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From Platinum To ParadiseFrom: 40-70 Magazine Posted: August 4, 2008 He’s performed all over the world, but when it came to settling down, Monmouth County is the favorite venue for KISS founding member PETER CRISS As the original drummer for the pancake makeup-wearing rockers KISS, Criss has seen his share of beautiful sights: cheering audiences in the tens of thousands, fine hotels in major cities the world over and – from his vantage on the drum stool at KISS shows – the best seat in the house for the greatest rock ’n’ roll circus on Earth. So when Criss extols the beauty of the Spring Lake beach, well, he can be considered something of an authority. At 62, the Brooklynite has traded the rewards, and rigors, of the road for a quieter life in Monmouth County with his wife, Gigi, a former model and Jersey Shore native. In May, the Crisses celebrated two 10-year anniversaries: that of their wedding and of moving into their Monmouth County home. Criss wore "cat" makeup in the costumed band KISS, but for him, the experience was sometimes like a rat race. There’s a lot about the rock-star lifestyle that Criss doesn’t miss, and his contentment is apparent. 
"People who see me go, ‘God, you look great. You look really at peace with yourself,’ " he says. "So I guess it shows."FAVORITE LANDMARKS Strolling through Spring Lake, Criss excitedly points out some favorite landmarks. One is a house, visible from Ocean Avenue, with a vaguely Gothic look: It has a Hulk-green roof with pointy spires that particularly appeal to Criss. "I call that the ‘Munster’ house,’’ he says. "I would set my drums up on the top floor." Another is St. Catharine’s, a magnificent Catholic church on West Lake Avenue. Criss, who wore cross symbols on his KISS costume and has a cross tattoo, attends St. Catharine’s about once a week. "It’s a beautiful church; it’s been here for eons," says Criss (whose surname as an altar boy at Transfiguration Parish in Brooklyn was Criscuola). ON ATTENDING ST. CATHARINE’S: "It’s a beautiful church; it’s been here for eons … I still follow my religion. I’m not a major by-the-rules guy. But I find it tranquil for me to stop by." 
CARTOONY PERSONASKISS’ original and best-remembered lineup – guitarists PAUL STANLEY and ACE FREHLEY, bassist GENE SIMMONS and Criss – released its self-titled debut album in 1974. For a decade, band members kept their faces hidden behind their Kabuki-inspired makeups. Their cartoony personas skyrocketed KISS’ appeal beyond the turntable and the stage; toys, lunch boxes, comic books, model kits and even Halloween costumes were marketed. Around 1980, Criss became the first member to leave the band, followed two years later by Frehley. Stanley and Simmons carried on with replacement musicians, eventually dispensing with the makeup. Following an introduction by the late rapper Tupac Shakur at the 1996 Grammys, the original KISS – back in makeup – heralded its reunion tours, which played to sold-out arenas. But by 2003 (by which time Frehley was no longer in the band), Criss felt the writing was on the wall. "That was it for me," he says. "That was like: Ace ain’t here. This ain’t the original band. I said to Gigi, ‘I can’t do this with these guys. I made this band what it is. I’m one of the founding fathers. No matter who they get to put stuff on their face, it ain’t us. You can take the mask off the Lone Ranger and put it on someone else, but it ain’t the Lone Ranger.’ "We ended it on my 58th birthday, which couldn’t have been more apropos." ROAD TO THE SHORE Following the 2003 tour, Criss returned to his Monmouth County home, where he built a recording studio and began work on "One for All." (Today, Criss is about 15 songs into his follow-up album, and is at work on his memoirs.) But how did Criss find his way to the Jersey Shore in the first place? It turns out that, like many New Yorkers, Criss had something of a relationship with the area early on. "I used to go to Asbury (Park) back in the day, when I was a kid," he says. Decades later, Criss suddenly found himself yearning to revisit the Shore. 
ON HIS LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE SHORE:"I got the bug to come to the Jersey Shore. I hadn’t been here in years. I heard about Spring Lake. I heard it was really beautiful." In ’87, ’89, I was living in Darien, Connecticut,’’ he recalls. "Talk about a WASP-y, snobby place to live. My ex at the time liked it; she was high maintenance. We were living there. "I got the bug to come to the Jersey Shore. I hadn’t been here in years. I heard about Spring Lake. I heard it was really beautiful. There was this old hotel called The Essex and Sussex, which we stayed at. They closed it the next year. I fell in love with this old hotel and the ambience. "When we went back home, I couldn’t get it out of my system. I came back again, alone, and stayed here. I thought, ‘This is really beautiful. I could live here.’" JERSEY GIRL Every husband and wife gets the "How did you meet?’’ question from time to time, and usually, they’ve long since gotten their stories straight. But about five years ago, as Gigi Criss listened to her husband’s version of events, she felt she had to correct his memory. "Peter told this one story which was totally not how we met,’’ Gigi, 40, says with a laugh. "I looked at him, like, ‘What are you talking about?’ " It’s funny how the rock star wants to tell one story, and the girl who meets the rock star wants to tell another. "His story was: He sees this beautiful girl standing in the audience, and he tells the security guy, ‘I wanna talk to her.’ And I’m totally not that kind of girl. If some guy came up to me and said that, I’d say, ‘Get away from me.’" Born in Point Pleasant and raised in Wall, Gigi studied theater and worked in modeling for about 15 years. Gigi was transitioning into model scouting when she met Peter. 
She recalls: "I was with my friend (drummer) Rob Affuso, who’s in Skid Row. He asked me to go to a KISS concert (at Madison Square Garden). Long story short, I’m backstage and Peter sees me. I asked him for an autograph for another friend of mine who was a drummer. He checked me out on the way out.’’ Days later, Gigi and Affuso attended another KISS concert. "I saw Peter again at the after-party,’’ Gigi says. "He wanted to talk with me. (Kiss manager) Doc McGhee asked me to go up to his room. I said, ‘Absolutely not. He can come down here and talk to me. I’m not going to his room. I don’t know this guy.’ He said, ‘Oh, no, Peter’s not like that. He would never do anything.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m not going to his room.’ "After an hour of them coaxing me – ‘He can’t come down here,’ ‘There’s too many people,’ blah blah blah – I said, ‘OK, but I know a lot of people in this city, and if this guy puts one hand on me ...’ "I went over and talked with Peter. We talked for a really long time. That’s how we met." Peter soon learned that Gigi was a Jersey Shore girl. He recalls: "When I met Gigi and she said she lived in Jersey, I wasn’t really thinking of the ocean. I was thinking, the ‘Garden State,’ this and that. She said, ‘No, I live near Spring Lake.’ I said, ‘You’re kidding me.’ I said, ‘Oh my God, it’s one of my favorite places. I don’t believe this.’ I didn’t believe this girl lives where I really found a place for me." Later on, an omen sealed the deal for Criss. "The year before we got married,’’ he says, "I came out here for Christmas. I hadn’t had a Christmas with snow for eons. I really missed it in California. We were dating then. I was taking the garbage down. There were all these deer surrounding the garbage area. They were beautiful, man. I just love deer anyway. Some people can shoot them. I don’t get that. "Something happened – an epiphany, call it what you want. But I just felt God said, ‘You’re gonna marry this girl, and you’re gonna live here.’ "I said (to Gigi), ‘Go find a house. Buy it. Make sure it’s got a pool, a lot of privacy and land.’ Gigi looked at a bunch of places. I came here. We named the house Harmony. I fell in love with it. I’ve got land, I have privacy, I have my studio downstairs, I have a pool. I have all the great things a kid from Brooklyn – trust me – never had. What more do you really want in life? "I find here and now is a great place for PETER CRISS. I love it here. It’s paradise." 
PETER CRISS: IN HIS OWN WORDSON POLITICS, PIZZA & KILLER CLOWNS I changed my life around. I get up at 7 now. I’m really living the life of a country squire. I’m a Democrat living in a Republican neighborhood. That’s for sure. The people here love me. I mean, it’s really so cool. It’s not that rock ’n’ roll, rock star crap. I go to Blockbuster. They say, "Hey, Pete." I’ll say, "I hate that; call me Peter." And then I’ll go get pizza. If I’m short, they’ll go, "Ah, pay me when you see me." My favorite pizzerias are Andy’s, Attilio’s and Vinnie’s (all in Wall). The cops all know me. I can drive around with my windows down and my music blasting and people go, "There goes Peter." I’m near New York City again, which is my home. I love being near the "Apple"; I love being near Broadway. I love the fact that I’m so close to home, in Brooklyn. My family is still there. 
I still listen to Sinatra. I still listen to Tony Bennett. I still listen to Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, the Stones and Tom Petty.My favorite book is "To Kill a Mockingbird." My favorite movies are "Being There," "Ed Wood’’ and "Killer Klowns From Outer Space." |
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