PAUL STANLEY: You Can Be Rich And Still Play Great Rock

KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley recently spoke to Australia's Beat magazine about the band's upcoming tour, his much-anticipated new solo album and his interest in Broadway, among other subjects. The following are several excerpts from the interview:

On LIMP BIZKIT, who were originally supposed to tour Australia with KISS:

Paul Stanley: "With rare exceptions, any band playing with us is just a support band. You can't do what you do for 30 years and be compared with any seriousness to a new band. We have proven time and time again there is one KISS — in terms of attitude and dedication to giving the audience the best."

On the possibility of a new KISS studio album:

Paul Stanley: "I have mixed feelings about doing a new KISS album. The songs everyone loves are markers in peoples' lives. When they hear that song, they remember what they were doing. No new music can compete with that. Even if it's a brilliant record. I'm not sure I want to compete with those. You just can't win."

On his upcoming solo CD:

Paul Stanley: "It'll be me singing great songs and pushing the envelope beyond what I'd do with KISS. It'd be too easy to do a one-man KISS album. What's the appeal for me? The idea is to retain the emotion and power I bring to KISS and make it in a slightly different environment."

On whether he wears a wig:

Paul Stanley: "No. But it's interesting when I hear things like that. It goes back to a superficial sense of what makes rock credible. That's why the Kurt Cobains and Keith Richards are so appealing to a critic. They think they're the real thing. You lie vicariously through them until they kill themselves. So if someone is bald and wears a wig, they can't be the real thing. Or you can't play great rock if you're rich. These are creeds started by frustrated journalists!"

Read Paul Stanley's entire interview with Beat magazine at this location.