Their faces are unforgettable. The Demon. The Starchild. The Spaceman. The Catman. Since 1973 these four figures, guised as screaming mimes from hell, have become synonymous with some of the greatest rock 'n' roll music of our time. They are Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, better know as, of course, KISS. However, what often goes unrecognized is that in the thirty plus years of KISStory, these four figures were not the only ones responsible for the music that has created an entire army of fans that keeps growing every year. In fact, since Peter Criss left the band in 1979 there have been six additional members of this legendary band. Recently we had the opportunity to talk to one of those members - guitarist Bruce Kulick who played lead guitar for KISS from 1984 until 1996.

Bruce first gained the attention of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley when his brother, record producer and long time friend of the band, Bob Kulick suggested to Paul and Gene to try Bruce out when they were seeking to replace guitarist Mark St. John. Now at this time in KISStory, KISS had turned their backs on the elaborate costumes, identifiable make up and super heroic stage antics. However, despite the fact that KISS resembled just another of the 1980s' hair bands that were popular at the time, KISS still managed to keep their fan base and their status on the rock 'n' roll landscape. Now Bruce was no stranger to the world of rock. Having toured as a guitarist on Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell tour in 1977, as well as starting the band Blackjack with future adult contemporary mega-star Michael Bolton, Bruce Kulick was a seasoned musician that had what it took to play alongside Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Eric Carr. Thus, for the next twelve years Bruce Kulick paid his dues by touring, playing and living as one of the KISS family, only to finally leave KISS when original guitarist Ace Frehley rejoined the band for the Reunion Tour in 1996. However Bruce's musical journey didn't end there. Forming Union with former Motley Crue vocalist John Corabi and currently playing lead guitar for another classic music group, Grand Funk Railroad, Bruce also has found time to record and release three solo projects of his own. Yet despite these post-KISS successes, Bruce Kulick is still very much a member of the KISS family. Once KISS grabs on to you it never really lets you go. A regularly featured guest at KISS expos all over the United States, Bruce was also recently called upon by Paul Stanley to play bass on his new solo album, "Live to Win".

We were fortunate enough to make contact with Bruce through Wendy Moore, author of the tell-all book "Into the Void... with Ace Frehley" and a former girlfriend of the Spaceman himself. Now, Verne has been a KISS fan for about two decades longer than I have, and knows more about KISStory than I ever will. After a series of e-mails between Verne and Bruce, we finally set up a late night phone interview with Bruce in September, 2006. Now for this one I kind of sat back and let Verne take this one. It was truly his night. What followed was a forty five minute conversation with one of the most down to earth celebrities I've ever had the pleasure to talk with. I mean, Bruce may not have had to wear the makeup and he may not have an action figure (not yet anyway) but get ready to learn what it's really like to be a part of the KISS family as

CONFESSIONS OF A POP CULTURE ADDICT IS PROUD TO PRESENT

KISSTORY LESSON:  A CONVERSATION WITH BRUCE KULICK

Verne and I got in touch with Bruce Kulick in September 2006 via phone from his home in Los Angeles, California.

Bruce Kulick: Hello

Verne Pickford: Bruce?

Bruce: Yeah. How's it goin'?

Verne: Good! How are you?

Bruce: Alright.

Verne: Great. Great. Well I'm actually very happy that I'm finally getting able to talk to you. No more emails.

Bruce: Well just wait one second. Let me go get on a clearer phone. Are you on speaker phone?

Verne: I am.

Bruce: Oh. Okay. Just wait one second.

(Bruce goes away)

Bruce: Hello?

Verne: Hi.

Bruce: Yeah. That's better I think. And if something happens and we get disconnected just call back because I got the ringer on.

Verne: Bruce, what I want to do first off is say thank you so much for taking time to talk with us.

Bruce: That's cool.

Verne: I really appreciate your patience with all the emails.

Bruce: Yeah, it just turned out that every time you wanted to do this I wasn't really available. What part of Canada are you from?

Verne: Just probably an hour and a half out of Toronto.

Bruce: Oh cool. Okay. Well it's late there now.

Verne: Yeah. It's just after eleven here actually. Well what I want to do here Bruce is to tell you that I have my partner here, Sam Tweedle.

Sam: Hi Bruce.

Bruce: Hi. How's it goin'?

Sam: Good, good.

Verne: And hopefully, if it's okay, we're both going to ask some questions.

Bruce: Sure. Okay.

Verne: Perfect. So I think what I'd like to start off with is what are you doing now? What are you working on right now?

Bruce: What am I doing now? Well, lots of exciting things. There's going to be a record that Eric Singer and I finished up with. We sometimes do this side project called "The Eric Singer Project" and I just finished producing and finishing a live record that we did in Japan. I'll actually have them in my hands by the top of next week and that'll be available through... well there will be a link on my website where there will be a piece on that and there will be a DVD to follow from Australia actually. The band, which consists of Eric, myself and John Corabi on guitar and vocals and Chuck Garrick who's been playing with Eric and Alice Cooper. So ESP is alive and well which is great. And then, of course, I've been busy with... any month I could be doing a Grand Funk Railroad show but the months I get busiest are, of course, the summer and the fall. And we just came back from a show Grand Funk had in New Orleans which was great. A big festival out there. Gotta say I can tell that town's taken a big loss. Then, right after that on Sunday, which was quite exhausting, I had to fly into Allenstown Pennsylvania to do a KISS Expo. I haven't really done many this year but I do enjoy doing them. The fans, of course, are excited because Paul Stanley has a solo album coming out in a couple of weeks and I happen to play bass on a couple of tracks on it.

Verne: And that's one of my questions. I was surprised to hear that you played bass on that.

Bruce: Well actually I play bass on quite a few KISS things too that you're probably not aware of, like "Forever", the single. Actually, "Forever" was a big hit for the band. Quite a few songs on "Revenge" too, I play bass on it. With KISS it was kind of like the Beatles where we would trade off on the guitars so it wouldn't matter. Whatever fits. Paul's always very comfortable with my bass playing and in fact on "Psycho Circus", y'know, on that album, that's me playing bass on that. So yeah, I would have wished to have played some guitar on that too but the producers and the people were saying that it just worked out that I'd be playing bass on the three ballads and not the whole record.

Verne: Yeah, I heard a couple of songs from the album and it sounds great. I'm looking forward to it.

Bruce: Yeah, South Park just used the title track which was crazy. But ultimately I'm not in KISS, but there is always some sort of connection to KISS so that's a good feeling and obviously it's been quite a long journey with them, if you know what I'm saying. And I'm still working on my own solo record which I'm going to start recording in November. It will be my third solo record... I've had two out already. And this week I'll be producing a singer from Texas that I met through some of the Grand Funk people who I think is terrific, so me and the guys who are producing my next solo record will produce three songs for her. I'm always staying busy, y'know. There's always something going on. I cover all of this stuff on my website so feel free to push http://www.kulick.net/.

Sam: We'll be linking your website right to this interview.

Bruce: Okay. Great.

Verne: Well, another thing. Can you tell us about the "Butchering the Beatles" album?

Bruce: Oh yeah. I forgot. That's actually coming out the same day as Paul's record. Well my brother gets involved with these tribute records and most of them I think are terrific y'know, but I'm especially fond of a Beatles tribute. I wound up doing a track with Kip Winger singing and it's great. "Drive My Car" is the track. I think it'll surprise a lot of people. I really enjoyed doing it.

Verne: Now do you get to work with your brother a lot?

Bruce: Not really. I mean I travel a lot obviously for my work, and he's in his studio a lot, but he tries to bring me in whenever he can and there have been a few events where we both appear. I mean, I couldn't appear at a certain event a few weeks ago and I realized I had a gig and I said Bob would be a great guest and he's done a few KISS Expos as well. And earlier this year we put out a DVD that somebody asked us to do. An instructional DVD.

Sam: I watched a little bit of that on YouTube the other night.

Bruce: It's called "KISS Forever" and I teach five songs and Bob teaches five KISS-related songs and that's the DVD. It's pretty cool. It's doing very well actually.

 Sam: Well you were saying that you're not in KISS anymore but anytime you can get involved that you still do. Now with Gene and Paul and the rest of the guys in the band, do you consider yourselves to be friends or just band mates? Is it a more professional relationship or is it something different?

Bruce: Well it's more of a professional relationship. I mean Gene's not the kind of guy that has friends in the way that you may have friends. Gene is all business. C'mon. He's a cool guy and he's funny and I have a lot of fond memories of having fun with him. Especially during the days that I was in the band but, y'know, when I say part of the family, to them that means everybody that they feel comfortable working with or everybody that they respect and that's great. I mean how many people can say that they can call up Gene Simmons and get a real response. Paul, of course, is a little easier to get closer to in some ways. I've been doing these fantasy camp things as well, these Rock and Roll Fantasy Camps and Paul is scheduled to be a guest in February and as soon as I finished the August one, which was a lot of fun, I actually called Paul up just to make sure he knew that. [I said,] "Look, this is going to be a lot of fun," and I'm not sure what he knew or didn't know, [but I said,] "they'll make it as fun for you as possible too, because I'm involved." Those things I really do enjoy. They're hard work but they're very rewarding.

Verne: Well can you tell us a little bit about the Rock 'n' Roll fantasy camps?

Bruce: Well people spend... I mean David Fisher had this great idea. They spoofed it on "The Simpsons" with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with the fantasy camp but that's exactly what it's about! Of course it's not in the middle of the woods like a bungalow camp. It's in a real professional recording studio, or rather a rehearsal room. In New York it happened to be in the big Gibson facility and another studio and on the last night the bands compete at BB King's which is a nice venue. Here in LA it's at the House of Blues. I know they have plans to take it over to England. He really tapped into something. It's not cheap. I mean people spend, probably with the traveling arrangements and hotels, close to ten grand to be part of the thing for five days so most of the people are professionals; doctors and lawyers and financial people. It's kind of fun for me. I get the reputation of being kinda the boot camp teacher. Y'know, I'm there to make them learn and we don't have a lot of time but it's fun to see them, y'know, to have seven or eight strangers in a room suddenly meld together to become a band and for five days they're visited by all these rock stars. From Dickey Betts and John Anderson and Joe Satriani and that's just to name a few that were at the one I was on.

Verne: Now was Peter Tork at the last one you were on?

Bruce: Yeah! He was one of the counselors actually and I got to speak to him. This friend of mine came, this girl I know from New York, came by to visit me and she was a huge Monkees fan and of course she was gorgeous so he was all over her. So, y'know, it was pretty funny. So I actually got to jam a couple of Monkees songs with him and a couple of the campers in one of the rehearsal rooms and I got all that up on my website. All the pictures and the stories of that. I mean those are the kind of memories that I'll never forget for sure.

Verne: Now correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like up until "Carnival of Souls", you really didn't get to sing and write a lot of KISS stuff. Is that true?

Bruce: Well, right. Well writing, I tried to do the most I could but each album was always a competitive thing between Gene and Paul. Sometimes Gene would be very open to writing with me. Sometime Paul would be. Sometimes they wouldn't be. Y'know, it was always a struggle that way. Like I got four co-writes on "Crazy Nights". It always depended on what was going on. Singing I never really asked about. The only reason I ended up singing "I Walk Alone" which I co-wrote was because, first of all, I had a great point of view about that song and at times it was doomed and we could never figure out what to do with certain sections to make it cohesive and I just never let go of it and I would present it to Gene and show him and go, "no, no, no, look, here's a new demo of it. What do you think?" And for reference I would sing it, and so the co-producer, Toby Wright, actually heard that and said, "y'know, Bruce should sing this," and I think Gene already knew that this might be my last hurrah in the band so... "I Walk Alone". So there you go.

Verne: Do you ever feel that being in KISS at the time never let you grow or write as a singer?

Bruce: Oh no. I knew my role. It's like George Harrison understood. He was a brilliant song writer. He wrote "Something" and some other amazing songs but when you're in a band called the Beatles with McCartney and Lennon there may not be a lot of room for you. I'm not trying to compare KISS exactly with the Beatles but it's a loose analogy to give you an idea. I know I'm very creative and I can write songs and that why I've been so thorough with my solo albums. Look, I always wrote songs when I was in bands with Michael Bolton, Blackjack, and, in fact, one of their songs just got covered by Kanye West, the rap star. So I know what it's like to write songs, but my role in KISS was to be the lead guitarist and if I can contribute a few riffs and present a song, great, but if it doesn't fly and they're going to do it themselves I can't be kicking and screaming. I don't own the band. It wasn't my creation. Obviously Union, everything in Union was almost all co-written by me with John and all the producers, and my solo records I'm writing all the material. So it's just the nature of that situation. That's all.

Sam: Now I find the idea of you and Michael Bolton as a duo in Blackjack to be very odd considering where your musical path has gone compared to where Michael Bolton's musical path has taken him. Bolton has gone into a more adult contemporary/easy listening thing. How did you two originally meet and how did the two of you go in two different musical directions?

Bruce: Well he's from New Haven which is doable because I grew up in New York. It's not a big trip. My brother actually knew him. He was always groomed for success. He definitely had that lead singer rock star kind of thing and he was very much first a blues singer and more R&B rock singer and then, he wanted to be more of a Bad Company meets Whitesnake kind of thing. And then when it didn't work out in a big way he realized that he was a good songwriter and that he was just going to write songs. And then all of a sudden he realizes that some of the stuff he was writing was more "blue-eyed soul" and more and more commercial. More for your Mom than for the rebellious teenager and you know what? He did a good job of it so all of a sudden he started covering songs that fit him that were commercial and then he was writing songs that were more like that and now he's a big star and he's at the Grammys. So it was really incredible to see that happen. Again, it was just his desire for fame and he found a niche that did work for him. It took a long time for him to cut that mullet off.

Verne: Well I wasn't going to say anything. Bruce, now on Eric Carr's CD which you produced and co-wrote the songs, did Eric ever present any of those songs to Gene or Paul? Because "Tiara" is a beautiful song...

Bruce: Well "Tiara" was more for the Rock Heads, the cartoon thing, so that wasn't really presented to those guys. I think it was "Eyes of Love" or "Somebody's Waiting" that was presented to be the ballad on "Hot in the Shade" but, of course, Paul already had, "Forever" and it never happened, you know what I mean? That's the way things like that were kind of going down. So I was just glad to have some of the ideas, as rough as they were, and some of them were more finished than that and I was able to preserve and put it together into some kind of cohesive record of what was left.

Verne: And I'm glad you did because it really is a great CD.

Bruce: Thanks.

Verne: Now with your brother, well, I guess what my question should be is when did you hear your first KISS album?

Bruce: Well I remember my brother bringing home "Destroyer" and I remember the talking car crash radio kind of thing at the beginning of the first song, and then "Detroit Rock City" and right away, as garage band as they sounded, because at the time I'm listening to the Allman Brothers and Yes and I was a fan of the British Blues Invasion so I'm comparing everyone to Led Zeppelin, but I still knew that was a great song and a great record. Bob Ezrin really got them in shape for that album. I knew I heard something special but the whole kinda KISS world really made sense to me when I got to see them play in '78. We were guests of the band because my brother knew Paul pretty well and I was very kind of, "wow, I get it now." It's raw and the show is incredible. These guy may not be of musicianship of the highest caliber but they sure know how to entertain everybody.

Verne: So when you heard "Alive II" and "KISS Killers" did you recognize your brother's playing?

Bruce: Right away. I knew it well. It wasn't a secret to me. Yeah, I think it was kind of funny that people might think that it was Ace.

Verne: I did.

Bruce: Well it's as if you look at the box set, they list tracks where it was clearly Tommy Thayer for Paul Stanley or where it'll say bass is Gene where it's me on "Psycho Circus". So, y'know, whatever. It was a good thing for Bob and it was another KISS connection for the Kulicks.

Verne: Now in the case of Ace's makeup, did KISS ever ask you to put it on before Tommy Thayer?

Bruce: No. Y'know, it's a good question. Of course, fans always want to know if Eric Singer is in Peter's makeup then how come I'm not in Ace's makeup. Y'know, you got to remember the dynamics of how things were running with the band. You got Ace Frehley, who was so important to the history of the band, back in the band and back to being Ace. I mean he's going to have some problems. He's going to be maybe a little unreliable. One time Tommy had to suit up and be ready because Tommy was being the tour manager and helping out and working for the band. Tommy Thayer is a good guitarist. He taught Ace to help him get back in shape before the tour. He was in a tribute band. I mean, of course he had Black N' Blue and it was a fine tribute band for that kind of style of music that was popular then, but he used to be in a tribute band called Cold Gin which I saw once and Jamie St. James, who was the singer in Warrant, he played Peter Criss. And Black N' Blue were a really terrific KISS tribute band and they actually went to Japan and toured a little bit. I had a friend who booked them in some places. So Tommy knew exactly what it was to be Ace Frehley. He did. And then one time, I know for sure, they made him get in the outfit because Ace missed his flight and it looked like he was going to miss the gig and they were not going to not play that gig. The manager made an announcement that Ace wasn't there and that Tommy was playing guitar.

Verne: They did that with Peter.

Bruce: Yeah. They did that once and replace him with the roadie. Exactly. In the end, what I'm saying, is that Ace was stringing along with things and they think they have their guitarist and then they don't and it's like, y'know, it was easy for Tommy just to walk right into that situation. I mean, I had a great gig with Grand Funk. I mean if they approached me and I turned my back on my twelve years of being Bruce to suddenly be Ace Frehley it doesn't feel that great to me. On top of it is just as soon as Ace wants the gig back he just walks right into the gig and I'm losing all my Grand Funk gigs. So I'm kind of glad I wasn't asked. It would have been awkward. I would need some real security for the gig and I don't think that would be something they'd be ready to do - and Tommy, if he didn't end up being on stage with them he'd still be working for them.

Verne: And you just went into my next question which is, would you have worn the make up if they had asked you?

Bruce: Well look. I don't want to lie and say that I don't have a business mind to say, "Well, alright, what are we talking about here? What kind of money are we talking about? What kind of job security are you giving me to do this?" But I don't regret not having the opportunity. Do I miss being in KISS? Of course. I miss playing that music and being with those guys. Yes, as crazy as they are, I always enjoyed it and the fans are the best. You know that. It's a strange situation and I don't see them taking the make up off any time soon. I've done well over these last ten years. I can't really complain. Some years I've had even better years than when I was in KISS in the sense of what I was able to earn. I mean, I can't complain. People recognize my contribution to what I've done and I do it with a lot of integrity and respect to where I was and where I am.

Verne: Well I've really loved the stuff you've done and I'm really looking forward to the "Butchering the Beatles" album.

Bruce: Yeah, "Butchering the Beatles" is really cool. You'll dig it.

Verne: Now to talk about the KISS make up? Why do you think that Gene and Paul are still using Ace and Peter's make up and not making new characters?

Bruce: I think they recognize the kind of... those make up faces are really icons. They've merchandised so much stuff with those styles. It's one thing when they were going through the changes and they had Eric Carr as The Fox and all that but if you think about the history of KISS there is so much weight on what those four characters look like and I think they recognize that and they're really as recognizable as putting out something that means Batman or means Superman. You know what I'm saying?

Sam: Yeah. You can't change the look of something.

Bruce: I mean it's been morphed a million ways. South Park characters to wine bottles. Y'know what I mean.

Verne: But I'm surprised with Gene being such a marketing guy that he wouldn't be, "Okay, I can make two more characters and make more dolls."

Bruce: No. I think they have to use the four original characters. I think you're wrong. I think the smart thing is keeping the four, being extremely identifiable so even if there is a different person behind that persona, if it's not necessarily Ace it's still the Starchild or the Space Ace, or the Cat. I always joked that I'd be the Dog.

Sam: Now you mentioned something about the KISS fans and, of course, the legion of KISS fans, the KISS Army, seems to be a giant drive behind the success of KISS. Now one thing I find is that, well, let's say I'm anywhere in the world and I come across some guy in a KISS shirt that the two of us can immediately connect and we suddenly have that bond. It's like KISS fans are more of a brotherhood than anything else, or that any other band seems to have. What's your take on that? Do you feel as a member of KISS that you see that brotherhood or is it just a business thing?

Bruce: No, I get why the fans really bond together and why they kind of relate. I think a lot of it has to do with... well when I went to the Expo last Sunday this girl that was a good friend of the promoter, well she came to pick me up because the promoter was busy at the show and I came in while the show was actually going on. And we were talking. She's a professional. She's a school teacher and she's probably thirty something years old and she loves KISS and she was ridiculed when she was young for being a KISS fan.

Verne: I went through that as well.

Bruce: She's married and her husband just doesn't get it. He doesn't tell her what to do, but I'm just saying. And I think that's part of the charm. I mean it's not that different from the Star Trek thing or the Star Wars. Y'know what I mean? I mean you're either there or you're not and if you're not then it's like, "Ohh... what's with these guys?" Anime people are kind of like that. I went to an anime convention this year in LA and I was like, "Whoa!"

Sam: That's some crazy stuff, isn't it?

Bruce: Yeah. I mean I think that's kind of cool. I got friends that do the comic book thing and I get what it is to be part of that kind of thing. And I do think what's interesting being a KISS fan is that KISS does represent a simple kind of version of believing in yourself and having a good life and having rock 'n' roll but, at the same time, believing in yourself and believing that you're somebody and not through necessarily getting high on alcohol or drugs or anything like that.

Verne: You know, I agree. I've been a KISS fan since '74.

Bruce: I hate to simplify it that way but when I do see that... when I do see, well, if there was a Guns n' Roses convention I just think there would be more people who would be really out there.

Sam: Well, y'know, I'm not an old school KISS fan. I went through this big period where all I was listening to nothing but Dean Martin and Sinatra and then, about five years ago, I discovered KISS and was suddenly listening to nothing but, and all my friends thought I went crazy!

Bruce: That's exactly what I'm saying. I know it's not for everybody, so for the people that are into it then they understand each other. I saw another couple of friends of mine who are huge KISS fans when I was in New Orleans when I was there for the gig and they brought me downtown and we got to hang out and this woman didn't care about anything else but her KISS collection. We went into Tower Records and I asked her, "Hey, have you heard of this band?" and she said, "No, I don't know who that is." I mentioned Kanye West to her and she never heard of him. The guy sold over ten million records over the last three years and she doesn't know who he is. I mean I made a reference at the Expo about how some of the KISS fans have blinders on and that their whole world and all that they want to listen to is KISS but that's okay though. Certainly enough music from the band through the years and there's so many styles of different music from the band that I was blessed that I was part of a band that has that kind of following.

Sam: Now when you were in the band with KISS, or since then, what is the most mind boggling thing or craziest thing that you've ever seen from a fan?

 Bruce, Now look, and this happens more then once, it's the tattoos. It's like, "Sign my arm. I'm going to tattoo it." Y'know what I'm saying? Someone did that to me at a gig a couple of weeks ago in South Virginia and I'm like, "Okay. Here you go. I'll sign my name," and it's not that easy to sign skin either and then two weeks later there's a photo of my signature inked on a part of some guy's body and I just think that kind of stuff is just crazy. One girl, on her leg, and she was a big girl, but on her leg I... you know, I have some cool 8x10 photos of me and she transferred that entire 8x10 photo and had some guy tattoo the entire thing on her leg. I mean, wow, this is scary. So stuff like that. I'll see guys that have the original four make up faces and then they'll put on Eric Carr and Eric Singer and myself and there is this 3x3 likeness of my "Revenger" face on the guys arm and I'm all, "Twilight Zone". One of my friends the other day was at a shop and found a KISS pillow from the "Hot in the Shade" era. It's here in my living room. He was like, "I found this for you Bruce. Check this out!" I mean it was at a comic book or a toy store type of shop.

Verne: Now Kirk Hammett was saying that nobody makes albums with guitar solos anymore. What do you think about that?

Bruce: Well first of all he's right in a certain way for sure because the lead guitar solo is not in vogue right now but I drive around with a Hendrix record in my car. There might also be a Radiohead record or something new too, but guitar sales have never been bigger ever. People are still fascinated with guitar playing and maybe the importance of a lead guitar solo is not in the forefront right now, but every time Metallica tours and he does a solo in every song they sell out everywhere. What's not on the radio doesn't mean that it's no longer valid.

Verne: Well do you think it's coming back because all the bands like Guns n' Roses are touring?

Bruce: I don't think it completely ever went away. I just don't think it was quite in the forefront or a necessity. A lot of bands are doing an anti-solo which is a couple of octaves kind of thing so instead of playing an e minor octave they play the melody for a moment. New bands like Wolfmother. There's solo there and they're doing well. Y'know it all depends. Good music is always going to rise to the top.

Verne: It's funny because I was an educational assistant for a lot of years and a lot of the kids I was teaching were sixteen and seventeen and a lot of them would come to me that were playing guitar and would say, "I wish I grew up in the 80s when Randy Rhodes and guys like that were playing."

Bruce: Well with this fantasy camp thing everybody plays and the guys that plays solos. They get featured in a solo in a song that you covered and usually you're not covering a song that came out in the last five years or maybe in ten years, y'know, but there's room for it all the time.

Verne: Now for someone who is just picking up the guitar, how long do you recommend that they should practice?

Bruce: Well look, you got to get your fingers strong enough so that you can make chords sound like chords and you need to obviously be patient with that. Somebody was just telling me about how they got a guitar, it was the girl that picked me up for the expo, and she couldn't believe how painful it was just to hold the string down. But like everything else you got to learn to walk before you run and you got to take the time and get it going and I couldn't say. It's different for everybody. If you can an put in a half an hour or an hour every day or every other day. It's like working out or training. It's similar to that. You'll see a real improvement in a couple of weeks. You'll see a real development of those muscles and you'll start getting some results.

Verne: Now do you think somebody should start getting the chords down or should they get right into learning songs?

Bruce: Oh, I think chords are much more important, and then eventually learning some skills as well as soon as they have some independence of the fingers, and then putting them all together.

Verne: Well, actually, I'm just learning to play so that's why I'm asking, and my fingers are sore.

Sam: I do a kick ass version of Love Gun!

Bruce: Uh...okay.

Verne: Okay, last question.

Sam: Last question.

Bruce: Okay.

Verne: In ten words or less can you describe each KISS member? Let's start with Gene.

Bruce: All business and very funny. I'm saying that because of the A&E show. Have you guys had a chance to see it?

Verne: Oh yeah. It's on Monday nights here.

Bruce: That's the kind of fun I remember having with him. I'm very proud of him letting people see that side of him where his kids can make fun of him. I think it's very good.

Verne: Okay, and how about Paul?

Bruce: Paul's the ultimate rock star. He fits the role perfectly.

Verne: Ace.

Bruce: That is a real spaceman. I'll never be able to figure him out.

Verne: Peter.

Bruce: Well he seems to have nine lives like a cat but I don't understand his, y'know... where's his solo music? What's going on with him?

Verne: I'm waiting for his book that he keeps talking about.

Bruce: Yeah, his book. Lydia Criss was at the expo and her book looks very good actually. She saved everything from those years.

Sam: Do you know when that'll be ready to go?

Bruce: I think she's taking pre-orders and it'll be shipping soon. Check it out at http://www.lydiacriss.com/.

Verne: Eric.

Bruce: You mean Eric Carr?

Verne: Yes.

Bruce: Well, very, very talented and very funny. Tragic ending.

Verne: Vinnie Vincent.

Bruce: Talented and I would say complicated.

Verne: Okay, Mark St. John.

Bruce: I will use one of Paul's quotes: "That's the pope who died."

Verne: Eric Singer.

Bruce: He's a wild man and a good friend.

Verne: And then I guess... Bruce Kulick!

Bruce: Umm... y'know, sensitive, talented and maybe naive.

Verne: Again, I want to thank you for taking the time.

Sam: Thank you so much Bruce.

Bruce: Did I get your email originally from Wendy Moore?

Verne: I was just going to say, Wendy asked me to say hello.

Bruce: Good. Thanks. Let her know I spoke with you.

Verne: I will.

Bruce: You know, I hadn't read her book until about three weeks ago.

Verne: Oh really?

Bruce: Well I remember when she first came out with it and she told me, "Oh, you're in here and I say some really nice things about you," but she never got around to saying, "Hey, here's your copy," and I never got around to saying that I wanted one. I hadn't seen her in a while and we caught up a little bit. Not so much professionally. More on a personal level and we were talking and then my lawyer said to me, "Have you read Wendy Moore's book?" I said, "I looked through it at an expo two years ago but no." Well he said, "Oh. You gotta get it. You gotta get it." So I emailed Wendy and she sent it out to me and I travel all the time and I'd be sitting on a plane and reading it and laughing out loud because it was really funny. What I really enjoyed about the book was that she didn't... well she was honest about her own issues too, and stuff like that, instead of only trying to say that Ace did this and this and this and I was Ms. Goody Two Shoes.

Verne: And she makes it very clear that she made her own choices.

Bruce: Yeah. Absolutely, and I'm glad I read it. I didn't think it would be as interesting and I don't know if I can get the vision out of my head of her having some sort of masturbation thing with Ace and mentioning my name in the middle of it and it's just not something I can seem to get out of my head.

Verne: So did you get to see Wendy when she played at the Cat Club?

Bruce: No, I missed her that time but there will be another time when I'll get to see her play, for sure.

Verne: Well I know she is really looking forward to you checking out her show.

Bruce: Well I'll send her an email that we spoke.

Verne: Great!

Bruce: By the way guys, make sure you mention http://www.kulick.net/.

Sam: Oh, we will.

Bruce: And good luck with everything that you're doing with your website.

Sam: Thank you so much Bruce!

Verne: Thanks Bruce.

Sam: Thank you so much for talking to us!

Bruce: Alright. No problem.

And so ended our visit with former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick. Both Verne and I were very happy, but it wasn't really until the next morning that it sunk in that I had just had a once in a lifetime experience talking to a member of one of my very favourite bands in the world. Talking to Bruce really brought home why I love this gig so much. It's talking to down to earth, nice guys like Bruce who have experienced so many musical triumphs and encounters with some of the rock legends of our time. Bruce Kulick is the real deal and valuable player in our collective pop culture journey.

(POP CULTURE ADDICT NOTE: I'd like to add a note of thanks to Wendy Moore for helping Verne and I set up our interview with Bruce Kulick. Please take time to check out Wendy's website at http://www.wendymooreauthor.com and be sure to check out her book "Into the Void...With Ace Frehley" and, if you're in the LA area, also check out her band, Venus Envy. Thanks again Wendy and we wish you all the best of luck.)

All content copyright Sam Tweedle 2006.

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