Tim McPhate | KissFAQ
KissFAQ interviews KISS co-producer of “KISS” and “Hotter Than Hell”
If you’re a big music fan, you are likely aware that April 20 isn’t a typical Saturday. It marks the seventh annual Record Store Day, a worldwide celebration of the fraternity of record stores and their standing as an important thread in the fabric of local communities. You know, those cool stores where KISS Army members went to buy “Rock And Roll Over” in 1976.
In conjunction with the music holiday, a series of Record Store Day exclusives — including limited-edition vinyl, singles, EPs, and CDs — will be released at participating RSD record stores. One such exclusive this year is a two-LP gatefold edition of New York-based hard rock trio Dust’s 1971 self-titled album and 1972’s “Hard Attack.”
Diehard KISS fans will know Dust as the project that featured future KISS co-producer Richie Wise. Wise sang lead vocals and played guitar in the group, which was rounded
out by bassist Kenny Aaronson and drummer Marc Bell (who would later become Marky Ramone).
KissFAQ caught up with Wise to revisit the music of Dust and discuss the newly remastered albums, which are also available on CD and via digital retailers. Of course, we worked in plenty of questions pertaining to Wise’s work with the Hottest Band in the World as well.
An excerpt follows:
KF: In this initial period, I am curious if you noticed a divide in terms of focus with Gene and Paul versus Ace and Peter?
RW: Ace and Peter had no focus. They were hired hands as far as I was concerned. I knew they auditioned for the band and the band was Gene and Paul. Period. Gene and Paul were the guys. Ace was a guitarist who I understood exactly what he was doing. And he listened to Page and Clapton and all those guitarists that I listened to, so I understood him well.
Peter was, at best, a poppy adequate drummer. But he was solid. And he really didn’t get in the way and laid down the proper fundamental beat that [was needed]. I thought Gene was a really good bass player. I know he wasn’t a traditional bass player playing with his fingers, he was more of a “guitar player bass player.” But he played with a lot of melodic sense, like McCartney in a way.
KF: I’m glad you mentioned that Richie. I think Gene’s musicianship gets overlooked given he is in KISS. And on those early KISS albums, he came up with some inventive melodic bass lines that complemented KISS’ songs perfectly.
RW: Absolutely correct. And that came right out of him. He was very good. I thought he was a very musical bass player [and] an excellent singer. Paul was excellent behind the mic. They had, right out of the box, good technique. They worked well together. I worked well with them. The first album was six days, and then some mixing, I think a total of 13 days. It went very well. I worked with Ace to make sure the guitar solos were right. I worked with the guys on the arrangements to make sure that the arrangements went down in a tight fashion so that there wouldn’t be too much excess on the record.
Read the entire interview here: