I blew my chance with legend Gene
Jewish Telegraph, April 2011
Arts editor MIKE COHEN was mere feet away from hero Gene Simmons, but failed to ask his rehearsed questions
I’VE interviewed Gene Simmons countless times . . . in my head.
As far as celebrities go, the Kiss frontman is a legend. You can offer me Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young or countless others of my heroes and my answer will always be the same. I want Gene.
He has a fascinating story to tell and is a walking soundbite. Even the worst journalist in the world would get a good article out of him.
I had my chance to quiz him . . . and blew it big time. I went to the 2008 Download Festival at Castle Donington. Kiss were headlining the opening night.
I managed to wangle a press ticket, which included a pass to the press conferences.
First up was the Motorhead grilling. Quite a few journalists were present as frontman Lemmy is always entertaining.
I wanted to ask him about his Nazi memorabilia collection and how he felt performing on the same bill as Kiss, especially as Simmons’ mother is a Holocaust survivor.
But I didn’t want to dive in and upset Lemmy straight away. So I first asked how a group with such a legacy as Motorhead chose a set list for a festival. Would they do a crowd-pleasing set of favourites or perform large chunks of their just released new album?
As Lemmy finished his long answer, I nervously got ready to ask the ‘Nazi’ question. Unfortunately, another journalist jumped in with a question before I could open my mouth and I never got another chance.
I thought that I wouldn’t let the same thing happen at the Kiss press conference. I got there about 40 minutes early — missing Judas Priest’s anticipated set.
I took up a position about five feet away from the table where the band would sit . . . and waited.
As time passed, the room filled to bursting point. You could feel the anticipation in the room. When the four members of Kiss walked in, wearing their stage costumes and make up, you felt the air leave as everybody took a deep breath.
Questions came from all directions. It was dog eat dog as journalists shouted over each other to get heard. The first few minutes were filled with sensible questions about how they felt playing Download and why they hadn’t recorded an album of original tracks for years.
Then the stupid questions started. ‘Will you say hello to my girlfriend down the phone?’ ‘Will you produce my friend’s band?’
There were lots of tuts from the serious writers among us, but it also wore away the remaining time we had with the band and they were ushered out of the room.
My questions went unanswered . . . until now. Simmons’ visit to Israel has answered a number of them. I had wanted to ask him about his early years in Israel; whether he had visited the country since leaving.
I wanted to know whether there was any Chaim Witz still left within him and how proud he felt to be Israeli-born.
And would Kiss ever play in Israel?
In his interviews and tweets since arriving in Israel, he has answered some of those questions. He praised the Arab population and said how optimistic he is that there will be peace. He refused to let last week’s bombing in Jerusalem affect him.
He showed that Chaim Witz still exists as he spoke about his father’s desertion when he was seven — and the recent discovery of a brother and three sisters.
But one of his most important moves was to announce that Kiss will perform there. As more and more big name musicians boycott Israel, having the country’s most famous export lambast them and say he will take one of the biggest rock bands in the world there is a major boost.
Simmons often gets accused of just being interested in money. After all, he has licensed so many things bearing the Kiss logo including condoms and coffins.
But anyone who has seen his Family Jewels programme will know that family is most important to him. He would do anything for his kids Nick and Sophie — and long-term partner Shannon Tweed.
And that family extends to Israel. If he says the band will perform there, then Israeli rock fans are in for a treat.
And if anyone could help bring about peace in the region, you would do well to bet on Gene Simmons.
Ironically, also on the bill at Download 2008 were Disturbed, led by David Draiman — who almost became a rabbi. Last year, Draiman slammed musicians who collect Nazi memorabilia and the group’s latest album Asylum, which was a number one in America, included the song Never Again about the Holocaust.
Before anyone asks why I don’t want to interview fellow Kiss founder Paul Stanley (who was born Stanley Eisen), well he just doesn’t carry the same clout as Simmons.
We actually featured on our website (jewishtelegraph.com) an audio interview with Stanley a few years ago, supplied by his record label to promote his album Live to Win.
Many Kiss fan sites picked up on the interview and wrongly credited it to me. When we took it off our website, we were inundated with fans wanting it back up.
