Gene Simmons:
Mo Money, Mo Money, Mo Money!
By Jon Wiederhorn

Part 1: Motivation: Women or Money?
For nearly three decades, Kiss has been the scourge of critics and the religious right, and though moralists may be the last to admit it, Kiss, in all its fiery, sanguine glory is rooted in some of the most sacred of American values: democracy and free enterprise. It’s the band’s unswerving commitment to those values that ultimately put the naysayers in their place. Despite a dearth of positive feedback from media pundits, the people who buy records and concert tickets have given Kiss all the praise it ever really needs. Kiss suffered some fallow years following the removal of its make-up in the early ’80s but it eventually heeded the call of its die-hard fans – donning the grease paint once more and embracing the old stage schtick. The ’90s have been good for Kiss, and Gene Simmons, the marketing mogul behind its long-lived success, is a repository of pragmatic music business advice.

Musician.com: What's the most rewarding aspect of having been a musician for so many years?

Gene Simmons: Don't let anybody tell you otherwise because any musician that tells you otherwise is lying to you. At the end of the day, the most rewarding thing -- and here's some cold water in your face -- is money. It's the obvious thing that everybody thinks about and dreams about because it buys you freedom. A record company, for example, forces you to do a certain kind of music, and you're thwarted. Once you get money, you can basically flip off everybody and say, "Now I wanna do what I wanna do." You gotta pay your dues, but money gives you the freedom not to pay your dues.

Musician.com: Nine out of 10 people would probably expect you to say the women are most rewarding.

Simmons: It's nice to be up onstage and get laid, but trust me, with money it’s a lot easier. I wanna take the girl to a nice restaurant, I wanna win her over, and all that. If the only thing you ever do with money is give it to charity, you still need money to do that. If you want to buy your mother a house, you need the money. Ultimately, yes, you want to play the music you wanna play, but guess what? If nobody's coming to the party, you're gonna be standing behind the [counter] asking people, "Do you want fries with that?" And you'll still be working for money. So, at the end of the day, the reward is money.

Simmons: Getting along with your bandmates is not important at all. Don't look for friends. Look for professionals -- people who show up on time and do the work. If what you've got in common is friendship that will soon go out the window as soon as you step onstage and everybody hogs the spotlight. So, forget friends, forget even compatibility and chemistry. Get the best guys for the job, period. Do the job you wanna do on the stage. Do it professionally, then split and never hang out together. Who says you've gotta be friends? When a plumber goes to work at a job, it's not about making friends. When you're in a band, it's a job. And you're blessed because you have very few hours, and the only thing you have to be is professional. Show up on time, do your job and then go home.

Musician.com: But at least in the beginning, don't you have to co-exist with your bandmates when you’re still in the van phase?

Simmons: The only place you have to really co-exist is in the studio and onstage. The rest of the time you can sleep in different bunks. The idea of getting married to your bandmates is lunacy. If Lennon and McCartney, who were like brothers, finally reached the end of their rope, don't think that you can keep a friendship together. Even brothers kill each other. Ray Davies and Dave Davies [of the Kinks] had swing-outs right onstage. So don't look for friends in bands. Just look for professionals. You'll do better.

Musician.com: What would you recommend to musicians who have a band together but don't have recognition or money?

Simmons: No matter what, it ultimately comes down to songs. People have to like what you're doing. But I would completely ignore the white rap rock thing because I don't know how long that's gonna last even though I think Limp Bizkit and Korn are fun, and everybody's having a good time doing that. I don't know that that's a home run. It's gonna be the next kid with a guitar around his neck from Minnesota or Austin or someplace who's got something to sing. Have some pride in your appearance. If you want to look like a bum, get up onstage and really look like a bum. If you want to look like a real star, really dress up. Whatever you do, the reason the stage is elevated is it's an exaggeration of whatever it is that you want to do. You can just be a musician, and that's fine. Musicians play in jazz clubs all their lives and starve to death. Do you want to be a musician or do you want to be a star? If you want to be a star you've gotta think about more than just the music.

Simmons: Don't worry about that. People will tell you what's good. People will either like it or they won't. That's all there is. The rest of it is conversation. I went to see Joseph Fiennes in “Shakespeare in Love,” which was a big hit worldwide. I still don't get it. The guy's four feet tall and looks like Charley Chaplin or Prince. And this is the guy that Gwyneth Paltrow is supposed to be falling in love with. But my opinion doesn't count because it's only one opinion. At the end of the day all the women swooned at this guy. The public has spoken. So don't worry about whether you think it's a good song or somebody else thinks it's a good song. Ask people. They'll tell you. Ultimately, you've got to sell the music to people. They're the beginning and the end of it. To this day Keith Richards doesn't think "Satisfaction" is a good song. So what? We, the people have spoken otherwise. We've said, "It is a good song, and here's the money to prove it."

Musician.com: Do you have any advice for bands who are looking to put their first demo together?

Simmons: Don't worry about making it slick, just put it down. Don't worry about digital or analog. Don't worry about anything. You'll be able to hear the song. And you have a lot of freedom nowadays. If the record company won't do it, get on the Internet. For every day you sit on your butt whining, some other band is out there getting a head start. And the most important thing: no booze and no drugs. And no girlfriends. Get them out of the way, all that stuff, because I love all those bands -- Kurt Cobain and Jerry Garcia. I wish every band would be heroin addicts and kill themselves. Get out of my way. See, every band that wants to argue and break up makes more room for me. I'll be like the cockroach. I will outlive you all. Only the champions survive. You've gotta be professional.

Musician.com: Is choosing a good producer important?

Simmons: No, because if you don't have it, you're not going to be able to sugar-coat s--t. You have to have something going on. And good producers aren't going to work on the amateur level. Remember, they want to get paid, too.

Musician.com: Is it important to listen to the advice of managers, producers and A&R men?

Simmons: Yeah, listen to everybody. Listen to the bum on the corner. Listen to the managers. Then at the end of the day, you've got to decide for yourself.

Musician.com: What do you do if you're an artist who has been pigeonholed as being part of a specific genre like stoner rock or rap-metal?

Simmons: It seems to me, the only way to survive a genre is not to be aligned with it. If I was Fred Durst [of Limp Bizkit], on the next record I would sing. I would do something that's not part of the thing. Although right now, he's riding the press, and that's great. I like Fred. I think he's very bright, very clever. The danger of course of putting all your eggs in one genre is if you're a grunge band, once grunge dies, you're dead. If you align yourself with the movement you're gonna be like s--t. As soon as the bowel moves, you're out.