ACE FREHLEY: 'I'd Love To Do An Instructional Video'

January 12, 2006

Guitar World magazine (web site) recently conducted a short interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Guitar World: What inspired you to play guitar:

Ace Frehley: "I was raised in a musical household, so I was surrounded by music all day long. My parents played piano, and my brother and sister played piano and folk guitar. My brother showed me a few chords on his acoustic guitar. The one day I visited a friend who had an electric guitar and a small amp, and it changed my life. I held the guitar in my hands, turned the volume to 10 and hit the low E string, and the sound just droned. I was hooked! It was like a heroin addict's first shot of dope."

Guitar World: What was the first song that you learned how to play?

Ace Frehley: "'(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' by THE ROLLING STONES. Shortly thereafter, I learned how to play another ROLLING STONES song, 'The Last Time', and it made me feel so good about myself. Not only did I figure out how to play itbut I got the exact sound from an Ampeg Reverberocket amp my dad had bought me. I had the riff and the reverb!"

Guitar World: What was your mosr embarrassing moment onstage?

Ace Frehley: "Getting electrocuted in Lakeland, Florida during the 'Destroyer' tour. It was right before KISS got wireless guitars. I was walking down these steps onstage with those very-high-heeled boots. I grabbed the railing because I was losing my balance. The railing wasn't grounded properly and I got zapped with 240 volts. I saw sparks and don't remember much else. I was told the roadies carried me offstage. I had burns on my hand and the band had to stop the show. When I finally regained consciousness, I couldn't feel my right hand. It was scary."

Guitar World: What have you been doing lately?

Ace Frehley: "I've been working on a solo album and a few film projects. I'd love to do an instructional video, but I want it to be comedic. [Laughs] I don't want it to be just another boring how-to-play video. I may not be the world's greatest guitarist, but at least I'm never boring."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).