The Tapes Archive

Marc Allan: This is Marc.

Ace Frehley: Marc, it’s Ace Frehley.

Marc Allan: Ace, how you doin’?

Ace Frehley: Hey, what’s goin’ on?

Marc Allan: Not too much, where are you today?

Ace Frehley: I’m in New York.

Marc Allan: Are you,

Ace Frehley: Where are you?

Marc Allan: I’m in Indianapolis.

Ace Frehley: All right.

Marc Allan: Where you’ll be next week, I guess. So are you takin’ some time off from the road now, or you’re in between shows?

Ace Frehley: Yeah, I’m off for two days. Then we head out to the Midwest.

Marc Allan: Let me start out by asking you, you’ve had a long career and there’s apparently more to come. And I’m interested in your perspective on this. Tell me what’s great about rock and roll, and what sucks about rock and roll.

Ace Frehley: What’s great about rock and roll is performing. What sucks is the traveling and all the other bullshit besides performing. Performing is the ultimate. Everything else is bullshit, you know. The traveling, the hotels, room service. They always forget something. You know, that kinda shit. You have to put up with that shit.

Marc Allan: So it’s–

Ace Frehley: So one-and-a-half hours a day is great. The other 22-and-a-half suck.

Marc Allan: Okay. You’re between labels now, is that right?

Ace Frehley: Correct.

Marc Allan: And I guess the last solo album was about four years ago. Is being a solo artist significantly harder for you?

Ace Frehley: It’s been a harder road since I left KISS, sure. Basically it’s just, Ace Frehley is the name that everybody recognizes. The other three members of my band, you know, aren’t superstars. So it’s not the same. So it’s a harder road for me to secure a record deal and so on and so forth. We’ve been negotiating with three or four different labels, and I think, I’m very confident that by the end of the summer we’ll have a record deal.

Marc Allan: Why do you think it’s been so much harder, I mean other than not having the other members of the band be famous and all that? You’re pretty famous.

Ace Frehley: Well, my reputation hasn’t been that great.

Marc Allan: Yeah, what’d you do?

Ace Frehley: What did I do?

Marc Allan: Yeah, what did you do to earn your reputation?

Ace Frehley: Have you read the press on me for the past 10 years?

Marc Allan: On and off, and I’ve heard some stories and stuff.

Ace Frehley: Okay, let’s just say I’m the Keith Richards of rock and roll in America.

Marc Allan: Are you still the Keith Richards of America?

Ace Frehley: I’ve been sober now over a year, and it feels great. So hopefully the record companies will take notice of that, especially when they hear our new material, which is probably some of the best stuff I’ve ever done.

Marc Allan: Do you feel more inspired? Is it easier to write now, being sober?

Ace Frehley: I don’t know if I feel more inspired. I just, it’s just different. I approach things a little more analytical, whereas when I was stoned I used to just write songs without thinking. So now I think a little more. Hopefully, my fans will think this next album will be a better record than I’ve done in the past. I mean, I hate to say better. I think it’s gonna be a great record. It’s gonna be heavier than the last album.

Marc Allan: Do you mind talking a little bit about sobriety, is that all right?

Ace Frehley: No, I don’t mind.

Marc Allan: Okay, what I wanted to ask I guess is do you look back on days of drugs and alcohol with regret?

Ace Frehley: No, I think it was a learning process. I don’t regret anything I’ve done in my life. You live and you learn.

Marc Allan: So tell me some things you’ve learned.

Ace Frehley: Oh, I’ve learned that that’s not the road that I should take at this point in my life. When you’re in your 20s, maybe you should experiment with drugs and alcohol. I don’t know. I don’t like to preach. I don’t like to tell people not to drink or not to take drugs. All I know is for me right now, they don’t work. So I don’t do ’em.

Marc Allan: Having done my share of drugs my own self.

Ace Frehley: Excuse me?

Marc Allan: I’m saying that I did my share of drugs myself. I did my share of drugs too, and I wonder if, when you look back on it, you think that there was part of it that you attained like a higher state of consciousness.

Ace Frehley: Higher state of consciousness?

Marc Allan: Yeah, I don’t mean high high, but I mean–

Ace Frehley: I would say just a different state of consciousness.

Marc Allan: Yeah, that you do experience things that you wouldn’t of otherwise experienced, and that some of those are really good memories.

Ace Frehley: Yeah, I had some great times loaded. I had a lotta fun. Things are a lot different now, though, on the road. The whole groupie scene, AIDS. It’s just not the same. Every dog has his day and then there’s a time and a place for everything. And I think right now it’s time for people to calm down and chill out and maybe reevaluate some of their values, because you got people committing suicide. Things are crazy right now. You have the people that are on the edge, and then you have the people that are sane and sober, and the people in the middle that don’t know which way to go.

Marc Allan: Did you have like record company people saying, “Man, you know we’d love to sign you “but we’re afraid of you. “We think you might be bad news”?

Ace Frehley: That was never said to me.

Marc Allan: Was it implied?

Ace Frehley: Not really, I mean look at the Rolling Stones. Why do you think Keith Richards is sober? But they’re the Rolling Stones. Everybody in that group is a superstar. That was the point I was trying to make before. When I was in KISS, everybody in the group was a superstar. So when you’re a solo artist, it’s a lot harder to convince a record company that, you know, I mean if Keith Richards died tomorrow they’d find somebody to fill in and it would still be the Rolling Stones. The same way when Brian Jones died. If I died, I have three hired guns. And that would be the end of the band. That’s the gamble and that’s the risk that people are taking. So a record company would think a lot more to take a chance with just a solo artist. With three unknowns, there’s a lot more of a risk than signing four people that are rockstars. Would you agree?

Marc Allan: Yeah, I agree with you completely.

Ace Frehley: That’s what I think my problem is, and my problem has been in the past. Also, even though I’ve been sober for a year, a lotta people don’t believe it. That’s a problem too.

Marc Allan: How did you get sober? Did you just decide to clean up, and that was the end, or did you go through a 12-step or?

Ace Frehley: Well, that’s kind of a personal question.

Marc Allan: Okay.

Ace Frehley: I’d rather not discuss that.

Marc Allan: All right.

Ace Frehley: Let’s just say I’m sober and I went for counseling.

Marc Allan: Okay, it’s fashionable for a lot of musicians to say these days that they were influenced by you and influenced by KISS. Have you heard anyone say it who you were particularly proud about?

Ace Frehley: You name every top rock and roll group, and the lead guitar player would probably say I was one of their major influences, from Pearl Jam to Skid Row, to you name it. I took my daughter to see Pearl Jam and the lead guitar player asked me for my autograph. You know, these things happen. You gotta understand that most of the groups that are popular today, when KISS was at their high point in the late ’70s, the guys that are popular today were teenagers. And I was a major influence on the guitar players. A lotta people have come up to me and tell me, you know, if it wasn’t for me they would have never picked up a guitar. “Alive I” and “Alive II” are, they consider their rock and roll bible. I consider that very flattering. If I knew that was gonna be the case I probably woulda practiced a little more. But you know, that’s life. You take it as it comes. It’s nice, you know, I just turned 43 April 27th and it’s nice to wake up without a hangover. Plus I have a 13-year-old daughter. I’m trying to set an example. How can I tell her not to drink beer if I’m getting drunk on beer every day? That just doesn’t fly. I’m trying to set a sober example so my daughter hopefully will turn out a respectable young lady.

Marc Allan: Does she appreciate who you are and what you meant to music?

Ace Frehley: Yeah.

Marc Allan: Oh, she does, okay, that’s good.

Ace Frehley: In fact, she told me the other day that she enjoys watching me perform more so than anyone else.

Marc Allan: And what’s her name?

Ace Frehley: Monique.

Marc Allan: Monique, okay. Were you surprised along the line of all the people who you’ve influenced, were you surprised to find that Garth Brooks and John Michael Montgomery were among the big KISS fans?

Ace Frehley: I was surprised Garth Brooks was. I don’t know, who’s Michael Montgomery?

Marc Allan: John Michael Montgomery, he had a, he has a couple of big hits, country–

Ace Frehley: What style of music?

Marc Allan: He’s a, he’s a country guy.

Ace Frehley: He’s country, so yeah.

Marc Allan: He is.

Ace Frehley: Anybody that’s country, I’m surprised that they were influenced by KISS, because you know KISS and country are so different.

Marc Allan: Yeah, but they seem to have appreciated the theatrics of KISS.

Ace Frehley: That was one of the reasons I left the group, because I consider myself a musician first, entertainer second. And a lotta times the reviews of the group were, you know, “The group was a great show, “and the music was okay.” That bothered me, because I consider myself a good guitar player. When people would say that, “The group is just an average musical band, “but visually were one of the top “theatrical groups in the world,” that bothered me. And I was voted fourth in the world by “Guitar World.” That says something. Even though I never took a lesson. I can’t read a note, and I don’t think Paul and Gene’ll ever be voted, in fact they weren’t even on the ballot. What can I tell you?

Marc Allan: It’s funny that you mentioned that, because the one time that I saw KISS, I think was in ’74 or ’75, and I don’t remember a note of the music but I do remember some of the show. That’s one of the drawbacks of it. Everything takes second place to spitting blood and fire and all that kinda stuff.

Ace Frehley: I mean that, there were evenings when I didn’t drink and I wasn’t as animated on stage. I was a lot more accurate with my playing. And then there were other nights when I got kinda loaded and, you know, ran around on stage and played sloppy. People come up to me and say, “Wow, you played great tonight.” And the nights where I wasn’t as animated, but I played better, they would say, “What, you have a bad night?” That kinda shows you what KISS was all about, was the show first and the music second. That’s okay, I wanted more. And I think my albums since I left KISS show growth and show that I am accomplished musician.

Marc Allan: Were there other reasons that you left besides the music?

Ace Frehley: Well, there was friction between me, Paul and Gene. There were a lotta reasons. I don’t know if you read the article in “Guitar World.”

Marc Allan: No, I didn’t.

Ace Frehley: If you read the article in “Guitar World” where I’m on the cover with Snake from Skid Row and Darrell from Pantera, you’ll get a good handle on why I left. There’s about 20 reasons why I left.

Marc Allan: Is that a current issue or how far back is it?

Ace Frehley: It was out about maybe six months ago. It was one of the biggest sellers, if not their biggest. The rock and roll business is crazy. It’s a roller coaster ride.

Marc Allan: Do you have any relationship with those guys now?

Ace Frehley: I’m good friends with Peter. I just finished playing three guitar solos on his new CD. Recently I spoke to Paul and Gene on a conference call, and we kind of buried the hatchet. It was a nice phone call. I apologized for quitting the group. Gene said to me, “Wow, you sound different.” I said, “Well, it’s because I’m not drunk .”

Marc Allan: Yeah .

Ace Frehley: Who knows what will happen in the future?

Marc Allan: Would you consider goin’ back with them in some capacity?

Ace Frehley: That’s up to them. They own the name and they’d have to approach me. If it was, how should I say? If it was offered to me in the proper way and it was a fair deal, I would seriously consider it.

Marc Allan: A lotta people say that the guys that they’ve gotten since have been maybe technically more accomplished than you, but the emotion and the licks aren’t, I mean they can’t touch you for that. I don’t know if you’ve listened to KISS since you left, but do you have any sense of that? Is that an accurate reading–

Ace Frehley: I think Bruce Kulick is an excellent guitar player. Technically, he’s probably better than me. So are a lot of other guitar players. As you said, when you play, there’s something more than technicality that people judge musicians by. It’s emotion and it’s not how fast you can play. It’s how you play. Some guy can play in the four-bar solo a hundred notes, whereas one guy can play five notes, and the solo with the five notes sounds better. Why, because it has feeling. I consider myself a blues rock guitar player. I was a big fan of B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King. I learned from those guys, Eric Clapton. I think some of the best solos are the solos that you can hum, that you can remember. It’s hard to hum 30-second notes. I think you got my point.

Marc Allan: Tell me about the artwork that you do. It’s sort of explained in the bio, but not completely, so.

Ace Frehley: Well my second love is computer graphics. For the past two or three years I’ve been seriously involved with computer graphics as my second love. Last year I did a show at a gallery where I displayed, it was 16 or 18 pieces of my artwork. And this spring I’m planning a show in New York to display some of my artwork. I’m also getting involved with animation, digital video and, you know, how to play with it and special effects. I have about a $50,000 dollar system.

Marc Allan: What are your solo concerts like? I imagine they’re nothin’ like KISS.

Ace Frehley: My solo concerts?

Marc Allan: Yeah, when you play here, what is your show like?

Ace Frehley: My band?

Marc Allan: Yeah.

Ace Frehley: Well, have you heard any of my albums?

Marc Allan: Yeah, not for awhile, but I heard them when they came out, sure.

Ace Frehley: Well, my style hasn’t changed very much from the style of KISS. I played with KISS for 10 years and basically my style is the same. I’m just a hard rock guitar player. The show that I’m performing now is a lot of old KISS songs and a lot of my favorites. I think it’s songs. That’s my fax line. Oh no, that’s my other line. Hold on a second please.

Marc Allan: Sure.

Ace Frehley: Anyway, where were we?

Marc Allan: All right, you were tellin’–

Ace Frehley: Sorry we were interrupted.

Marc Allan: You were tellin’ me about the, that basically you’re playin’ hard rock.

Ace Frehley: The band.

Marc Allan: Yes.

Ace Frehley: Yeah, the band’s real heavy. It’s similar to KISS. I think we’re better than KISS. I think we play KISS songs better than KISS plays KISS songs. A lotta the songs in the set consist of KISS songs, and also stuff I’ve done since I left KISS.

Marc Allan: What are some of your KISS favorites?

Ace Frehley: “Deuce,” “Detroit Rock City,” “Cold Gin,” which I wrote, “Snow Blind,” which is off my solo album while I was in KISS. “New York Groove,” “Parasite.”

Marc Allan: That’s a pretty good list. Do you miss the big show, big stage?

Ace Frehley: “Strange Ways.”

Marc Allan: Oh, I’m sorry.

Ace Frehley: That’s probably one of my favorite guitar solos. In fact the lead singer from Skid Row, Sebastian Bach told me he always just listened to the solo in “Strange Ways” right before he went on stage, just to get fired up.

Marc Allan: That’s amazing, how many people you’ve affected. Do you miss the stages, big shows, big crowds, the whole rockstar thing?

Ace Frehley: Do I miss arenas? Yes and no, I miss the money.

Marc Allan: Yeah.

Ace Frehley: As far as playing smaller venues, actually I enjoy them more. You know, when you play the big arenas you got that big barricade. You can’t even touch the fans. They’re usually at least 10 feet away from the edge of the stage, whereas when you’re playing a thousand or a 1,500-seat arena, you usually have the ability to at least touch your fans. So it’s a little more intimate. It’s more fun for me, even though it’s not as profitable. That’s okay, I’m not doin’ this for the money. I’m doin’ it because I enjoy performing and I wanna continue to perform.

Marc Allan: What do you think of bands like Strutter and all these other KISS tribute bands?

Ace Frehley: Oh, I’m very flattered that groups emulate KISS. Obviously they’re, the fact that there are so many out there, obviously there’s a market for it. So maybe one day there will be a reunion, if Paul and Gene decide to get smart and cash in on it. But that’s between those guys.

Marc Allan: Yeah, you said you had talked to them on a conference call. Was that initiated by you or by them?

Ace Frehley: Oh that was initiated by our attorneys because we had some business that needed to be discussed, nothing to do with a KISS reunion.

Marc Allan: People have asked me to ask you this. Your image is still on a lotta T-shirts that are around and all that, that are being sold brand new now. Are you–

Ace Frehley: Yeah, KISS puts those out.

Marc Allan: Do you own your own image?

Ace Frehley: No I don’t.

Marc Allan: Oh man, that can’t be easy to take, I would think. That’d be very difficult to look and realize–

Ace Frehley: I can deal with it.

Marc Allan: Can you, okay, okay.

Ace Frehley: I mean, you know, so I designed something. All right, so somebody else owns it, big deal. As far as our contracts are concerned, nobody else can wear my makeup. In other words, let’s say KISS decided to do a KISS reunion without me. They wouldn’t be allowed to do that. They wouldn’t be allowed to dress somebody else up as Ace Frehley. Or if they did a Broadway show like “Beatlemania,” they wouldn’t be allowed to do that legally.

Marc Allan: But they can put your face on T-shirts and sell them.

Ace Frehley: Yes they can.

Marc Allan: Whew, yikes.

Ace Frehley: Big deal, I think it just perpetuates the myth of the group. And if they’re puttin’ my face on T-shirts, obviously they’re doin’ it for a reason. And I think it begins with the word M and ends in the word Y.

Marc Allan: Well, you’re takin’ it pretty well, I guess.

Ace Frehley: Well, you know, what else can I do? I’m really happy with the group I have now. On guitar I have Richie Scarlet helping me out. I have a new bass player called Saul Zonana, S-A-U-L Z-O-N-A-N-A, like banana with a O. And on drums I have Steve Werner, and we’re all from the metropolitan area, you know, the New York area.

Marc Allan: Yeah.

Ace Frehley: And it’s a great lineup. The group is really a kick-ass band and I havin’ more fun now playin’ with these guys than I’ve ever had. So I’m gonna continue to do so, until I get bored. When I get bored I’ll do computer graphics as a living.

Marc Allan: Just a coupla other things, I’ll let you go. For another story I’m workin’ on, I’m asking everybody I interview, if music were like the stock market, and you could invest in some young up-and-coming act, who have you heard or seen that you like?

Ace Frehley: You know, I don’t listen to the radio. When I drive in the car, I don’t listen to the radio. You know, I listen to, I throw in Jimi Hendrix or I throw in Cream or Jeff Beck. I don’t really listen to the radio very much. I’m not too familiar with a lot of the new groups. My daughter helps me out on that, groups like Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots and you know, that whole Seattle sound. She’s into that. That’d be a hard question for me to answer, and I really couldn’t answer it, to be honest with you.

Marc Allan: Yeah, you said you went to see Pearl Jam. Did you like it?

Ace Frehley: I thought they were excellent. The lead singer reminded me of Jim Morrison. You know, kind of like a rock poet.

Marc Allan: With any luck, he won’t meet Jim Morrison’s end.

Ace Frehley: Yeah, I was just thinkin’ about that, yeah. I hope not, ’cause I heard he’s a very depressed guy, very moody like Jim Morrison was. So let’s hope he hangs around awhile.

Marc Allan: The last thing I wanted to ask you is, I’ve talked to a bunch of people around. I called a bunch of people I know who are really huge KISS fans. And they were sayin’ that they had met you at one time or another, and that you always seemed a little pissed off and a little angry. Can that be attributed to the drinking?

Ace Frehley: How recently?

Marc Allan: Oh, this was probably 10 years ago or more.

Ace Frehley: Oh yeah, yeah, ’cause I used to have a hangover in the morning. You know, when kids would come up to me I was always in a bad mood, ’cause I had a headache.

Marc Allan: Yeah.

Ace Frehley: You know, nobody wants to talk to anybody with a headache.

Marc Allan: Well, as long as you’re feelin’ better now.

Ace Frehley: Oh, I’m feelin’ a lot better now.

Marc Allan: Is it harder to do this at 43 than it is at 23?

Ace Frehley: Believe it or not, it’s a lot easier to do it now sober at 43 than it was in my 20s, drunk. I’ll be around a while. Nice talkin’ to ya, Marc.

Marc Allan: Same here, thanks a lot Ace, take care.

Ace Frehley: Was a pleasure.

Marc Allan: Yeah, same here.

Ace Frehley: You gonna be at the show?

Marc Allan: I’m plannin’ to be, yeah.

Ace Frehley: Okay, well hopefully I’ll meet ya there.

Marc Allan: Okay.

Ace Frehley: Take care now.

Marc Allan: You too, bye-bye.

Ace Frehley: Bye bye.