GENE SIMMONS - "'Cool' Is A Moving Target, So It's A Very Hard Target To Hit"
November 27, 2008, 15 years ago
Jane Stevenson at the Winnipeg Sun recently caught up with KISS legend Gene Simmons. Following is an excerpt from the story.
Fire-breathing rocker in makeup, high heels and black leather one day, Canadian music scout the next.
Such is the life of KISS bassist-singer-songwriter Gene Simmons, who is in Canada this week checking out new groups to sign to his relaunched Simmons Records label, in a deal with both Universal Music Canada and Belinda Stronach, the former MP turned businesswoman again.
"I want to find the next great three Canadian acts from different genres (each year)," Simmons, 59, said in a chic Toronto hotel bar. "And don't let them go to America. Provide the care and support that they need here, make them monsters here, and then take them to the rest of the world."One possible signing is Toronto prog-hip-hop act Down With Webster.
"But if they do it the way they want to do it, they will fail," said Simmons, who was attending three nights of music showcases. "You gotta do it my way. It's a benevolent dictatorship."Simmons Records was originally launched in the late '80s with BMG, and "we had a few hair bands," said Simmons, "and then music changed."
The label was relaunched to put out Simmons' 2004 solo record, A--hole. The new deal partners him with Universal and Stronach, whose family Simmons has known through business.
"I'll be in the studio with the bands," he said. "I'll be there to beat them up regarding their image, their names. If one of them is a drug addict he's going to be gone. And I've had experience with that. There's no room for idiots in bands. Because aside from the luck of the draw, it really is hard work. You have to get up every day, and 'cool' is a moving target, so it's a very hard target to hit."Go to this location for the complete story.
