During a concert on December 2, marking the end of their farewell tour, KISS announced their plans to continue making music in a digital format using avatars. Among these avatars is one sporting the ‘Spaceman’ makeup, created by former band member Ace Frehley.
In a recent chat with Ultimate Guitar, Frehley revealed whether he would be paid for the use of the design Tommy Thayer has been wearing since 2002:
“I get paid for the usage – for merch and stuff. And I would consider this avatar stuff a merchandise ploy. But I just saw something the other day on YouTube that Gene is having second thoughts about the whole avatar thing. But who knows with those guys – every day is a different story with those guys. And to be totally honest with you, I really don’t follow what they do very closely – because I’m more involved with my own career.”
The guitarist, who is getting ready for the release of his new album ‘10,000 Volts’ in February, also weighed in on KISS’ absence from new music creation:
“I can’t believe… or I don’t understand why they haven’t recorded a record in 20 years. And I’ve done, I don’t know… six or seven. Pretty much, I have to create to keep things fresh. Even though I don’t get a chance to play sometimes a lot of the songs I’ve written on my most recent albums live, it gives me an outlet to create. Because I’m still like a little kid when it comes to rock n’ roll.”
The New KISS Era With Digital Avatars
Since the release of ‘Monster’ in 2012, KISS hasn’t made any new albums. But Gene Simmons has mentioned plans for the band’s avatar-based projects.
The band is collaborating with Industrial Light & Magic and Pophouse Entertainment to improve the quality of these avatars over time and carry out plans ‘even beyond my comprehension,’ as the bassist put it.
Still, Frehley is not a big fan of the project, which he talked about in an interview with Rock Antenne by saying:
“I don’t get this avatar thing that they’re gonna do. I mean, I saw some of it on a video on YouTube last night. It kind of looked like it was geared towards children. And it’s not rock and roll. I get up on stage without backing tracks, plug my amp into it, plug my guitar into a Marshall, and go. That’s it. It’s always been that way and always will be.”
You can read more about the former KISS guitarist’s recent words here.
