INTERVIEW WITH LOUIS ANTONELLI

Our friends over at KISS Fan Site / PodKISSt recently did an extensive interview with ONE LIVE KISS director, Louis Antonelli. Below is the full interview. You can also find the actual podcast at http://www.mykisslife.net/podkisst/ and on Itunes.

Q: Louis, welcome to the PodKISSt.

A: Glad to be here.

Q: What is Paul Stanley’s “One Live KISS”?

A: Paul Stanley's "One Live KISS" is a movie that’s a journey. It really takes you from, it's Paul sitting alone on a stage with his old Gibson, one of his old Gibson Marauder guitars, strumming to himself, and he’s reflecting back on his life and talking about the moments that brought him to where he is today. And one of those things is the philosophy of "Live to Win." It’s about a whole attitude and a way of being. It really speaks a lot to a lot of people about how you can get yourself where you want to be and what you want to do and accomplish in your life, and that’s one of the themes of the film.

We're with Paul as a young boy on Queens Boulevard off 73rd Court and we're, you know, in front of his house, we're seeing the house from the perspective of a 7-year-old boy looking up at a house and then going, you know, driving down Queens Boulevard how he would have walked to the subway that goes into Manhattan, the Shea Stadium line. And then we start, we're on that subway platform and we're seeing the trains coming and we're going into Manhattan. We're hearing about the origins of KISS, we’re hearing about Paul, being with and seeing Paul working as a cab driver in the early 70’s in New York City and dropping people off at Madison Square Garden to see Elvis Presley, how he said to himself, “One of these days I’m gonna be here at Madison Square Garden and people are gonna be coming up in a cab to see me.” You know, it’s all about dreams and aspirations and realizing them, and being a person who’s, you know, in your own neighborhood, kind of an outsider and a person who’s looked upon as different and how that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing to be your own person and follow your own dreams and paths. And we see this is like an evolution in the beginning of the film. It’s called the Prologue, and that runs for about five minutes and it’s very, very impressionistic. It really comes across, all these visuals and images from Paul’s point of view.

And then, you know, we see this beautiful rose opening up and it goes from black and white to color and, bang! We’re right into the first song from the concert, “Live to Win,” and we never leave Paul. From that moment when the first chord strikes in the concert, all the way to the coda of “Goodbye,” which in his words in the film is, you know, “goodbye is only for now, ‘cause I’m coming back, I swear, somehow.” And it’s there where we never leave Paul. We never leave the force of his music, the force of his presence, of the interplay between him and the audience. The audience is a character in this film as KISS fans and audiences involved with any aspect of KISS have always been. The audience is part of the show. And, you know, Paul will be singing one phrase of a line, we cut to someone in the audience finishing that line, mouthing the words, singing along with him. We see the interplay of the musicians from Paul’s great Live to Win tour band. The interplay between the musicians and how really they all fed off of each other. That energy, that feeling when Paul strikes a chord, bringing the neck of the guitar up into the frame. Everything was done in match cutting and rhythm with a feeling for the music, a feeling for the people, for the whole environment. And that’s what we really wanted to come across with the movie. We wanted it to be very alive. It’s an experience of living the moment with them, and in this case, the one and only Paul Stanley.

Q: I'll tell you, Louis, after hearing that bit about where you go from the black and white footage to the song just explodes out there, I want to see that right now. I want to stop the interview and watch the DVD.

A: Well, thank you very much. I’m looking forward to everyone seeing it, and so is Paul. It’s really a very, very special film to watch. It’s really a labor of love, honestly.

Q: How did you get involved with KISS and with Paul’s tour and filming this?

A: Well, getting involved with KISS, that goes all the way back now, that goes back to March of 1974 for me. I was a kid growing up on Addison Street in Chicago a couple of miles from Wrigley Field, and there was a local record store I used to go to all the time. It was March ‘74, and I went in there one day and I was already heavily into music because I had an elder cousin who would take me to concerts. He took me to my first show in ‘73 to see Alice Cooper, and in the 60’s he would, you know, bring home Jimi Hendrix’s, he lived two doors away from me, and he would bring home Jimi Hendrix’s "Are You Experienced" and I would hear that for the first time. He would call me over and say, “Hey, I got this new Beatles record. Come and listen to it,” and it would be the “White Album,” and you know, I was hearing, you know, “Back in the USSR,” and “Happiness is a Warm Gun” and all those great songs from the “White Album.” You know, that was day of issue. He was exposing me to this stuff.

My cousin, Johnny, was exactly Paul’s age, about 12 years older than me, and he really let me experience so much stuff very early on. But my exposure to KISS was not through him though. It was, I was walking into this record store like I was saying, and there was that first, classic, amazing promo poster that we all know, the red poster, you know, “KISS - New on Casablanca Records and Tapes.” I walked into that store, let me tell you, I felt like somebody just struck me. I was like, my God, what is that? And I was like, I’ve got to see that, I’ve got to, I went right up to it and the first person I gravitated to in that poster was Paul. Just his gaze, his stare from, you know, from that makeup. I was like, you know, not even actually thinking that it was makeup at that time, I was just like, my God, what is this? And there was the record, and I was like, I’m buying that. So I took my allowance out of my pocket and you bet I bought it. And I brought it home, put it on the old turntable, and I’ve never stopped playing it, that and every subsequent record after that released by KISS. It’s music that just spoke to me and imagery and emotion and feeling of this band, it just spoke to me, and I was hooked.

I was hooked from March ‘74 on, and then I was fortunate to meet the band for the first time and meet Paul for the first time in November of ‘74 in Chicago, in the suburbs of Chicago. They did an instore record appearance. There weren’t a lot of people there, unfortunately for me, because KISS at that time was actually more infamous than famous. It was a band that you either, in my neighborhood, it was like either people absolutely hated KISS or people, a couple of people just loved KISS, and I was one of them. And I went to this record store to meet them and, you know, there was Paul. And I had along with me a collection of, ‘cause I was already making films then. I started in the 60’s making films as a small kid. I had the dream to make films from five years old on, and I had pictures I had done at concerts, I had experimental photography, all kinds of things. And I gravitated to Paul because he looked to me like a person who would, you know, give a damn about that kind of thing, and fortunately for me he really was. I mean, his nature was very visual, very expressive, a person full of interest and ideas, and we sat looking at it and he really encouraged me. He talked about different pictures I had done, especially the experimental pictures over concert photography. He really liked them a lot. Pictures of like light bulbs and pictures of a filament in a light. Things like that he really found very interesting, especially, I guess, coming from a kid. And I told him about all the dreams I had and things I wanted to do and that I wanted to work with him someday and that what he was doing was really speaking to me, he and KISS were really speaking to me. So he said, “Well, you know, I’m going out there and I’m being the best I can be.” He goes, “Promise me you’re going to go out there and you are going to do the same thing.” He goes, you know, “You’re going to go out there and you’re going to give it your all and, you know, maybe someday we will do something together.” And I promised him right then and there and, you know, it’s something that always lived with me as I was working with so many people, you know, 27 years into my career, I was just like, well, I’m ready to work with the best there is, and that’s Paul, and it came together that we made the film. But I’m a lifelong KISS fan since a kid in ‘74.

I wish I could have been there in ‘73 ‘cause I’m sure back in ‘73 I could have gotten into a New York club, but I’m not a New Yorker, I’m a Chicagoan, so that’s the only part of KISStory I missed is the club days in New York. I sure wish, you know, when I see the footage that Bill Aucoin saved of the Coventry that’s been released on Volume 3, I can’t get over seeing that footage ‘cause I’m like, you know, I worked in old video formats like that reel to reel video formats like that, with old cameras like that. Just watching KISS in that club, from that single camera position, it has all the power in the world to me. I just love it. I think KISS was as vital then in that little club in Queens, New York, as they are today on the stages throughout the world. I think they’re just, they really speak to an audience. They certainly speak to me, especially Paul.

Q: And correct me if I’m wrong, but that poster that grabbed your attention when you walked into that record store you still have to this day?

A: I sure do. It’s still hanging in my home, part of a small KISS collection I have there of concert tickets and things that are mostly from Detroit and Chicago and Indiana ‘cause I used to, my cousin that I was telling you about, he used to take me around and take me, in ‘75 I saw KISS many times throughout the Hotter Than Hell and Dressed to Kill and Alive! tour, and you know, my cousin used to take me everywhere. And it took a lot of lying and things with my parents ‘cause they didn’t want me going to all these different places, but fortunately both of us were just great BS artists and we were able to really, he taught me how to really get around people and go where I wanted by, you know, just doing my thing, but of course I had to keep my grades up and do all that kind of stuff so it wasn’t, you know, on the radar so to speak. But when I did all that, my BS worked beautifully. [laughs] Thank God for my cousin John, bless his soul. He’s gone now since ‘91, but he was a big influence on my life, made a lot of things possible for me including, you know, meeting KISS and seeing KISS for the first time.

Q: KISS and Paul are both known for their visuals. KISS is an incredibly visual band, and then Paul, whether in makeup or without, just an incredible presence onstage, and they definitely made their mark in history. Why do you think that KISS’s popularity is so enduring?

A: I think that really comes down to a very cinematic concept which is pure illusion, the magic of an illusionary image. KISS is alive, of course, and real people. But everything they’ve created is such an illusion. I mean, their stage presence, the makeup, the explosions and everything else, it sticks, it resonates in the mind in such a way that it becomes so much larger than life and so much visceral and has such impact that it’s no surprise to me at all. I always knew from the first time I ever saw KISS, before I ever saw them live I knew, I said this is going to be a band that’s going to be one of the biggest things ever because there’s nothing like this. I’d never seen anything. I was a kid who, you know, I’d seen so many movies up to that point, so many rock concerts, so many things, you know, and I always loved the great story Paul always told of, you know, back in the day of saying, well, I think, you know, KISS is a lot more fun than watching four slobs onstage who need a shave. I couldn’t agree more ‘cause I love the glamour, the excitement. Even when there wasn’t, there was such a core of it to begin with of, you know, you went to see KISS, it was exciting. It was exciting when half the audience couldn’t stand them or were saying, you know, get out of here or anything else, the other half was like, oh, my God, this is an event, every show is an event. So it’s like it grew from there. It grew into a legend that’s continually perpetuating to this day and I think hundreds of years from now people are going to know exactly who KISS is and what they did and will be listening to their music because it’s the same. It’s a romantic ideal, it’s imagery, and it’s the quality, too, of the music, it’s the quality of what they’ve created. It has definite, you know, it’s not just all… I remember in Rolling Stone Magazine it used to be “oh it’s all flash and no substance.” Hardly. You can’t last in this business, or in any business, you cannot last for 35+ years unless what you’ve done is of a very high quality and in a very meaningful place in people’s lives, and I don’t think they have anything to prove in terms of that, but they keep proving it to us over and over again every time they step on the stage. And I think that’s really how intense they take it to this day of stepping on that stage like every time is the first show. I witnessed it firsthand, you know, being with them backstage and everything else. They mean business when they get on that stage.

Q: You were even on tour with them this last summer over in Europe?

A: Yes. I was fortunate, I did get to go to many European shows. I was with them on the American leg of the Alive 35 tour this summer, the special shows that there were. And I tell you, it’s just an experience because it’s like, I think bringing the back the Alive! setlist was a brilliant stroke. It needed to come back out again, and with the lineup of the band the way it presently is, it’s infused with such a new vigor, such a, I mean, it’s so right in your face.

Q: Exactly.

A: Oh yeah. I mean, it’s amazing. It’s really, it has such power and force. Honestly, I enjoy it today more than I did in ‘75 when they were performing that setlist back then because I think it just has a different feeling for me today of assured polish without a sense of this is routine. You know, there’s no routine to it at all. It feels very, I mean, every member of the band just really brings something very special to that stage and it comes across in the tour. It’s really just, I mean, when this tour really hits the full States in the full light of a tour, it’s going to be quite something to see.

Q: It’s still Alive after all these years. And…

A: Alive and dangerous. My God, that music is so, I was listening to some of the instant Alive 35 recordings, I was listening to the Paris show. It’s like, my God, that music is dangerous on that. It’s so good, it’s so, you know, it’s brutal music. It’s right in your face. It’s got that energy, that vibe, that, you know, Paul is doing those gigantic leaps again that are just like, you know, defy gravity and Gene’s bass playing is just really, I was watching him in Vegas at the Palms and I was like, during “100,000 Years” I was just listening ‘cause the acoustics in the hall were outstanding and listening to the bass, really getting the feel of the bass and drums and the vibe and the rhythm that were going on. I was like, boy, this is on top of it, my God, this is really kicking it, this is serious.

Q: And some of the photos that we saw on KISS Online that both Ross Halfin, you and Al Soluri all took, there’s shots of Paul just, like he’s levitating 20 feet in the air it looks like and it’s like how is this even possible?

A: Oh, it’s possible because the man makes it possible. He doesn’t kid around. He gets out there and it’s like he’s a possessed person on that stage, I mean, totally. He’s symbiotically connected with that audience as all members of KISS are, but Paul takes it to a place where I don’t think gravity exists for Paul on that stage. I don’t think anything exists for Paul on that stage except what he’s going to put out to that audience and how he’s going to entertain you and show you something you’ve never seen before. And he did it on the Live to Win tour as well. I mean, he was doing the tremendous leaps and the, you know, coming down on the chords with a spiral swirl of his arm, you know, the classic Pete Townsend thing, and you know, he wasn’t kidding. He wasn’t copying anybody either. He was in the moment. He was just giving it his all, and it’s like that’s what I love about watching KISS and watching Paul. They just give their all when they get out there. I mean, they take no prisoners, they take no, you know, it’s an attitude. KISS is an attitude, and I think it’s, I was just talking to Paul about this, in fact, over dinner. We were talking about attitude and how attitude gets you through a lot of stuff, and it’s like that attitude is right on that stage. It’s always been since the beginning. And I think for every member that’s ever been in KISS, that attitude has been a pervasive thing. It’s also become that way for fans through the years, like myself, who took that attitude and brought it into their creative and professional lives and business lives. I really think that KISS has had that kind of impact, and I think we all have a lot to thank every member who’s ever been in KISS for that. To really give us that back is, you know, something that fans can use for themselves. I know I certainly have.

Q: When you first heard the album “Live to Win,” what did you think of it? And could you also tell us what some of the highlights of the tour were for you?

A: I really loved the album the first time I heard it, and I know that’s probably like people are saying, well, yeah, that’s a routine thing for you to say, but I mean it. Because getting to that theme to what Paul is doing on that solo work of “Live to Win,” that theme is, that’s the guy I met in 1974 when I was a kid. I looked at him, you know, I looked at him like he was a big brother. I was like this guy is really doing it, this guy is really, you know, and for me, I was looking at it as, you know, I’m a kid on Addison Street, I need role models to look up to because, you know, I was this weirdo who said I wanted to make movies. Believe me, on Addison Street where I came from, that basically made me like somebody said I just came from Mars. You know, it was not like there were directors or musicians down the street or anything like that. It was more of a totally blue collar working class area of great people, just wonderful people that I really loved, but, you know, I was completely out of step with that. So the feeling of “Live to Win,” when I heard that name and that concept, before I heard the music, I was like, of course, this is Paul. This is gonna be…

Q: You knew just from the title. Just from the title alone, you knew.

A: I knew, yeah. Then before I heard the music, I said to myself I think this is the time. I may be ready to approach him, to actually, you know, have my chops together to pay my dues and say I’m ready to work with the best here. And that’s the way I approached it. It was almost like a boxer, you know, preparing, going from fight to fight to fight saying I want to get up with the heavyweight champ, I want to get up there, I want to work with, I want to go up against the best, I want to work with that person to create real magic. And then when I heard the album I was like, oh, my God, he’s not kidding, because the songs all speak on that album, the songs all speak to aspects of his character as all Paul’s songwriting does. It tells stories about him, about his inner life and his emotional self, his romantic self, his practical self, he defiant self. It’s all there. And I thought, well, this is the perfect time now to maybe cinematically capture somebody I owed such a great debt to who really inspired me in such a great way to present, you know, a shared vision of mine and Paul’s of how I see him. And I know how the rest of the world sees him just as a very inspiring person and a larger than life figure on stage, and the album spoke to all that. I just think that it is a fantastic release, very pivotal music in his career and speaks a lot about where he’s at now and, of course, where he always came from, which is the whole attitude of “Live to Win.”

Q: When the KISS 4K comic book came out, a lot of fans were surprised to find out that Paul knows a lot about comic books. We all assumed that Gene was the comic book guy in the band. What is something else about Paul Stanley that would surprise his fans that we don’t know about?

A: I don’t know how surprising it would be to people, but I really think, you know, to know Paul as a person, it’s a really great thing because I’ll tell you, if Paul wasn’t Paul Stanley of KISS or a legend in music or anything else, if he was a person who lived next door to you, you’d want to be his best friend. Because he’s just such a, the depth of his character and his soul, what kind of person he is, he’s a great father, a very devoted husband, a great friend to have. He’s a person who’s really, if he’s your friend and he believes in you, he is really, he really gives it his all. He doesn’t kid around. And it’s like those are the kind of people you’d like to have in life who are really, you know, not just full of crap and just your friend one minute and blow you off the next. That’s not the kind of person Paul is. Paul is a really much more humble person than I think anyone would really think, and a very devoted person in every aspect of his life and I think that really comes through in things he does. So I don’t know how much of a surprise all that would be. Just say that he really is a very unique person and somebody I’m really delighted to know on such a level that we made a movie together which is a really special thing to do with someone.

Q: You were mentioning Paul’s backup band, the famous House Band. Most people know them as the House Band from the CBS TV show Rockstar. There was Rockstar INXS and the sequel to that as well. An amazing bunch of guys, some amazingly talented people, and you were telling me that Paul wanted to make sure that they were featured as well, that there was interaction between them. Could you please elaborate on that and give us your impression on the guys in the band?

A: When I approached the movie, I was taking a stance of where we designed and directed it, we did it to a point of where I was focusing too much on Paul, too much on Paul and the reaction of the audience and everything else, so I was kind of like leaving the band a little bit in the background. They were prominently featured, but not in a direct interplay the way it came out. That was purely Paul. He came up, we were watching a cut, and he said, “You know, Lou, I think there’s too much of me,” which, of course, I’ve never heard an actor or a performer ever say to me there’s too much of them. So that right there can tell you, you know, volumes about Paul Stanley and his character. He said, “Let’s see more of the other guys. I know you have a lot of stuff and it’s really going to work out.” He goes, “Let’s get back into the cut, and what do you think if we expand it out a little bit and show the reaction more between,” you know, again, we get into action/reaction. We were totally, you know, like symbiotically connected on that where we really knew where each other were coming from. So I was like, my God, I felt like a blind man. I was like, absolutely, you know, we’ll get right in there, we’ll go back and expand out on the vision of this. And it made the picture come alive really. I mean, to not use a clichéd word again like alive when it concerns anything involving KISS, but it really brought another dimension to the film. And that’s where, you know, when you talk about collaborating with someone, when you can collaborate on that level and have such trust and, you know, like talking back and forth with each other and saying, you know, I don’t know if I like that, how about this, how about this, how about that, things start to really happen. Because you know, there’s a common misconception in the world of cinema of where everybody thinks it’s totally a director’s medium. That’s for the most part a lot of bunk. That’s the whole tourist thing which has some merit, but to me it’s basically, stuff like that is good for books and so forth, but in the real world it’s not practical or reality. It’s, you know, when you make a movie, you are working with a whole crew, you’re working with a performer or many performers. It’s a whole community.

I don’t think anybody ever put it any better than the great poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau when he was making the film “Beauty and the Beast,” and he wrote in his memoirs that he felt the making of a movie was akin to a medieval village where everyone came together with their individual crafts and their individual selves and brought them all to the village to perpetuate that village and keep it alive and keep it fortified and strong. I believe that’s the same in cinema. You have, you know, everyone working together and everyone comes together, if it’s working right, everybody comes together as a whole, like one force, one unit, and you’re all working towards an end goal which is to make the best possible film, something the audience has never seen before. And that’s why working with Paul was especially great because he has that magnetic quality about him that brings everyone together, makes everyone feel important and vital, and we worked along the same lines on that of working with my crew where we all just felt like a family. We were all so happy to be doing it. When we were shooting it was great because, you know, we were setting up for the day and everything on the main unit in Chicago, and everyone had a KISS story. Everyone had like, you know, I saw KISS here, I was, you know, I waited for an autograph here, I remember when this record came out, I was waiting at the record store for this record and that record. It was so cool to see that because when you have a crew that’s really into what’s happening and you have the audiences, the performers, the crafts people, everything comes together, it’s pure magic. Oh, yeah, dedicated KISS fans, besides them being great, you know, professional technicians and artists in their own right.

Q: Can you tell us about the guys in the band and what they might have brought to the table?

A: Oh, they brought a whole lot to the table. I couldn’t have enjoyed working any more with a group of guys. They were so outstanding. Just characters and people. I mean, Sasha, the bass player, he was just full of jokes and great humor and just, you know, killer technique on the bass. I mean, he had the music down, the heart and the soul of the music down. It was great. Jimmy McGorman on rhythm guitar along with Paul, you know, you have a feeling of where everyone was harmonizing with each other. The vocals all coming together with the rhythm, the textures of the music. Everything was just clicking and happening, and it was because of the band. I mean, the band worked hand in hand with Paul. It wasn’t like here’s the legend we’re working with and we’re all subservient to that. It felt like the whole band, everyone was equals in that.

Q: They were playing off one another.

A: Absolutely.

Q: Genuine interplay between the band and Paul.

A: Oh, absolutely. With Paul being the leader or the catalyst of all this and directing his band, and the feeling and the tone of it all. But, oh yeah, they were all like, you know, feeding off of each other completely. I mean, Nate Morton on drums…

Q: Amazing drummer.

A: Amazing drummer. When you listen to “A Million to One” and you feel the vibe, you know, you can close your eyes and you can kind of picture Eric Carr in there, but then light comes forth, there is Nate Morton. He’s one serious bad ass on those drums. I mean, he really gives you the rhythm, he kicks it through you. He just keeps kicking you in the rear end, and that helped the visuals. It was one of the keys we keyed off of to work with along with Paul. Also, Rafael on lead guitar. It was something to see the interplay with him and Paul because, you know, it would be like he would be playing this massive riff and he would be turned to Paul like, you know, get the master’s approval, and Paul would be like, you know, nodding his head like I’m digging it. So it’s great to see that, you know, the human energy of communication and the human energy of performance, and how it all came together for these guys.

I remember seeing Paul Mirkovich on keyboards. He was doing such a fantastic job. You know, keyboards are sometimes difficult areas in some KISS music. It really worked. Like “Got to Choose,” I remember one fan telling me I don’t know about keyboards in “Got to Choose,” but, man, they all made it work, and it works like gangbusters. So it’s like, you can’t just take it as, well, you know, this music is meant for a quartet. It’s meant for how you’re feeling it, how it’s coming across. So I think the band, I mean, like I say, a better group of guys, I mean, I was just delighted to work with them. Many of us are all friends to this day. And I think Paul was very lucky to have them as a band touring then because they really brought something to the table that amplified his vision and I think took it to another place. I think the tour was just a singular event. It was just so, I mean, that tour, I think, will be remembered for many, many decades for how forceful it was and what it presented to people which was Paul in a really different kinda light, but still having that, you know, master showman, master musician and communicator right there in a very intimate and forceful way.

Q: The best front man in rock. Louis, you’re now in your 27th year of working in the business, and you have worked with an incredible and amazing list of people, people like Oprah Winfrey, Metallica, the Ramones, Aretha Franklin, Jane Seymour, Sam Kinison, Eric Burdon, Dizzy Gillespie, and of course Paul Stanley now. Do you find yourself ever pinching yourself going “Oh my God, it’s Metallica. Look, it’s Oprah”? What is it like for a kid from Chi Town to find himself working with such a great list of amazing superstars?

A: Well, I think, I mean, I feel very fortunate to have worked with all those great people, and I don’t really find myself much saying oh my God it’s this person or that person because really there’s only a few people that have ever had that kind of effect on me, and one of them is Paul. Paul just has that effect on people, I think, but for the most part, I’m just really humbled and grateful to have worked with so many great people ‘cause they all bring such diverse and great things to the table to work with you. You know, like working with Metallica, I learned a great deal about filming and capturing drummers properly from Lars Ulrich and also learned from the great jazz drummer Max Roach about, you know, the feeling of a drummer, really capturing that on film properly, you know, without a heavy hand but doing it where you really get the feeling and the rhythms down right. I learned a lot about that from Lars, and Metallica’s a great band to work with because their energy level is so high and really their fan base and everything else connects.

With the Ramones, really Johnny Ramone and the Ramones are the people who brought me into my professional career to begin with. I was a teenager and he had seen some pictures, Johnny had seen some pictures I had done. Back in the 70’s I was taking pictures at many concerts and I would sell pictures to Hit Parader and Circus Magazine and Creem and Rolling Stone and places like that. Got a call and it was, you know, Johnny Ramone, he liked what I was doing and we made like a short film together, and then after that I was working and doing stuff for the Ramones all the way through until ‘96 ‘til the last show ever in California. But I loved working with them because Johnny was a guy, bless his heart, so much like Paul, a person very serious about what they do, very serious about their band and what they’ve created, and in all that though, great humor, great personality, easy person to work with because they don’t take the people around them for granted, you know, your individual strengths that you bring to the table. They bring out the best in you. So what I really found with Johnny was phenomenal. I mean, we became very good friends and I was very, very sad when he passed because as it was, you know, sadly kind of expected, for Dee Dee to kinda self-destruct. He was a really, really great guy, but, you know, personal demons sometimes really come into play in so many aspects of life, but was a guy so vital, so in the prime of his life, and he just got taken away from us so abruptly. And I was really devastated when he passed away because I was like my God, you know, I’ll never see him again, and I’ll never work with him again on anything. And those are major losses to, you know, I think all of us, but when you’ve worked with them and you’ve befriended, then it takes on another level.

Q: And you made a film back in the early 80’s with the Ramones, one of the first things to capture them, correct?

A: Yes. I don’t know if it was one of the first, but it was around the time of “End of the Century” and we had a good time making that. We did it in Chicago and I believe part of it was done in Detroit too. And I had a great time making that, and then we did another thing in London years later and, you know, I just always loved being around the Ramones. They were just great guys and I really enjoyed the whole feel of them. It’s something that I’ve really, two bands that I’ve always loved the most, KISS being number one and the Ramones, both are all made up pretty much of New York guys, Queens, you know, Queens, New York, that whole feeling of that time.

Q: Now, as a fan of both the Ramones and KISS, you had to realize how incredibly cool it was when KISS appeared on the tribute album for the Ramones and they did “Rock and Roll Radio.” What did you think of that track?

A: I just loved it. I absolutely loved it. I thought it had such, it was the Ramones with a KISS feeling infused into it, kind of like taking the track and with that grand spectacle feel to it. I loved it. My understanding, I believe that Johnny was involved in the recording of that. I’m not sure if I’m right about that. But I know that Paul and Johnny were very good friends and, you know, I think it was fantastic. How fitting could it be that…

Q: It was a perfect fit.

A: A perfect fit. You know, I mean, all New York boys all together doing their thing, all successful in their own way. And isn’t it amazing how the Ramones have become these iconic, like, you know, larger than life figures? When they were around, you know, they never played a place bigger than the Aragon Ballroom, except for some festivals and things in Europe. Like in Rio De Janeiro and stuff like that, they played to massive crowds, but for the most part they played in small, intimate venues. So it’s something we’re now hearing Ramones music. I mean, I’m seeing kids on skateboards and they have Ramones logos on them and they don’t even know what it is.

Q: Right.

A: You know, I’ll go up to them and go, “Are you into the Ramones?” “No, I just think it’s cool.”

Q: Cool logo. Right.

A: And I’m like, “Well, here, check out their music.” You know, put on “Rocket to Russia,” you know, “Beat On the Brat with a Baseball Bat.”

Q: There you go. Out of all the tracks on that Ramones tribute album, I feel it was the one that was the most true to the Ramones.

A: Yeah, for me too. It’s the one that had the heart, that’s for sure.

Q: Exactly.

A: And, you know, I think Paul and Gene really approached that right on target and it’s like all those guys knew each other for so long that, you know, there’s a lot of feeling in that track because there’s a personal connection. Again, I think getting back to the vet language, you know, when you have a personal connection to something and you really feel it, that’s when things come across. I think that’s what makes Paul Stanley’s “One Live KISS” a very special movie and a very unique one. Because, you know, we all went into it approaching it with feeling, with real emotion, with real things invested into it. As, you know, great jazz singer, great jazz legend Billie Holliday always said, “If you haven’t lived it and you don’t feel it, you can’t sing it, baby.” That’s what the movie’s all about. It’s all about feeling, all about energy.

Q: There’s something I’d like to talk to you about. As a fan of film, I salute you for your work in film preservation.

A: Thank you.

Q: You recently were involved in part of a project to restore and reissue the masterpiece “The Hitch-Hiker” from 1953 which was directed by the legendary Ida Lupino. What was it about that film in particular that reached out to you?

A: Well, it wasn’t only just that film, it was Ida Lupino herself. I mean, Ida was my first biggest influence in life. As a very small child I saw her in the film “On Dangerous Ground,” I believe it was in 1950 with Nicholas Ray directing. And again, we’ll get back to the aspect of the stare or the gaze. Actually in that movie she played a blind woman. But it was her stare, her solitary stare alone and singular. I remember that same feel from Paul of when I kept looking at that first promo poster, I’m looking at that gaze and saying boy, that really connects to me. Ida Lupino really did that for me. And then I was, of course, from that moment on I was rabid about I have to find out everything about this woman, and my parents just were like “oh, let’s get out of his way because he’s got a mission now.” And God bless my parents because they used to put up with so much from me of going to the library and getting this and getting prints and film prints and, you know, letting me stay up until 5:00 in the morning to watch a movie. I mean, as long as I kept my work up and my school work up and, of course, was polite and everything else, was good to my elders, I never was able to have any restrictions on me.

So I just thought Ida Lupino was totally captivating. I started to see a lot of films of hers, found out that she was a director and that she formed her own production company and did just films of such social significance, really coming from her own sensibility and her own way of being. So I started to see those, and one of those films was “The Hitch-Hiker,” which is more of a traditional film noir about, you know, isolation and fear and death, all of those things, but there’s so much to do with her character, her way of being. And I connected with the film. I first saw it in 1976 and rented an old print of it and was just captivated by the film, and then years later when I got to know Ida and she became like a second mom to me, really just one of the greatest people I ever encountered, she had totally, you know, didn’t care about her work anymore or any aspect of Hollywood. She was in her early 70’s by that time, and I brought up the notion that I wanted to restore “The Hitch-Hiker” because we were going to do a screening of certain films of Ida Lupino through the Academy and there was no fine prints at all of “The Hitch-Hiker” available. They were all scratched and damaged prints, they looked terrible. And I knew that the film was actually never since day one, since 1953, seen the way Ida Lupino intended it to be seen because it was not printed properly to begin with upon first release in ‘53 because it was a B film basically.

Q: Wow.

A: Yeah. It was never seen the way she intended it to be seen in terms of density of the light and shadow and black levels and all those things that are technical in film but make all the emotional difference in the world for the audience watching it, you know, subconsciously, not consciously. So Ida’s attitude when I brought it to her was like, you know, why do you want to bother yourself with old junk, why do you want to, you’re so busy yourself, why do you want to do all this stuff, nobody cares about all that old crap anymore. I was like, no, you’re wrong, believe me, it’s very important to film history and to your legacy. And begrudgingly, she was like, well, go ahead, go do it. And sadly, she passed away in 1995 at 77 and never got a chance to see the full restoration of the movie because we spent three and a half years on and off working on it very intensely, and then in ‘97 it was re-issued. And I think the thing I’m most grateful about is, of course, that people have seen her great work again which I’m continuing. I really want people to experience more of her directorial work because they’re much more familiar with her acting work than her directing work. But she was able to infuse herself in everything she ever did with her own production company and the hundreds of television series that she directed afterward, shows like “Untouchables” and…

Q: “Outer Limits“?

A: “Outer Limits,” and she also did episodes of Boris Karloff’s “Thriller” which are amongst the best episodes on that series. She did many episodes of “Gilligan’s Island” actually. And, you know, a show like that is so stylized to itself that a director can basically only be a manager on something like that. But a director of her caliber was able to infuse in characters and in situations things that she made important, with inflection, with tone, with feeling, with pacing. So those are some of the traits of a director that a great director brings out and she had all those great talents and more. I wish that, one of my quests is to really bring the directorial works of Ida Lupino much more to public consciousness around the world.

Q: Well, we wish you luck with that. You were speaking about capturing the director’s vision. As a director, how true would you say that Paul Stanley’s “One Live KISS” is to yours and Paul’s vision and if you were to grade yourself, how well did you capture Paul Stanley and his Live to Win tour?

A: Well, I’d say if I had to grade us on all this, I would say we definitely have on our report card A++++ extra credit, and we hit it all the way out of the park in terms of baseball playing, I’ll just tell you that much. This movie is everything we wanted it to be and more ‘cause it’s taken on a life of its own. All I can say is it’s up to the audience really to tell me and tell Paul what they think of it by their reaction to it, but we’re very pleased with it and we really can’t wait for the world to see it and just experience, you know, from my point of view as a director, I can’t wait, you know, for the world to experience this guy who I think is so amazing, and that’s Paul Stanley, and I hope the rest of the world does, too. And I want them to see him how we wanted them to see in this movie, and I just think that’s a very special thing and I can’t wait to hear the reaction to it. I think it’s going to be pretty great.

Q: Now, Louis, I first met you at the Cleveland KISS convention, and you were very gracious and kind and took time to talk to anyone and everyone. I understand you have some events coming up, the Dayton expo, the Indy premiere, and of course, the Chicago premiere. Would you like to tell us a little bit about those?

A: Sure, I’d love to. One of the things is in Dayton we’re doing a preview of the film which is going to be the whole movie at the KISS fan expo and it’s really going to be fantastic because it gives fans a chance to really connect with the movie in an audience environment, because it’s one thing to watch it at home on a DVD with your family or by yourself or however you’re going to watch it, it’s still a very up front and in your face experience in a very emotional way, but with an audience, my God, the film takes on another life of its own entirely. I’ve seen people watch this movie in this type setting where they’re getting up, they’re cheering, they’re singing along with Paul, they’re applauding like Paul’s three dimensional right in front of them performing on the stage. And it’s like that just makes all of us so pleased because it’s like when a film can do that and have that kind of resonance and power, well, I mean, of course, it transcends us and it transcends a lot of things and it becomes so vital and emotional right there for the audience. When I’ve seen that, believe me, watching the whole audience of the KISS Army going crazy, just going like oh my God, yeah, Paul, go, sing that song, you know, it’s like okay, all right now. [laughs] This is cinerama.

Q: It almost becomes an interactive thing where you’re actually seeing the passion of the band and for Paul carrying on so that it almost becomes another level going back to that action/reaction kinda thing?

A: Oh, God, yes. I mean, I’m at these events watching these things with people, and I’m like, my God, we made that? Really? Geez, okay. [laughs] It’s humbling to see people just loving it so much and, you know, of course, it has a little to do with me, it has 95% to do with Paul Stanley because he’s the one up there giving it his all, performing it, and I’m throwing in my little bits of business as a director to help him along basically. But they’re reacting to him and his magic and I’m glad I got to put a little bit of mine to the brew.

Q: And fans are going to be able to bring that to their own homes on October 21st when it comes out.

A: Yes. The long wait is over. We are delighted that it’s coming out all over. Nationally it’s coming out on DVD on October 21st, a New Door/Universal release, and we’re very excited about it. Just can’t wait for this to hit the world and I think whether you’re watching it in your home, jamming out by yourself and just going “yeah, Paul, play that guitar, leap up in the air, do your thing,” or if you’re in an audience where you’re with either, you know, fifty or a hundred or five hundred people watching this and just seeing this, you know, visual explosion going on, and I use that word figuratively, a visual explosion, because there’s no pyrotechnics in this film, there’s nothing that’s associated with KISS in terms of the spectacle of the performances, of the stage show in this film. This film is the spectacle and the raw power and energy is pure, total Paul Stanley. Goes to show, he doesn’t need any of that stuff to go out there and just blow your doors off every time.

Q: Well, it goes back to when they took the makeup off in the first place. A lot of people thought, well, it can never work, but the show is the guys behind the makeup. It’s not necessarily the makeup. And I know from seeing Paul solo as well that that same magic, that same charisma, that same power and presence that he has as a front man for KISS will carry on and you’re going to see it all on the Paul Stanley “One Live KISS” DVD. I know it. It’s going to be fantastic.

A: Thank you. That’s one of the things I love, always really love about KISS as a band, as individual members, all the members of KISS throughout time, is their attitude, their feeling of “here we are and we don’t give up, we don’t say all right, this is what you get.” No, you get everything every time. Every time those guys step on a stage they’re not playing around. They’re out there to take no prisoners, grab you by the throat and go “here we are, we’re KISS.” In Paul’s case, when he’s solo, “I’m Paul, here I am, you’re coming with me.” It’s like we’re on this journey together and we’re really going to pull out all the stops here. And I love that attitude because coming from different types of situations in life where your life has so many obstacles in front of you and you approach something like how the heck am I ever going to do this in any aspect of life, well, it’s done one step at a time and being assured in yourself and saying, “I want to Live to Win.”

Q: I’m going to play a little game with you or a little something we like to do occasionally on the PodKISSt. We’re going to…

A: I just want to tell you that I’m a killer at Monopoly, so… [laughs]

Q: Okay. Or KISSopoly. We could be playing KISSopoly. I’ve never played the game. I have it sealed, hermetically sealed in my KISS vault. Someday I’ll open it up. [laughs] But what we’re going to do now is we’re going to say a series of names or words, and please tell us what automatically comes to your mind when I say…. Eric Singer.

A: Oh, Eric Singer is a very dear friend of mine. Eric all of us KISS fans have to thank as the original person I brought this project to on day one. Eric and I knew each other for a long time, and I told him what I’d like to do. We had planned some other film projects together, and I told him I’d like to do this and he was like, “Okay, let me introduce you to Keith Leroux,” who I knew peripherally on the KISS scene but I didn’t really know personally. He introduced me to Keith and Keith and I have become like brothers. I mean, we’re just like, I think that brotherly bond that’s been created there is because we both are very, very dedicated to Paul and how we like to really put the word out there about everything KISS, you know, and just like really the feeling there. You can’t deny that feeling of when somebody has it, there it is. I think that’s something we share with KISS fans throughout the world. We’re really there for Paul and just like, you know, he was so excited about the project, and Keith brought it to Doc McGhee and McGhee Management brought it to Paul and we all started talking about it, and all that really happened because of Eric Singer, so I think “One Live KISS,” the instance of it that it exists is because Eric started the ball rolling of getting them all talking about it. As a musician and I think as a person, it’s so great to watch him in all the different environments he plays with because how he plays with Alice Cooper is totally different than how he plays with KISS, how he plays with Black Sabbath, how he’s played with Queen. He played a different feel with every band and with this level of musicianship that’s so high and so forceful. Just being around him is just a great thing. I just love the guy.

Q: Next up … Gene Simmons.

A: Oh, Gene. Gene is a true demon of rock, let me tell you. He’s really a fascinating guy in every way. Encyclopedic knowledge of film. I love talking movies with Gene because he loves talking about movies, every aspect of movies. He knows, he’s stumped me many times on different histories of different movies, cameramen, I mean, you name it, Gene knows about it. Gene’s a big fan of Ida’s, big fan of many aspects of movies. Like I say, Gene knows about cameramen, Gene knows about lighting directors, Gene knows about, you name it in cinema, Gene knows it and we love talking about that. He’s a fascinating like walking cinema encyclopedia to talk to. The other thing is, I think he’s a very underrated bass player. The level he brings when he’s really on it for playing bass is really… I was watching him in Vegas and I couldn’t get over it, you know, because of the acoustics of the hall, I think I might have said this before, but the feeling he was bringing to “100,000 Years” and everything else, it was so rhythmic, so perfect, so right on, and you were really feeling the pulse of what was happening there. And I think Gene is, even himself, I think he underrates himself as a bass player. He really brings a lot to the table.

Q: Next up … Tommy Thayer.

A Wow. I mean, he’s really brought a lot of passion and power back into KISS with his attitude, with his energy, his level of musicianship which is just amazing. Watching him play is not at all like watching a copy of Ace Frehley. It’s more of watching, okay, these are Ace’s solos and so forth, but Tommy’s putting himself into them and putting his own sound and feel into them and taking nothing away from Ace, of course, but he’s bringing a different feel, a different, renewed sense of vigor to KISS. I mean, I think you can really sense it and really feel it on the new release that just came out in Japan of KISS classics, KISSology, of recreated songs from the past. For my money, that album really belongs spirit-wise to Tommy Thayer and really has a lot of great power and emphasis on things where the band all came together. I just really think Tommy’s way to go attitude and just really how much he loves the band, how much he loves being in it and being a very dedicated, long time KISS fan himself, I really think that comes through and I think fans, you know, I’m certainly very grateful that he’s in the band because he really brings a lot of magic to it. And also another thing I could say about Tommy, not many people often talk about what a great director he is, and I can tell you, being a professional director myself, the things he’s done with, you know, Ted Nugent and Full Bluntal Nugity, the films he’s made for KISS and so forth, he’s a phenomenal director. And the thing about it is he wasn’t trained in any way in media or in directing or anything like that. He just feels it out and does it. And we’ve talked many occasions about his work and he’s very humble about it and very genuine about it and I just think that watching the work he does as a director and a filmmaker is really very special. So he is so multi-talented and has so much going on that I think it’s a real blessing he’s with KISS.

Q: We at the PodKISSt recently did an interview with him, and he was incredibly gracious, just an incredible guy.

A: That’s Tommy.

Q: Our next candidate for the game is … KISS fans.

A: KISS fans. Well, it’s a cliché to say, but there is no fan base like KISS has. I mean, there is no fans like KISS fans, that’s for sure. ‘Cause I mean, I’ll tell you, I remember Keith Leroux was telling me when we were first starting this “One Live KISS” project, he said, “Well, we’re really going to see KISS fans now.” And I was puzzled by him saying that to me ‘cause I was like, “What do you mean, I’ve been a KISS fan since 1974, what are you talking about?” And he’s like, “No, no, no. I’m talking about now you’re working with Paul, you’re working with the band. Now you’re going to see KISS fans.” I was like, “What do you mean? What am I going to see? They can’t be any more intense than Metallica fans,” and he was like, “Yeah, wait and see.” And boy, those were prophetic words, let me tell you, because the outpouring of emotion, the devotion, the dedication, the family love that KISS fans have for KISS, for all the members of it, past and present, it’s spellbinding to me to see. I mean, my God, it’s come to me as a director working with Paul, I mean, people bring me gifts at expos, people want to talk to me, people are so, people send me emails and messages from all over the world, you know, about the movie and how was it to do this, when is it out, during the time we were working on the release, when is it coming out, tell me, Louis, when is it coming out, let us know, please, talk to us. And of course, I answered every single one of them and I was like, you know, thank you so much for your enthusiasm, your dedication, and thanks for your message, we’re getting this out, believe me. And that’s what I think KISS fans, I think any band probably would sell their souls to have the fan base that KISS has, that kind of dedication and devotion. I’ve never seen anything like it. And working with Paul and seeing it from that side, I mean, Keith was exactly right in what he said to me. I was unprepared for the amount of sheer energy and enthusiasm. I mean, sometimes I have to really catch my breath to keep up with it. I really give all the members of KISS big kudos for how they’ve been able to keep that up for all these decades. I mean, sometimes I really gotta sit back and go I need another cup of coffee. [laughs] But of course, it’s totally appreciated and it’s like, my God, I mean, sometimes when I think I really love KISS and then I meet somebody else, I’m like okay, well, I can’t hold a candle to that, and God bless them all, you know. They’re just amazing people and I love meeting them all, and also very grateful to be one myself.

Q: And the last person is Paul Stanley.

A: One of a kind in every way. Paul Stanley is one of the greatest people I’ve ever worked with, a real gentleman, a consummate artist. I mean, there’s so many adjectives and so forth that I could use to describe him, but all I can say is human. He’s so human, he’s so real, and he cares. He deeply cares so much about his fans, that he has fans. He cares about the people he works with. He takes a lot of things to heart, just personally on such a level to where he keeps himself in such a fine pitch where, you know, you wonder how can he keep that up, but he does. He stuns every time because it’s like he doesn’t play around. I mean, he’s really a very loyal, a very genuine person. Like I say, if he wasn’t in KISS at all and he was just a guy that lived next door to me, I’d want to be a dear friend of his because you’d have to search high and wide to find a person who’s greater to have in your life and more of a positive influence. He’s been that way for me since I was a kid, and I always looked at him like an older brother. He’s so amazing of a guy, you know, and it’s like he’s never let me down on one aspect in the making of this movie. I couldn’t have asked for a greater collaborator or a person to work with who shared a wavelength so beautifully. He’s an amazing guy in every kind of way. I’m sure I’m getting boring at this point about him.

Q: No, no, no.

A: I just think he’s the best.

Q: Now, you were on tour with KISS in Europe. Are there any tales from the road that you can share with us?

A: Well, every time there’s a KISS show anywhere, there’s stories of every kind, everywhere. And it’s like, yes, there’s so many. One of the great things about being around with KISS is the crew, the great road crew. Characters, all of them. They’re just such a fun lot of people and they love KISS too and it’s like you get out there and you’re with people like Fran, Paul’s guitar tech, and on the Live to Win tour he was the production manager. He’s got a dry wit. He’s a fine musician in his own right, and he’s just so much fun to be around because he’s like, his attitude is, you know, hilarious stuff. Just really an up front guy, a very serious guy about what he does with Paul and KISS too. He takes his job very seriously and that’s something I really admire when I see that because you see this level of dedication in the crew for KISS that you really don’t see a lot in other places. You see more along the lines of, yeah, okay, so what, it’s just another show. But with the KISS crew, it’s people who sincerely care and take their job really seriously and that’s something I really admire and like. Sometimes there’s a real apathy in this business for people who have been in it a long time of saying it’s just another show, just another thing, it’s just another gig, it’s whatever it is, so what. I never see a so what attitude around KISS, and that’s a really great thing to see. That goes from the backstage to the back of the house. There’s not a so what attitude in the entire place. And Doc McGhee, a wonderful guy. He’s a fellow Chicagoan. He always has a really great spirit, you know, happy-go-lucky way, and also he’s dead serious about his work and how he does it, and when there’s a problem that arises he gets right on top of it. He and I have shared many stories about Chicago, like he’ll remember Hero Submarines, the great sandwich shop over on Henderson Street and Western Avenue and old venues in Chicago like the Amphitheater and the Aragon and the Stadium. Doc is another great person to be around. All the KISS people. I mean, when I see them, every time I see them, when I’m traveling with them anywhere, it’s like one big family, and it’s a great thing to be around.

Q: Very good. You and Paul are working on another film called “The Artist’s Gaze,” correct?

A: Yes. That’s something we’re evolving as a film. We’ve been working on it for over a year now. The film is called “Paul Stanley: The Artist’s Gaze” and again we’re back to the aspect of the gaze, the stare, comes from the eyes. It’s all about his work as a fine painter, his evolving work as an artist, how it’s coming from deep within him. And I think one of the things about Paul’s art that’s really fascinating is how emotional, how romantic it is. The visual quality of it that he’s bringing to it that’s coming from very deep inside, I like to see how that’s growing and evolving with him, and for his audience in art that’s coming out. It’s really from art critics to art collectors to casual people Paul is bringing to art through the celebrity of KISS that he is bringing to art for the first time. He’s really exposing people to expressionism and different ways of communicating visually that they never had seen before, I don’t think. So at least from what I’ve seen at galleries and so forth, a lot of people are telling me that, so it’s very…

One of the things that, and even with KISS in any way, especially around Paul, it’s always very genuine. People have a genuine love and affinity for him and I think when they buy a piece of his artwork, it’s like a piece of him and it literally is. It literally is a piece of him because it comes from way deep in his soul and in his heart and the way he communicates. So that’s one of the things we’re evolving in the film “The Artist’s Gaze.” We’re not in any hurry to complete it. It’s a thing that we’re evolving. The best films are films that hopefully come out in a way where they evolved over time. They took on their own life, their own feel. And then when they’re ready to be born, they come out and they say here I am, world, I’m ready to take you on. That’s the same thing that happened with “One Live KISS.” It evolved over time and it became, with Paul’s influence, a different film than I originally intended to make. And that’s a great thing.

Q: Now, as far as Paul’s art, can you explain your take on it? And I understand he’s now into sculpture even.

A: Well, yes. Basically, one of the pieces that Paul just recently did which I was just stunned by, it’s such a beautiful large scale piece, it’s called “Angel of the Children,” and that is being made into, from Paul’s concept, is being made into a sculpture. And I think it’s fascinating the roads that Paul’s artwork is taking and the avenues and places it’s taking him to. I love Paul’s art because it has such expression, because it comes from the heart and soul. And Paul’s work, just like his work with his hand with a guitar pick striking chords and playing with that fever and that passion, he is bringing that same thing with a paintbrush in his hand. People are getting excited about art where before they wouldn’t even think about having a canvas in their home. Now they have it and they’re looking at it and they’re being inspired by it, so I think that’s just, anytime you’re doing that for people, you’re really doing something special in this world.

Q: And, of course, Paul’s a creator, both artistically and musically, and of course, I think you know where I’m going with this. He’s got another baby on the way, he and his beautiful bride. When did you first hear from Paul that he and his wife were expecting?

A: I found out some time ago that they were expecting another child in their home, and I think that’s, of course, so beautiful because, being a parent myself, I know about how beautiful it is when a child’s spirit comes into your home and into your life. It’s a magical moment and Paul and Erin are just great parents, great people. They care so much and these are such special times in their lives that. I know they’re going to have a daughter and this is Paul’s first daughter and Erin’s first and it’s just a very… A child is a magical moment any time in life. That they’re experiencing this and the love they share is such a beautiful thing to see and it’s a very, very special time in every way.

Q: Well, Lou, I know that I can speak for all KISS fandom when I say, please pass on our best wishes and congratulations, and we look forward to all of his and his wife’s happiness.

A: There’s nothing better.

Q: One final thing here. What’s next for Louis Antonelli? And I have to put a little caveat on here. Can we look forward to you possibly turning your magic towards a full blown KISS production? Is there anything you can share with us at this time?

A: Well, you know, we never know where the road’s gonna take us. I would love to do a full blown KISS concert movie one day. If it happens, it’ll be great. I’ll tell you, if it could happen right now, I’ve got my shoes on, I’m ready to go down the stairs, I’m ready to do it right this moment. [laughs]

Q: Your bags are packed.

A: Yes, they are ready. And it’s definitely a kind of thing where it’s like, of course, if I was invited to do something like that, I would be thrilled. I would be very happy to bring what I could bring to it. Where it goes from there, we’ll see. It’s like I’m just happy to have created this movie and any other thing I could provide in the future, of course, I’d be delighted to. My pleasure.

The other side of it is I have many projects in development, things that I’m working on right now. One is about the closing and destruction of an old amusement park that I grew up at actually. It’s called Kiddie Land, and it’s going to be taken away and destroyed, and it’s going to be a film about scenes through a child’s eyes and it’s called “This Tall.”

Q: Oh, wow. Is that like you must be this tall to ride this ride, that kind of thing?

A: Yes, that’s what it is exactly. I always remember waiting to be myself this tall so I could ride a ride myself. So the whole film is going to be seen from a child’s perspective. And it’s not a documentary, it’s not anything like that. It’s not like, you know, why is this place closing or being torn down. It’s more about the magic of being a child. Another film I have been thinking about creating and working on right now with some actors is a film about a woman trapped in a room alone and she can’t escape from this room. It’s a very intense movie that I’m working on. I’ve been approached about doing a few concert films now and other things back in the music scene. So we’ll see what happens. I’m kind of weighing different options right now and seeing what I really want to do next.

Q: Well, we look forward to the upcoming “The Artist’s Gaze,” we look forward to definitely purchasing Paul Stanley’s “One Live KISS” on October 21st. We will be seeing you at the events coming up from Dayton to Indy to the Chicago premiere. You will have some folks that will bump into you and say, “Hi, I’m from the PodKISSt.”

A: I’m delighted to meet them all. It’s such a pleasure to share in all this excitement and happiness about Paul Stanley, the one and only, the greatest. So I’m delighted to be a part of all of it and I love meeting everyone who has the same enthusiasm and passion about it and I just hope you all love the film. We made it just for you.

Q: Excellent. Thank you very much for your time. We would like to thank Paul Stanley, Louis Antonelli, KISS Online, and Universal for allowing us to have access like this.

A: Thank you very much. It’s my pleasure to have been a part of this.