In the first episode of Billy Corgan’s ‘The Magnificent Others,’ Gene Simmons shared details from Ace Frehley’s audition to KISS.
“We’re hearing that sound and we auditioned players and this guy comes in, who plugs in, we had double stacks Marshall Major 200 watts. We had money. Ace plugs in and starts playing while we’re talking to another guy. I walked up to him and I said, ‘Buddy, you better sit down before I knock you out. What are you doing? We’re talking.'”
Frehley wasn’t happy they were auditioning other people. “He was oblivious that there was another meeting going on that he had to sit there civilly and wait for his turn.”
Simmons then reminiscenced the audition that very much shocked him and Paul Stanley. “When he got up, ‘Listen pal, we’re gonna do a song called ‘Deuce,’ here’s the riff, A major, we’ll do two verses, bridge, and when the riff starts, I’ll point to you. You’ve heard it enough, and you do a solo based on that riff.’ He said, ‘Ah, okay.’ And he talked like that. And we’re going, ‘Boy, he’s a weird guy. He’s got one orange sneaker, one red sneaker. Just pigeon-toed and all. Oh, boy, this guy is gonna be…’”
“And then he dug in. And his head, like he is on stage just that rubbery thing. Paul and I looked at each other and went, ‘Wow,'” he added.
Frehley reposted the video on his own Instagram account with the caption, “I didn’t know any other way.”
The interview also shows Simmons praising Frehley’s work ethic. He remembers how Ace would go home and practice his solos until they sounded just like the studio versions when played live.
“He would play note for note with the right vibrato and everything. That’s when he was committed to it, and that’s one of the things live fans kept pointing to. ‘Wow, it sounds just like…’ You bet it is, ‘cause he cared enough to learn his own solos,” says the musician. “His influences spoke loudly: [Jimmy] Page and [Jeff] Beck,” Simmons told Corgan.
Frehley is currently on a solo tour with his next show on February 21 at Middleton, Florida.
