Matt Kelemen | Las Vegas Magazine
Ace Frehley’s public profile may be at its highest since before he left KISS in the early ’80s. His 2014 album Space Invader cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200, a heavy-rotation promo campaign for HBO’s Entourage used his 1978 solo track “New York Groove,” and an all-covers all-star album titled Origins Vol. 1 is highly anticipated among fans old and recent. Things have never been better for the nine-years-sober, clearheaded and down-to-Earth guitar hero, save for the lack of spare time to finish the follow-up to his 2011 autobiography No Regrets. He spoke recently to Las Vegas Magazine‘s Matt Kelemen.
How has the past week been, since you announced the upcoming release of your covers album?
Well, it’s been a flurry of excitement, you know? The biggest news is that Paul Stanley is singing on the record. All the KISS sites are buzzing over that news, and I think everybody’s going to love “Fire and Water” when the record comes out April 15th. All the other songs on there are just as strong. I’m really thrilled with the way the album came out, and Warren Huart, who mixed Space Invader, did a great job mixing this album. It’s going to be a very special record, I think.
I imagine your life has been a rollercoaster ride since the news dropped.
Yeah, I did a photo session Friday. That took five hours, a couple of thousand photographs. So I’ve been weeding through those this week and trying to get the best ones. I’ve been really busy, but I’m really excited about hitting the road. The tour kicks off in Houston on the 26th.
How much of the material from the covers album are you going to play on your upcoming tour?
We’re just going to do one of two songs, because nobody’s heard them. The only song people have heard is “White Room” and that’s one song I really can’t do live because I gotta play wah-wah on that and I can’t have pedals on the floor. I trip over them (laughs).
I didn’t expect you to play “White Room.” Maybe the Thin Lizzy song (“Emerald”) or “Cold Gin,” which might give Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready an opportunity to guest with you.