The next big rock band is out there, "but they don't have a chance," Gene Simmons says in a new Billboard interview conducted alongside his fellow KISS founder Paul Stanley.
Speaking with the magazine on the occasion of their reception of an ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Founders Award in Hollywood, the duo discussed the dismantling of the recording industry as they knew it when they entered the field and achieved stratospheric sales numbers.
"We have very good lives, the arenas and stadiums fill up, we can go anywhere in the world and we have a ball. It is really - maybe profoundly is the right word - but it's really sad for the new artists," Simmons said. "Where's the next Elvis, where's the next Beatles, where's the Zeppelin? They're out there but they don't have a chance. They don't have a chance because once upon a time we had record companies, and they would support you and have point of purchase material and they would give you advances. In other words, they gave you the air to breathe to find yourself and spend the time to learn how to run."
After Stanley chimed in, saying, "Well they championed you and nurtured you," Simmons continued his initial thought.
"And that's what's missing," the singer, songwriter, bassist and entrepreneur said. "So the next big band, the next Zeppelin, what are they gonna do? Give away their music for free? They're gonna be living in their mom's basement, unfortunately, and they're never gonna get the chance that we did which is the saddest part of all for the new bands because there should always be a new generation of bands."
Foo Fighters leader and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl presented the ASCAP Founders Award given to KISS; the award "is given to pioneering ASCAP songwriters who have made exceptional contributions to music by inspiring and influencing their fellow music creators," according to an ASCAP press release.
"Picture this: Springfield, Virginia, 1976. A skinny young boy with shaggy brown hair on a yellow yard sale bicycle brings home a copy of the album Destroyer, his first KISS record. Everybody remembers their first KISS record, and this is how I remember mine," Grohl opened his impassioned speech.
"Up until that point, it had been mainly Beatles and Carly Simon, maybe a little Phoebe Snow, f----n' 10cc. But the album cover alone was enough to make me break my old piggy bank into a thousand pieces and scrape up enough lawn-mowing money to give it straight to Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.
"With nuclear anticipation, I let the needle drop on that legendary intro to 'Detroit Rock City,' perhaps the greatest introduction to any rock 'n' roll album ever recorded. It filled my speakers and my imagination. Thirty-four minutes later and 27 seconds later, KISS had filled my soul. I was now a member of the infamous KISS army."
You can read the entireity of Grohl's remarks at VH1.com.
Previous recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award include Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Patti Smith, Steely Dan, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Tom Waits, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, and Neil Young. ASCAP said the Founders Award is its "highest honor."
Other honors at Wednesday night's ceremony included the ASCAP Voice of Music Award, which went to The Doobie Brothers, and the ASCAP Vanguard Award, which was awarded to St. Vincent.
