Guitar One Interview

Guitar One - June 1997

Yes have gone through two guitarists, Steve Howe and Trevor Rabin, with each making his own impact. The Stones have gone through three guitarists, Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ron Wood, and each of them made his own impact. Kiss have had four guitarists, Ace Frehley, Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John and Bruce Kulick. Bout only one has left an indelible imprint in the history of rock music. Ace in Kiss is part of triumvirate responsible for launching three generations of guitar players. The first piece of the puzzle is the Beatles on "Ed Sullivan", the second piece is Van Halen, and of course the third is Kiss on Kiss Alive I. The simplicity and directness of Ace's riffs and blues-rock solos combined with the original Kiss Kabuki circus on stage made an enormous impact that overshadowed to this day all who took his place in the band. Unassuming by nature and unfazed by what goes on in today's music scene, Ace Frehley sat for a short chat about his classic past and why he still feels good about plugging in and taking the stage.

GUITAR ONE: After all this time is there anything that gets you charged up about playing the guitar?

ACE: There is an excitement around hard rock 'n' roll that was there when I was 16 and it's still there today. I've been playing the guitar since I was 13. It's like an energy field. It's a give and take situation with the audience and the performer. I experienced it very young and I still experience it today. It's a magical feeling. it's a natural high. The reason I'm still doing it is because I am still experiencing it and I'm a junkie for it.

GUITAR ONE: What brought you to the instrument?

ACE: When I saw the Who's first New York appearance. The Who and Cream on the same bill. it was a Murray the K show. They were opening up for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. When I was 16, 1 was kind of at a crossroads. I didn't know if I wanted to be a commercial artist or a professional musician. My guidance counselor in De Witt Clinton High School was telling me to become a commercial artist because he felt I excelled in that (Ace designed the classic Kiss logo). But there was a little, voice inside that kept saying, "You can be a rock star if You really practice and get your shit together." When I went to see that show and saw Townshend throw his guitar 20 feet in the air, catch it, and not miss a note, I just said, "Wow, I can do at." Pete Townshend was one of my biggest influences. After seeing the Who I realized theatrics and rock 'n' roll should be together. When I was Playing high school dances, we used to do a lot of stuff off My Generation. We did "Pictures of Lily" The Who are a classic group to me- I've loved just about everything they've ever done.

GUITAR ONE: What differentiates a classic?

ACE: I think it's a departure from the norm. I knew I could do it if I practiced and put all my energies into it. I got very excited. I actually made the decision that day. After cutting school and going to see that show, I knew that's what I wanted to do. Everybody thought I was crazy from my family to my friends. I used to play in bars and they would go, 'You're okay, but You're never going to make it."

GUITAR ONE: Were You the best around in the bars?

ACE: I don't think I was the best. I still don't think today I am the best. But I think I have something very special to offer. I'm not the fastest player, but I still know how to get emotion out of a song and put it across.

GUITAR ONE: How do you bring that out?

ACE: I personally think you have to have a natural knack for it. I grew up in a family with musicians. Everybody in my family played an instrument. My father was a concert pianist. He played the church organ. I was the baby of the family. My brother and sister were both schooled musicians. I never took a lesson. I just had a natural knack for it. Some people don't. It wasn't hard for me to pick up the instrument and after six months, when I was 13, 1 was playing Beatles' and Stones' songs.

GUITAR ONE: Is it developed by playing live as opposed to in your bedroom?

ACE: I think it's a combination of both. I've met musicians who can play great in their bedroom, but when you get them live, they freeze up or they can't play with other people. I've met guitar players that can play riffs technically better than myself but they can't play with a band. When I was young I used to stand in front of the mirror and play Hendrix songs and try to do Hendrix moves and Pete Townshend moves. I put a lot of work into that. I always felt that was important. It was probably the premise that Kiss was based on. We wanted to not only give people a show for their ears, but a show for their eyes. Theatrical rock. We weren't the first to do it. Alice Cooper did it before us, we just took it a step further. I still believe in that.

GUITAR ONE: What would you tell a player about spending time in the clubs or the room?

ACE: It's got to be balanced. I used to sit and practice for hours on end. I used to come home from school and sometimes play until dinner, break for dinner and go back and practice. It was something I loved. I had a passion for it.

GUITAR ONE: When you saw The Who, where were you in your time frame of playing the guitar?

ACE: I was 16 and had only been playing for three years. I loved what Pete was doing. I was a pretty confident, cocky kid and I said, "Hey, I could probably do that too." I've heard a lot of rock guitarists have said the same thing about me. They picked up the guitar because they saw me perform and thought they could do it too.

GUITAR ONE: It sounds like you did a fair amount of copying.

ACE: Everybody, note-for-note.

GUITAR ONE: You've mentioned Jeff Beck on occasion. What did you get from him?

ACE: Technique. He is one guitarist who throughout his whole career has never seemed to lose his technique. Some of the other guys who influenced me like Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton seemed to have points in their careers where their technique seemed to suffer for a while. Jeff Beck is one of the few musicians who influenced me from the beginning of my career who seemed to maintain a level and standard of playing that is unsurpassed. It's on every track he's done. I used to play Beck's version of "Jailhouse Rock" with my dub bands. It's a great song first recorded by Elvis Presley. The combination of Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck, I thought was a marriage. I don't think Jeff Beck has ever found another vocalist as good as Stewart to complement his style.

GUITAR ONE: What about Cream?

ACE: Eric Clapton is one of those guys who can play one note and it sounds great. You get some of the other guys out today who will play 60,000 notes in the same span of time Eric will play two or three notes, but you get a lot more out of those two or three notes. Listen to "White Roof" it's a perfect song. 1 used to emulate Hendrix and Pete Townshend, my heroes; Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin. I hear the same thing from guitar players today. That they used to stand in front of a mirror when they were kids and imitate me.

GUITAR ONE: Can You remember the time you became aware Of Your own style?

ACE: It was in my early twenties. I remember hearing myself on tapes and saying, "Wow, that doesn't sound like anybody. It sounds like a little of this guy and a little of that guy, but in reality it's me...

GUITAR ONE: How old were you when you joined Kiss?

ACE: 22 or 23.

GUITAR ONE: Do you have a sense of your historical importance? For example, people play the guitar because they saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, the first Van Halen record or Kiss Alive.

ACE: I get that all the time. it's very flattering. I didn't realize that I would ever influence that many musicians at the time I was making an album. If I did, I probably would have practiced a little more. It was an attitude on record that was good. I've met a lot of players that have great ability but they are kind of sterile. I'm a blues-based rock guitar player and I play from emotions as You know 80% to 90% of my guitar solos on record were not thought out. I'm thinking about what key I'm in and I might have one lick in mind I'm going to start off with and I kind of go without thinking.

GUITAR ONE: What Kiss song have you always enjoyed playing?

ACE: I enjoy playing "Deuce" I didn't write "Deuce". I have always loved that song I think it's got an attitude. It was on our first album. It was something we used to always open our show with. I have fond memories of the early days when we were out, trying to make it. A lot of people when we first came out thought weren't from New York. We first broke out of Detroit. So we were much bigger in Detroit than we were on the east and west coast.

GUITAR ONE: What advice do you have for the guitar player starting today?

ACE: If I was starting out today I'd be copying everybody that's out there. Which is what I did when I was 13 and copied Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Alvin Lee. Those guys were my idols. Those were were the guys that were doing the best rock riffs around. So if I was giving advice to a young kid today I'd say obviously you should go in the direction you like, but if you're going to play hard rock you've go to get down your pinch harmonics, power chords, and whatnot. You might want to cop a little Ace Frehley too.