KIX Frontman Explains Why There's No Chance Of Permanent Reunion

Steve Whiteman, lead singer of KIX, recently talked to The Herald-Mail about the band's history, why the group broke up and why there's no chance of the guys getting back together permanently. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

The Herald-Mail: KIX broke up in 1996. Why?

Steve Whiteman: "'95, '96, yeah. Basically, there was a new party in town and we weren't invited, you know? We had run our course. Our music and our whole genre of music just kind of got discarded. All the bands that we were out on the road with — the CINDERELLAs, the GUNS 'N ROSES and all those bands — that whole genre of music just seemed to have gotten flushed. So there was a new sound in town; it was that Seattle thing, so when that came to town, everybody looked at us and went 'Oh, you suck!' so we just decided to take a break and see if it changed — and it never changed, so that was it."

The Herald-Mail: The band has gotten together for special events.

Steve Whiteman: "Yeah, just recently in the past couple of years, and it came about through Ronnie — Ronnie Younkins — who had the band called the BLUES VAULTERS. I have my band called FUNNY MONEY. Ronnie had called Jimmy Chalfant, our drummer of KIX, to come out and help him play once in a while. Jimmy just wanted to get out and keep his chops up and play with Ronnie once in a while. Ronnie's band would open for my band, so it'd be FUNNY MONEY and the BLUES VAULTERS. We thought it would be cool to have at least three of us get up there and do some of the old KIX tunes as an added attraction and get people to come out and see Ronnie's band, come see FUNNY MONEY and give them a little KIX show. Then, the crowds were getting to be overwhelming. One club owner said, 'What if we fly the guy out from California — meaning Brian Forsythe — what if we fly him in and get at least four of you, because we know that Donnie will never do it.' I said, 'Well, give him a call and see what he thinks.' The money they offered was stupid money. So we called Brian, we said, 'Here's some stupid money that we can make.' We all agreed that it was a good idea, so we did it — and it's a total whore tour — we have no intentions of ever recording an album together again or trying to take it out. I get calls all the time from Chicago and Los Angeles: 'Can we get a KIX show?' — No. It's for the hometown fans and only for them. I spent 18 years of my life on the road, and unless there was a reason for me to go back out and do it again, for something new ... if FUNNY MONEY would get a record deal and we were getting played all over the country and they wanted us to come to their towns and play, I would do it, but for no other reason, because it's just grueling."

The Herald-Mail: Do you ever talk about bringing KIX back permanently?

Steve Whiteman: "No, it really is of no interest. Brian has another project called RHINO BUCKET that was a band when we were around. They recently got back together and hired him as a guitar player. They just got a small record deal. I tried to get Ronnie in FUNNY MONEY, and he thought about it hard and long, and he said 'You know what, I'm really happy doing my own thing.' Jimmy and I've got FUNNY MONEY. FUNNY MONEY is a combination of KIX music and new music that we've written since. We've got four CDs out and we're working on our fifth right now. I enjoy going out, I love giving the old fans the old music, but I love giving them the new music. I just shove it right down their throat whether they like it or not."

Read the entire interview at Herald-Mail.com.