KISS drummer Eric Singer is featured in a in-depth interview with Jeb Wright at Classic Rock Revisited. An excerpt is available below.

Jeb: I am fan of the music.  When you joined KISS, you were in the right place at the right time.  You played with Paul Stanley on a solo tour and then Eric Carr passed away and you were present.  Did you think back then that KISS would end up being an important part of the American story?

Eric: "Well, the one thing I admire… everybody has their own point of view.  There are people who do not like the branding or marketing approach to a band.  No matter what you think of it, it happens. 

The Beatles were probably the first band to master this.  Marketing can influence bands on a musical level as well as a business level.  The Beatles were the ones that kind of really started it with Beatlemania… it was a lot like the Kiss Army.  The Beatles had the toys and the dolls.  People are not even aware of all of the different merchandise the Beatles had in the Sixties.  They never realized fully at that time what a viable market that could be.  Somebody told me, and I may not have my information correct, but I heard somebody signed a licensing deal for very little money because they didn’t realize there would be that potential like now. 

Every Marvel movie that comes out now has dolls and masks and stuff.  You can get a Spiderman glove that shoots silly string.  It’s fun.  Think of the Ramones… their T-shirts are everywhere.  It is the same with Motorhead.  If everyone that bought a shirt bought a record of Motorhead or the Ramones then they would have a ton of gold records. 

Those were not big bands in terms of sales.  Ramones fans get mad at me when I say that.  No, I am not putting them down.  I’m pointing out the reality that the band that you think that was so big wasn’t a big band."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

KISS launched their Freedom To Rock tour at the AVA at Casino del Sol Resort and Casino in Tucson, Arizona on Monday, July 4th. The tour will travel the country throughout July and August and will close September 10th in Huntington, WV.

KISS performed the following setlist:

“Detroit Rock City”
“Deuce”
“Shout It Out Loud”
“Creatures Of The Night”
“War Machine”
“Psycho Circus”
“Calling Dr. Love”
“Shock Me”
“Cold Gin”
“Lick It Up”
“I Love It Loud”
“100,000 Years”
“Love Gun”
“Black Diamond”

Encore:

“Beth”
“Rock And Roll All Nite”

Watch some fan-filmed video from the show below:

Find the band’s tour schedule at this location.