Gene Simmons recently shared his memories of Ace Frehley’s audition for KISS, recalling how he and Paul Stanley were so impressed by Frehley’s guitar skills that they decided to bring him on board, despite his disregard for the usual norms.
Ace Frehley’s impact on the rock scene is undeniable. Many guitarists, from Dimebag Darrell to Mike McCready, have cited him as a major influence. However, Frehley’s turbulent relationship with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley has been well-documented over the years, with Simmons especially being vocal about his issues with Frehley’s professionalism, even long after they parted ways for the final time.
In a recent interview on Billy Corgan’s podcast, “The Magnificent Others,” Simmons reflected on their first encounter, admitting that Frehley made a lasting impression during the initial audition. When asked about his thoughts on Frehley’s KISS audition, Simmons shared the following:
“He immediately tore open the doors of what could be, what should be, because we were in a rat-infested loft, maybe twice the size of this room, with egg crates stuck to the walls, some still cracked. And, of course, at night, huge dinosaur cockroaches would come out. It was horrible. There were no windows and everything. But we didn’t care.
“We were doing our thing and thinking, ‘Wow,’ as we heard that sound. We had auditioned other players, and this guy walks in, plugs in… Ace plugs in and starts playing while we were talking to another guy. I walked up to him and said, ‘Buddy, you better sit down before I knock you out. What are you doing? We’re talking.’ He was completely oblivious to the fact that another meeting was going on and that he had to wait his turn.”
Simmons continued: “When he finally got up, we told him, ‘Okay, listen, pal, we’re going to play a song called ‘Deuce.’ Here’s the riff. We’ll do two verses, a bridge. When the riff starts, I’ll point to you. You’ve heard it enough, and you can do a solo based on the riff.’ He said, ‘Ah, okay.’ He spoke like that.”
Simmons went on to describe his first impression of Frehley’s unconventional appearance: “We’re thinking, ‘Boy, he’s a weird guy. He’s got one orange sneaker and one red sneaker. Just pigeon-toed and all. Oh, boy, this guy’s going to be…’ But then he really dug in. His head, like he was on stage, just that rubbery thing. Paul and I looked at each other and said, ‘Wow!’ You don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, but you know when you hear it and see it. And then… it just kind of happened.”
Regarding Frehley’s approach to solos, Simmons added: “One big thing I’ll tell you is, Ace was really serious about his guitar playing, especially the solos. He would go home, learn them, and practice them so that when he played them live or in the studio, they were exact—note for note, with the right vibrato. That’s why fans were always impressed live, saying, ‘Wow, it sounds just like the record.’ Well, it did, because he cared enough to learn his own solos. His influences were loud and clear: [Jimmy] Page and [Jeff] Beck.”
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