Paul Stanley: When You Play Beat-The-Clock, The Clock Wins, Always™
By Jim Clash / Forbes
In Part 1 of our interview series with Kiss frontman Paul Stanley, we discussed his paintings, his thoughts on bandmate Gene Simmons, drugs and the band’s extensive use of makeup. Here we address Kiss’ final tour, Stanley’s biggest fear, advice he might give to his younger self and his being bullied in school. Following are edited excerpts from a longer phone conversation.
Jim Clash: You’ve sold hundreds of millions of records. You must be quite wealthy. Why keep working into your seventies?
Paul Stanley: I love what I do. I think that ultimately when you’re in a position to not do something is when you find out how much it means to you. You also find out when you’re losing it. When your career is in trouble, how much are you willing to fight to regain it? Once you’re financially set, at least in my case, the idea of sitting back and watching television or sitting at the top of a mountain is nowhere near as appealing as playing stadiums around the world. I loved it.
Clash: When you all perform with the heavy costumes and makeup - what is it, like 30 or 40 pounds - over time, that takes a toll on your body, correct?
Stanley: Yes. We reached a point where we realized that life and time are finite. When you play beat-the-clock, the clock wins, always. There are no 70-plus-year-old basketball players or football players. In essence, we are athletes with guitars. To do what we do at the level we do it means it’s just a matter of time before we can’t, or that people coming to see us will say, “You should have seen them when they were good.”
