Gene Simmons says Kiss’ infamous black and white make-up was ‘warpaint’.
Gene Simmons, Kiss. photo by Ros O'Gorman
The rocker explained that the face paint made them feel empowered and created a sense of belonging between band members.
Frontman Gene used to think The Beatles were a family because they had identical haircuts, and wanted to create a similar effect of unity.
‘[The make-up] was warpaint. Make-up does not give it enough respect. We played a place called the Daisy. There couldn’t have been more than 50 to 100 people there. When we looked across the stage, we felt as if we belonged together,’ he told British newspaper The Guardian. ‘I remember seeing the Beatles as a kid and thinking there must have been a Beatle mother ’cause they all looked like they were connected. There’s no question that our outfits and our boot-heels and our make-up was a unique definition of who we were and helped us become who we are.’
Band mate Paul Stanley shared another strategy that Kiss used to make the group look popular in the early days.
The guitarist-and-singer explained that it was important to create a myth of success, even though they were struggling at the time.
(The new Kiss single Hell or Hallelujah is out now).
‘We had a rule that we wouldn’t play more than once every eight or 12 weeks because we wanted people to think we were busy. We were literally sitting in our loft starving and rehearsing. And then we would go out and do a show and I would say, ‘It’s great to be back ‘ we’ve been gone!’ We weren’t anywhere. But it was about creating this mythology from the ground up,’ he said.
Check out their recent MONSTER press conference below.
Also if you haven’t already seen it check out our exclusive interview with Gene Simmons – just below – at the Sanctum Hotel in central London where we found out about his love of British music, why politics is overrated and why he believes a good beating for Axl Rose would have solved all Guns and Roses’ problems.
