Gene Simmons gives News-Leader wandering interview about upcoming KISS concert

On July 23, KISS is playing Springfield for the first time since 1990.

Back then, the News-Leader reported that the hard-rock band — founded in 1973, with more than 30 gold-certified albums and 100 million units sold — “squeezed” into Hammons Student Center for a "stormy" concert; this time, they’ll play a bigger venue, JQH Arena. Tickets are $125, $89.50 and $39.50, available at jqharena.com.

The Springfield concert is part of a “Freedom to Rock” tour of 40 cities, many of which KISS hasn’t visited in 10 years or more.

Is this a big deal for Springfield? Put it this way: When the show was announced, Missouri State University president Clif Smart dressed up in full KISS makeup.

In advance of the show, KISS bass guitarist and founding member Gene Simmons gave the News-Leader an interview.

It was brief.

"Don't listen to the woman! We can talk as long as we want," he said, when a female publicist tried to draw the 10-minute phone conversation to a close.

But while he was on the line, Simmons explained why "Freedom to Rock" is all about bringing KISS to the people. He also shared his views on whether celebrities should express themselves on political subjects, and highlighted the importance of the word "I."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

News-Leader: This tour is called "Freedom to Rock." What does the freedom to rock mean?

Simmons: Look, you may not live in London or New York, but there’s no reason you should have to get into your station wagon and drive hours and hours to see KISS in Chicago ... Our purpose is to bring the entire gigantor-tour (Editor's note: This is the actual term Simmons used) right to your hometown. Our intention is to shake the rafters and not, hopefully, set them on fire ... We definitely wrap ourselves in the flag. Let's not kid ourselves, we can go on (stage) and say what we want. Try being KISS in Iran, or North Korea ... I think the flag is a cool thing. It should be reinstated in pop culture. But people find it really awkward. After 9/11, people all of a sudden became patriotic and showed the colors. Why did it take something bad to happen? ... It means something. People have died for it, and continue to do so.

News-Leader: You dovetailed right into a question I was going to ask. We are in a very patriotic part of the country, so I wondered if the tour reflected patriotic flair in some way. Along with what you mentioned, does it come with any special American flag-related wardrobe or makeup options for you and the other members of KISS?

Simmons: No, we’re not going to do that because it’s too easy to do a patriotic-themed show to crawl into people’s hearts and minds. I think people understand the symbolism is near and dear to our hearts, but should not get into the show. In the past, we've stopped entire concert tours ... when we've given (a portion of ticket sales) to Wounded Warriors, we would actually stop the show and do the Pledge of Allegiance right in the middle of the show. Some critics thought it was cornball. But somehow, all those people putting their hands over their hearts thought it was not cornball. "I pledge allegiance." It's a choice. I think that's a profoundly important point. The most important word in American, in Western culture, is "I." All our songs use "I" instead of "we." We even have a song called ''I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock n' Roll." I think that's a good piece of advice for everybody. It's easy to be drowned out by the crowd, but to thine own self be true, say I, no matter what everybody says, no matter what the popular vibe is ... I say hold out. Which is why — may I use superlatives here?

News-Leader: Please use superlatives here.

Simmons: Celebrities should shut the (expletive redacted) up and stop telling people how to vote because it's decidedly immoral ... At least part of those fans are going to vote because of what the celebrity says. That takes away from the real reason, you should be voting your conscience, at the ballot, by yourself. It's a quiet, personal decision ... Celebrities are our entertainers. That’s all they are.

News-Leader: Shifting topics, you’ve got a movie coming out next Wednesday. "KISS Rocks Vegas" is playing one night only in theaters, including College Station 14 here in Springfield. We hear you spit fire and ride a flying saucer in the film. What can you tell us about it?

Simmons: So we're celebrating KISS celebrating being a very strange band. We’ve never looked at other bands to figure out how to walk, how to talk. When you look at all the genres and everything, there’s just KISS ... Take rap or country ... I could put Blake (Shelton) in another band, Keith Urban in another band. They're interchangeable. Doesn't mean it's not good. But how are you going to put Gene Simmons into the (Rolling) Stones? So the movie celebrates how far we’ve come, what a strange journey it’s been ... Despite what your girlfriend may have told you, size is important, bigger is better, which is why we decided to show the movie one day only, May 25, around the world.

News-Leader: Last question. One of our fellow journalists at The Guardian recently accused you of telling the same jokes over and over again, and you said, “I only know five things, and I repeat them.” I feel like that’s a very Gene Simmons in 2016 thing to say, as opposed to Gene Simmons in 1973. How has your perspective changed after four decades and 44 albums?

Simmons: Hopefully as you get older, you can recognize the hot air. I have been known to fart through my oral passage. Now that’s a picture you want to keep in your mind. These, of course, are semantics — and I'm not anti-semantic. That’s one of the five things I know.

News-Leader (laughing): And also the exact joke you told The Guardian the other day.