s, he had to change his approach to soloing. I do other gigs with Bruce and I know what an under-rated player he is. He’s a total pro and it’s so easy, like being on auto-pilot, when you play with Bruce. Tommy doesn’t do that much differently because we tried to re-create the old-school KISS vibe as we played all of the vintage classic hit stuff from the 70’s. Tommy brings a lot of consistency, and he’s a real professional. He’s a great guitar player, and he has really good tone. Dave: What was your approach to the drumming parts in KISS? How do you "put your own stamp" on somebody else’s material while drumming? ERIC: You have to keep in mind that you are playing somebody else’s music. You have to adapt and acclimate, almost being a chameleon, as you try to fit into a band’s direction, style, and sound. You have to try to emulate and add a bit of personality the best you can. But the parameters are already set. In the 90’s with KISS, I was playing double bass with busy and flashy drum fills because that’s the way everybody was doing it. I don’t play like that anymore with KISS. When I listen to some of that older stuff, I laugh and I kind of cringe, but that’s how everybody was playing. My philosophy is to play for the band and for the song. I can’t bring my ego to the drum kit and say "I’m ERIC SINGER and this is the way I think it should be." I wouldn’t have played with all of the different people over my career if I thought like that. I think people hire me because I can do or give them what they need. If it means playing simple and basic, I’ll do that. If it means I get to open up and stretch out a little more, then that’s cool too. |
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