Back in 1982, you auditioned for KISS. You were, I think, 18 years old at the time. What was it like standing there with one of the biggest rock bands on the planet and you’re just basically a kid? What did it feel like at that point?
“It was kind of… When you think about Hollywood, you think about… You know, people come from all over the world and they come to Hollywood to make it. And I didn’t plan on it being with KISS but I felt, like, ‘Okay, this might be what I’m supposed to do – to come to Hollywood and join KISS.’
“I just didn’t really think about it too much. I was definitely… I was scared to look at them in the eyes, in a sense. Because at that time people had never seen them without their makeup and I felt like I was breaking the rules if I looked them in their face. [Laughs]
“But in the end, I was just too young. But we had some good jams and it was the first time I ever got to play through giant stacks of Marshalls. I’ve never done that before. It always has been like a half-stack.”
How did that end? Why didn’t you get the gig?
“I was too young. They knew it – I was a kid. These guys were international rock stars and I was just a kid. My experience…
“Look, here’s the thing, David, if you want to get a gig, it’s 50% how good you are and it’s 50% how cool you can hang out together. Because in a band, you’ve got to be like a… it’s like a family.
“You have to hang out together and be comfortable and not have anything weird going on. Because you’re gonna be together on a bus, you’re gonna be together in hotels. It needs to be comfortable for the band.
“And probably they could see I was not comfortable because I was so young, I was nervous. So that’s probably why they decided. My playing was probably okay but they’re not gonna be comfortable on the tour bus with a kid.”
What was it like being with Gene Simmons? He does sometimes seem like a very demanding, not only a musician but a businessman, in a way.
“He was very funny. He was very kind and he basically spent the most time with me in the studio. They were working on their record ‘Creatures of the Night’ at that time. And I remember there was a song called ‘War Machine,’ I think.
“And he asked me to play a part of the song to check how I would record. And I remember playing that song, thinking, ‘This is a crazy riff, it’s really cool. It’s very different.’ And I’ve never heard a riff like that before. I was trying to figure out what key it is.
