Dan Lorenzo recently conducted an interview with KISS frontman Paul Stanley for Steppin' Out Magazine. The following is an excerpt from the interview:

DL: You went to high school for Music and Art. Why did you wait so long to start doing something with your artwork?

Stanley: "Well, I’ve always been involved in different forms of art. Really what happened was, I kind of soured on art because I enjoy doing things of my own volition, you know, my own decision. When people are telling me what they expect, and what their deadlines are.....structuring too much takes the fun out of it. I don’t mind working seven days a week, but it has to be by my own decision. I don’t like to work up to other people’s ideas or expectations, so I kind of veered away from art. It sounds very good that I went to The High School of Music & Art, but I actually failed Art."

DL: Really? In the book Behind The Mask it said you got a 99 in Music and Art while at school.

Stanley: "Yeah....maybe 99 out of 1,000. It sounds good (laughs). Not to negate my ability, I just didn’t enjoy the mentality."

DL: So are you a late bloomer as far as art is concerned?

Stanley: "Well, it depends on when you’re planning on bringing the curtain down. I’m not a late bloomer. Life is for discovering opportunities up until the end. My intention is to be around for quite a while."

DL: Right now, do you have more confidence as a songwriter or as an artist?

Stanley: "Confidence has to do with living up to what other people expect of me or what I expect of me. I have total confidence in myself. Whether or not anyone else likes what I do has never been important. That’s probably what got me where I am. My belief has always been, if I please myself I’ll probably find somebody else that’s pleased. I don’t do things to get a compliment from somebody else. It has to originate with me. Am I confident? Yeah, I’m confident that I can please myself."

Go to this location for the complete interview: