By Jeff Maisey
Ace Frehley, best known as the lead guitar welding Spaceman character in the original lineup of glam metal band KISS, will plug in to the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts on June 4 for an electrifying performance of his solo hits like “New York Groove,” “Gimme A Feelin’,” and “Rockin’ with The Boys” as well as his classics from his makeup wearing days with Gene, Paul, and Peter such as “Shock Me,” “Rocket Ride,” and “Two Sides of the Coin.”
He’s currently touring in support of a 2024-released hard rockin’ album — “10,000 Volts” — powered by sizzlin’ title track and must-hears “Cherry Medicine” and “Fightin’ for Life.”
I caught up with Ace a few years back. Here’s an excerpt from our phone conversation.
When the members of KISS set out to make solo albums back in 1978, was there a competitive spirit to see whose album would sell best?
Frehley: Oh, yeah. Before we all left to do our own records we had a big meeting. I might have read it wrong but the feeling I got from Paul [Stanley] and Gene [Simmons] was… I remember them saying to me, ‘Hey, if you need any help on your record don’t hesitate to call.’ But I perceived it as a condescending comment, like you’re going to need help or something. Gene had everybody and his brother on his record. I did my whole record on my own with me and Anton Fig on drums. I guess my head was in a good place at that time.
What were the best years of KISS in terms of camaraderie?
Frehley: In the early days there was a lot of camaraderie. I used to room with Gene. We used to stay at Holiday Inns. Paul and Peter [Criss] roomed together. There was a lot of insanity, a lot of girls, a lot of parties, a lot of crazy times. I don’t regret any of it, you know?
Where did the smoking guitar idea come from in your KISS days?
Frehley: I came up with the idea one day when I was up in Canada on the road and bought some smoke bombs. I ended up putting one in the volume control compartment of my Les Paul. I knew there was a canal because the wires had to go to the pickups. I figured if I lit off a smoke bomb in there it would have to seep out from around the pickup, and it worked, but it ended up screwing up the volume and tone control. I did that a couple of times, and then I ended up getting together with an engineer, and we routed out the back of the guitar and put in a metal box, and the smoke came out of the guitar pickup closest to the neck, which was actually a fake pickup.
In 1987, when “Frehley’s Comet” debuted at No. 43 on the Billboard 200 album chart, did you feel vindicated?
Frehley: From the time I had the success with my (first) solo album I knew that I had to leave the group and make my own way. There was a lot more I needed to express both artistically and musically that I couldn’t do in KISS, because everybody wanted to sing lead, everybody wanted the spotlight. It was always a power struggle. I was just noticing some (KISS) videos recently that had been re-edited where I don’t get as much spotlight as I originally had. It’s just stupid stuff like that, you know? My biggest problem was once I got away from them and I got on my own, I was left to my own devices. Being a party animal ended up doing me in for a while.
