Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Gene Simmons discussed the musical and cultural significance of KISS in a recent interview with Ben Weiss, host of the Legends N Leaders podcast, as per Blabbermouth.
I don’t care. You just brought up a subject I could give a fuck about… Well, there’s ‘popular’ and then there are words like ‘relevance’. Who determines relevance? Critics? What is that word? How do you [become] relevant? Who does that? Or is it the American ideal? Of the people, for the people, by the people. The first words are ‘we the people’. That’s relevance to me… The fact that, for instance, Iron Maiden is not in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, when they can sell out stadiums, and Grandmaster Flash [one of hip-hop’s original innovators] is.
[Legendary rapper] Ice Cube and I had a back-and-forth [on this subject], and he’s a bright guy and I respect what he’s done. It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language. And I said in print many times, hip-hop does not belong in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, nor does opera, symphony orchestras. How come the New York Philharmonic doesn’t get [inducted into] the Rock And Roll [Hall Of Fame]? ‘Cause it’s called the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. But he shot back and said, No, it’s the spirit of rock and roll.’ Okay, fine. So Ice Cube and Grandmaster Flash and all these guys are in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I just wanna know when Led Zeppelin’s gonna be in the Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame. ‘Oh, you can’t do that?’ Oh, really?
“Music has labels because it describes an approach,” Simmons explained. “By and large, rap, hip-hop is a spoken-word art. You put beats in back of it and somebody comes up with a musical phrase, but it’s verbal. There are some melodies, but by and large it’s a verbal thing — it’s rhyming and all that. And I know [rapper] Eminem can [rap really quickly]. I wish him more success. I really don’t give a fuck. It just doesn’t speak to me. With the genius of being able to put words and music and arrange it, it’s much more complex.
The hardest thing to do is to write a simple, memorable song. Much easier is to do EDM [electronic dance music]… And by the way, I’m a fan of it. I love anything that makes people happy. But in terms of talent? … There are no tribute bands to [American DJ, singer, producer and electronic dance music artist] Skrillex. Nobody covers those songs. And by the way, when you go to an EDM concert, I love the passion and the fans taking crack and sticking it up their ass, whatever they do. I’ve never been high. You’re 19. You’re trying to get laid. You can’t form a sentence. So you take some medicine and then all of a sudden you’re fluent and things happen. I understand the ritual. It’s tribal. There’s not a garage band, a new band that goes, ‘Fuck. The Swiss Mafia [Editor’s note: presumably referring to the Swedish house supergroup Swedish House Mafia] are a have got this thing that I love. Let’s try to do a version of it and play it in the club.’ Nobody does that.
When asked if he was satisfied with the current status of music, Gene responded as follows.
I think it’s wonderful. I’ve seen some amazingly talented people, but the saddest thing of all is that the industry, the business… It’s always been called music ‘business’. The fools, the hippies, the socialists, the communists think it’s called music. No. Even in the Renaissance, the only way the classical musicians survived is that they had to be sponsored. Mozart piano concertos and all that, somebody had to pay for that.
The biggest problem is that the next Beatles, the next Elvis [Presley] is not gonna have a chance because record companies don’t give out advances. There’s no business. Fans are downloading for zero, next to it, so if you’re a musician, you can’t get paid for your art.
“I’ve seen so many talented musicians, artists, singers, all these people that get up on ‘The Voice’ and ‘American Idol’ — a lot of people have talent. They’ll be back at the Holiday Inn singing ‘Hang On Sloopy’ or something.
1958 until 1988 — that’s 30 years, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, [Jimi] Hendrix, [The Rolling] Stones, Pink Floyd — you can go on — music still resonates to the highest degree. Beatles just had another No. 1. By the way, that includes [David] Bowie, Prince, Motown, the heavy bands. AC/DC, ourselves, if you like — we came out in the early ’70s. Aerosmith — your favorite, what’s called classic rock or pop or all that. And then from 1988 until today — where are The Beatles? Where’s Hendrix? Where’s that pivotal artist that shakes the rafters? You have popular artists. Taylor [Swift] has been the most popular artist, perhaps of all time. That does not move the needle. New bands don’t form and say, ‘Let’s do 10 Taylor songs.’ No, that’s fame versus something deeper. So when you go to see a bar band, they’re gonna be playing the song. They’ll play ‘Freebird’, they’ll play ‘Satisfaction’, they’ll play the songs that have stood the test of time.
You know what the biggest song of all time was? ‘Gangnam Style’ [by South Korean singer Psy]. Billions, billions of downloads. They were massive. Does that move the needle? No. It’s good fun. Like sugar. You get that [instant energy boost], and then it’s gone. Very few things stick to the bones.
