KISS founder/frontman Paul Stanley performed the first-ever Soul Station concert at The Roxy in West Hollywood last September 11th. He recently spoke with Rockcellar Magazine about the project, which draws from R&B/soul music hits of the ’60s and ’70s. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

Rockcellar: I saw that show at the Roxy and you were beaming with happiness. This project is truly a labor of love, more emphasis on the love and passion than labor. Joyous seems the right word to describe your immersion into this music.

Paul Stanley: "Yeah, that is the right word (laughing). Somebody said they haven’t seen me that happy. To be immersed in that music and to be part of making it and creating it is an incredible joy. I beam but so does everybody else on stage. We’re just having a ball. To hear this music played reverently and respectfully and accurately is great. These aren’t new interpretations; these aren’t new versions. We’re playing those songs with the intensity and intent that they had. And in many cases the people that originally made them can’t do that anymore."

Rockcellar: What are the greatest challenges you face in delivering this material in a live setting?

Paul Stanley: "There’s a big weight on my shoulders because I’m singing songs by some legends and if I can’t deliver them I shouldn’t be doing them. So if I’m gonna sing Smokey or if I’m gonna sing Al Green or David Ruffin or Eddie Kendricks, you better be on-point or you shouldn’t be doing it plus the rest of the band is so damn good.

They have played with Smokey, they’ve played with Stevie Wonder, with Natalie Cole, they’ve played with Whitney Houston and John Mayer and with Carlos Santana; I mean, the list goes on and on. For us all to be together as peers and be creating something this exciting, everybody on stage is smiling. We’re all just caught up in the moment."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Check out the Soul Station performance of the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles classic “Tracks Of My Tears”, below:

Soul Station is a ten piece coalition of some of today’s leading musicians paying tribute to an era of great soul music.

“When I was a boy, before I ever saw The Who or Led Zeppelin, I saw Solomon Burke and Otis Redding. I saw the Temptations. It’s tragic to think that so many people are missing out on experiencing the power of so many great bands, artists and that incredible music,” said Stanley. “That music is part of the foundation of all the music I’ve made and Soul Station is my chance to celebrate it for a night that’s real and live.”

To clarify further he adds, “I don’t play guitar in the band and we don’t do a single KISS song. That’s not what this is about,” Stanley continues. “It’s magical to hear those songs played right and we’re making magic.”