Dean Goodman from Reuters spoke with KISS singer/guitarist Paul Stanley recently about a number of topics including the band's new album, Sonic Boom. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Reuters: For years and years, you were adamant about not doing a follow-up to Psycho Circus. What changed?

Stanley: "I think the band has become so, so strong live, with the lineup that's been stable for quite a while. I thought we had a great album in us. The only road block was my producing it. I wasn't interested in making another KISS album that was going to be confused, diffused or unfocused. It's very hard to be in the studio with 4 guys who have their own sense of what we should be doing and oftentimes unfortunately in the past we've had situations where people were more concerned with having their songs on the album rather than having the best songs on the album. Or dealing with lawyers when we should have been dealing with band members. It was not productive. There have been times in the past where outside songwriters have been involved, which allows some people to do less work, and perhaps for the band to lose part of its own identity and take on someone else's interpretation of who you are. First and foremost, I had to produce the album and that was agreed to pretty much immediately. Everyone was very gung-ho for that. It was very smooth sailing from there. I started thinking during the big run we did through Europe - I think we did 30 shows in seven weeks and played to about 400,000 people - I began thinking we have a great album in us but somebody has to harness it."

Reuters: This is the first record with five Simmons-Stanley co-writes (including two with guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer) plus no outside songwriters?

Stanley: "It was terrific. I was very adamant that for this album to be what it needed to be, Gene and I had to write together. He was hesitant, and I think it's because we both have had such a long time of basically doing things our way, which means doing things apart, and that doesn't necessarily yield the best results. What it yields is what the individual may want, but it's not necessarily for the better of the band. As soon as we started writing together that magic is there. But again it was about making a great album, not about furthering your ambition as an individual.

Reuters: When you say writing together, you mean sitting across from each other like we are now, holding guitars?

Stanley: "Totally, totally, absolutely. Sitting like this. And it seemed like yesterday we had done it. It was either Gene and myself, Gene, Tommy and me, me and Tommy, Tommy and Gene. It was done like this, sitting with guitars. That's also why the music itself has such honesty because it's not a studio creation. Once we wrote it and rehearsed it we went in and recorded it, virtually live, all of us just like this looking at each other playing. That's been lacking and lacks with a lot of bands for a long time."

Reuters: For many heritage acts, the touring is clearly where the focus is and the album is often an after-thought.

Stanley: "This tour is beginning as the continuation of the Alive 35 tour, which played Europe, South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, celebrating KISS Alive. But at this point it will, I guess, segue or morph into a KISS Alive/Sonic Boom tour. But initially we have to wait for the album to be out. When people talk about classic rock or classic bands, the reason those bands do so well is because they're great at what they do. You don't learn to become a great live act by having one multiplatinum album. The reason people buy tickets to see bands that have been around a while is because they know they're gonna get their money's worth. That's not a sure thing, that's a pretty big gamble when you're going to see some new band. At this point it's become a positive to be a ... classic rock band."

Reuters: Will Tommy and Eric be there until the bitter end?

Stanley: "I sure hope so. It's so great to have a band of guys who all love the band, and all want to do what's best for the band, as opposed to further themselves at the band's expense. The bigger the band is the bigger you are. And the better you are the bigger the band is. I want those guys to get as much spotlight, as much attention, as possible. It makes the band bigger and they deserve it. There's a real healthy relationship in the band, refreshingly so, and anybody who would kid themselves into believing that Sonic Boom could have been made by any four other members is out of their mind.

Reuters: What is the long-term plan for KISS?

Stanley: "We'll do the States through December, then decide whether we want to do any more shows, how long we want to do the States. Again, we're in that enviable position: It's a matter of where we want to go. We'll do Europe. South America is always open, as is Australia and New Zealand. The world is a big place but it's all reachable by jet."

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