From his earliest days, Gene Simmons intended to keep it simple when it comes to bass playing. “I’ve always been a pragmatist,” he says. “Pragmatism rules.

“When I was a kid I noticed that everybody wanted to be a guitar player, and I did initially learn to play a few chords. But I picked up bass because there were fewer bass players, and it increased my chances of being in a band – which is what I really wanted.”

Amid the kabuki cladding, flash and explosions of Kiss, it was easy to focus on Ace Frehley’s pyrotechnic lead guitar, Peter Criss’ off-the-rails fills, and Paul Stanley’s soaring vocals. But it was Simmons’ basslines that buoyed many of the band’s Klassics.

“The original-cookie cutter design that other bands seem to ignore was this idea that everybody in a band could be a star,” he says. “All those bass parts that became Firehouse and Love Her All I Can – they’re my bass riffs that the guitars would jump on and double up.”

But he continues: “I don’t consider myself, and was never really interested in being, a bass virtuoso. I don’t like showoffs in music. I’m much more attracted to things that are memorable. It’s part of the joy of music for me. There are very few bass players that are memorable.”

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