KISS' PAUL STANLEY spoke to Australia's Herald Sun Newspaper recently about a number of topics including performing unmasked, bandmate GENE SIMMONS and turning 55. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Herald Sun: You're touring your first solo album in 28 years, Live to Win. How is it playing without wearing make-up and no special effects?

Stanley: "Surprisingly for some, there's arguably more power than some of the arena shows we do with Kiss. There's nothing there to confuse anyone as to what the source of the power is. It's deadly good fun. This whole tour has reconnected for me why I got into music in the first place. I remember going to concerts as a kid, seeing JIMI HENDRIX or LED ZEPPELIN playing for a couple of thousand people. It wasn't about big-stage presentations, it was about big belief in music."

Herald Sun: The setlist contains a handful of solo songs and many Kiss songs.

Stanley: "There's so many great songs to play it'd be foolish to deny myself or the fans all the great tunes I've written that KISS does. You hear all those songs the way they were supposed to sound. I wasn't interested in changing Love Gun into a reggae tune."

Herald Sun: You're refreshingly honest about KISS fans not wanting to hear new material when you play. How have they reacted to hearing new Paul Stanley songs on this tour?

Stanley: "It's gone down tremendously. People come knowing they are going to get a night of me. I believe this is a very intimate, but very potent evening. I don't know who's smiling more, us on stage or the audience."

Herald Sun: The setlist features a few more obscure Kiss songs...

Stanley: "The show is about me doing my favourite songs. It was really that simple. By chance or circumstance, some of my favourite songs are songs Kiss hasn't played or has rarely played. This is about specifically doing something that is catering to me, my likes, and it's nice to not have to compromise or dilute them."

To read the entire interview head to this location.

Stanley's Australian tour dates include:

April

11 - Gold Coast - Twin Towns
13 - Wollongong - Entertainment Centre
14 - Newcastle - Entertainment Centre
16 - Sydney - Enmore Theatre
20 - Melbourne - Palais Theatre
24 - Perth - Burswood Theatre
26 - Adelaide - Thebarton Theatre