Darryl Smyers from Dallasobserver.com spoke with KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Dallasobserver.com: You are coming up on your 50th birthday. How old is too old to be dressing up and playing KISS?

Thayer: "You are never too old to be in KISS. The thing has become so multi-generational. The crowds at the shows are so diverse. You see teenagers and then people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. It's parents with their kids. And everyone is dressed up like KISS. It's Halloween every night. It is an experience that we put so much effort into, both in the music and the show itself. Just the pyrotechnics alone are incredible."

Dallasobserver.com: When you joined KISS and stepped right into the character created by Ace Frehley, were you afraid that people wouldn't accept you as part of the band?

Thayer: "Of course. And there were people who expressed their anger. There were people who were not happy at all about the change. By the time I came into the band, KISS had been around for 30 years. You can't start changing characters after that long, I don't think. And I had been around KISS a long time, been friends with Gene Simmons and I knew all the songs. I had played in my own band, Black 'n Blue, and was comfortable on stage. Now with KISS, the crowds were much larger, but the feeling was the same. And after a while, the fans just get into the songs."

Read the entire interview here.