I was lucky enough as a kid to spend most of my weekends at the Fillmore East. On a great night, that was like a Holy Roller evangelical church.
When rock & roll is done with that fervor, it's close to gospel.
Democracy in the studio is overrated. What you wind up getting is compromise on everybody's part, which means that nobody has their way, and that means nobody wins, including the fans.
You can't enter the Olympics unless you do your routine to get in shape for it. The idea of going out on stage on a tour without having prepped for it would be suicide, literally.
I've seen people around me write books, and somehow they're always in the center of everything that happened; they were the one who made it happen. There's been a lot of those books that didn't really interest me much.
I was a chubby boy. My pants used to wear out in the middle, and it was because my legs used to rub together. I wasn't obese, just chunky.
The financial reward is great and I love the life I have, but all money makes possible is for you to stop worrying about money. Then you have freedom to live your life.
I'm a great believer in not over-thinking lyrics. You might become technically better as a songwriter, but you lose what originally made your songs great.
The only thing I can say is consistent in all my paintings is vivid color.
Whenever anybody comes to me with a way that I can give something back, it would be ungrateful at this point in my life to not say yes.
I think KISS has always been about celebrating self-empowerment. Celebrating the idea that anything is possible with determination and hard work.
Nothing could ever stop Kiss. I've seen the band in down times where critics were like vultures circling overhead saying things like, 'Well, you know it's the end of your career.'
The great thing about rock-n-roll is you realize the top of the mountain is big enough for more than one band.
A Kiss concert experience is like sex or anything else that's done with more that one person. It's the give and take that makes it so great. When the audience takes it to the next level, we can kick it up another notch.
Credibility is someone else's idea of what I should be doing.
Youth is incredible because you really do feel invincible.
People relate to the spirit of the band, which is to live your way and succeed on your own terms. There's no hypocrisy in being successful and still railing against conformity.
I tend to fly a bit under the radar.
When you're in a position to have gotten so much, the gift at this point is giving back.
KISS has always been outside of the borders of what other bands can do. Not that some of these other bands wouldn't want to do it - the fact that they may snicker or look down their noses at what we do is more out of jealously than anything else.
When you start fooling around with drugs, you're hurting your creativity, you're hurting your health. Drugs are death, in one form or another. If they don't kill you, they kill your soul. And if your soul's dead, you've got nothing to offer, anyway.
My workout is always with a trainer because, quite honestly, I don't think most people are motivated enough to do what they need to on their own. You either need a spotter or you need a trainer. You need somebody there to push you to get that extra five.
There's a difference between standing up and telling people what you're planning to do and standing up and going and accomplishing something.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is marketing. You've got a bunch of faceless people in a back room who trademark a name that sounds very official. Well, if you had thought of it first, you would have been the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In order to be comfortable with other people, you have to be comfortable with yourself.
You're at your best when you don't know what you're doing.
Your life and destiny are determined to a large extent by your participation in the outcome.
To go from being an unpopular, chubby little kid who was chasing girls and couldn't seem to catch them, to being chased after and making sure I ran slow enough that I did get caught, it was 180 degree turn. It was being given the keys to the candy store.
The ultimate rebellion wasn’t fighting the system, it was circumventing the system and living your life fully.
You get nothing with a fist that you can’t get in multitudes with your hand open.
When you reach a point where you can distinguish between the things you thought you wanted and the things you actually need, that is an epiphany.
Judging others and being quick to criticize just pollutes your life. Learning how to open your hand is the best thing you can possibly learn.
What it comes down to is, Kiss has always been a beast that has this tendency to run wild, and it needs attention and nurturing. If people are always running off and doing other projects, which has been the case, somebody has to be there for stability.
