 |
| Simmons and Frehley - Saban Theatre, Los Angeles - Feb 3, 2017 |
Ace Frehley is offering his first public comments on a recent songwriting session with fomer bandmate Gene Simmons on new material for the original KISS guitarist’s next solo album.
Simmons first broke the news of the hookup at Frehley’s home in Rancho Santa Fe, CA during an interview with a Minneapolis radio station, and now the guitarist is sharing details of the session.
"I called him up and I said, 'Gene, you wanna write a few songs?' He says, 'Sure.',” Frehley told Eddie Trunk on the June 30 edition of his SiriusXM radio program. “Because he had come to my show [in February] at the Saban Theater in Los Angeles with John 5, and that's when we kind of reconnected and bonded a little. And I just shot him an e-mail and said, 'C'mon, let's write some songs together for my new record.' Next thing you know, he's down here and within three hours we had written two songs together, which was, like, a record, for me and him."
"We had a fantastic time,” continued the guitarist. “He came down. We ate in the backyard while I was watering my palm trees. [Laughs] He was going to [my fiancée] Rachel, 'This is something new I've never seen before.' He's eating a sandwich and I'm watering a palm tree in my backyard. But it was a lot of fun.
“[We] just started jamming. We initially each picked up an acoustic guitar. I don't remember who came up with the beginning of the song. One guy plays one thing and then I play another thing. I think Gene actually came up with more ideas than I did and I just kind of complemented them. And then I started writing lyrics for a song title, which I don't wanna give away yet. And then we kind of took a break and then he started playing this bassline and he said, 'Ace, play these thee chords against it,' and within thirty minutes we had a second song. I was really pleased, and so was he."
The new tunes are expected to appear on the follow-up to Frehley’s 2016 all-star covers album, “Origins Vol. 1” – which featured a reunion with former KISS bandmate Paul Stanley – and 2014’s “Space Invader.”
Frehley confirms he has already started recording his next album following a recent upgrade to his home studio.
"After the Fourth of July, we're gonna go full force," he tells Trunk. "I have a studio now built in the new house here in Rancho Santa Fe. I built a drum room and I upgraded all my equipment. I've got, like, a twenty-by-twenty room with a twelve-foot ceiling. So it's a great control room. And then the drum room is in the garage right next to that room, so we just put a little hole in the wall and threw a snake through the wall. So we've got all the mics coming right into all the preamps. It's working really nicely. Alex Salzman, my engineer, did most of the wiring."
Frehley and the original lineup of KISS were inducted into the 2014 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame at a ceremony in New York, alongside Nirvana, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens, Linda Ronstadt, and The E Street Band.
See also:
KISS: Ace Frehley collaborates with Gene Simmons on new solo album
Gene Simmons abandons trademark request for devil horns hand gesture
Gene Simmons files trademark request for devil horns hand gesture
Gene Simmons hints at KISS farewell plans
Search KISS at hennemusic
