Gene Simmons won’t make new KISS album 'unless there’s a financial model that works'
KISS bassist Gene Simmons says the band won’t make another album as they don’t make enough money from them.
Insisting that “KISS is not a charity”, The Demon said the advent of downloading and file sharing over the past two decades has sucked the money out of making music.
In a typically candid interview with The SDR Show (via Blabbermouth), Gene was asked what inspires KISS to make new music now that they’ve been together for 43 years.
He responded: "That's less of an incentive, because (of) downloading and file sharing, people have convinced themselves they don't wanna pay for stuff. And last time I checked, KISS is not a charity.
“We're philanthropic, but I'll be the one that decides how much I give and where. I don't want some college kid to decide, 'You have enough money. I don't wanna pay for your record.' Okay, then go download and Radiohead record and see what happ… No, I ain't about that."
Gene continued: “Make a distinction between commerce and philanthropy. So the idea of doing another KISS record, unless and if there's a financial model that works, personally I'm not interested in it."
Elsewhere in the interview, Gene was asked whether KISS have ever come close to call it a day throughout their career: "Yes. A few times. When Ace (Frehley) and Peter (Criss), our beloved original members and brothers and all that stuff, we started the band together, when they succumbed to the cliché of clichés - drugs and alcohol.
“I mean, I can almost understand it if it was unique, but it's, like, really? Hasn't it been done by everybody yet? At least when (Kurt) Cobain blew his head off, you go, 'Ah, cool.' You know, fast, thank you, bye. You're not gonna torture anybody else. And he was not a happy camper by all indications, so…”
KISS are coming to the UK this May to play four arena shows in what will be their first full UK tour since 2010’s Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour.
Tickets are on sale from Planet Rock Tickets right now. See them at the following shows:
MAY 2017
Glasgow SSE Hydro – Sat 27th
Birmingham Barclaycard Arena – Sun 28th
Manchester Arena – Tue 30th
London O2 Arena – Wed 31st