There was a point where it seemed that Ace Frehley had closed the door on his solo career. After all, there was not a single new Ace solo offering between the years of 1990 – 2008 (I know, I know — he was part of the Kiss reunion from 1996 – 2002, but still…).
However, over the past ten years or so, Kiss’ original lead guitarist/creator of the famous “spaceman” character and make-up design has come back with a vengeance – issuing several albums (2009’s Anomaly, 2014’s Space Invader, and 2016’s Origins, Vol. 1) and consistently touring.
And in 2018, Ace added another entry to his solo discography, with the arrival of the appropriately titled Spaceman. The man with the literal smoking guitar spoke to Vintage Rock on the day of the album’s release (October 19, 2018).
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The thing that strikes me about the arrival of Spaceman is that it is your fourth album since 2009. Is it safe to say that you’re making up for lost time?
Yeah. What completely blew my mind was I got sober, and then I started working on a record [Anomaly], eventually got a record deal with eOne, and people are telling me, “You haven’t put out an album in 20 years.” I had no idea it went by that fast. [Laughs] So, I’m making up for lost time — yes, I am.
Has getting sober fueled your creativity?
Oh, it’s changed my life. I’m focused, I show up on time, and I’m much more creative. And I like remembering what I did the night before, when I wake up – whether it be at home or on tour.
You’re playing guitar better than ever — especially on tunes like “Mission to Mars” and “Quantum Flux.”
That’s interesting that you said those two. It seems like everybody I talk to has a different favorite.
Let’s discuss “Quantum Flux,” which closes the album and is an instrumental.
I was up in Los Angeles with my mixer, Warren Huart, and I was at his home studio. We had nine songs, and the reason that I did nine songs is because I’m a little superstitious, and my first solo album in ’78 was nine songs. So, I figured I’d do that just for good luck. I don’t think there’s any filler on this record, so that’s a good thing. But we were sitting around, talking, and I just recorded a track with Eric Singer from Kiss. He wanted to get on the record, and it was a blues track, and it sounded good, but I was saying to Warren, “Y’know, we don’t have an instrumental on this record, and every solo studio album I’ve done since the beginning of time always has at least one instrumental.” So he asked me, “Do you have any ideas?” And I did have a couple of ideas — instrumentals that I had written from the past. I started playing a few of them, and he said, “Great! Let’s go with it.” He set up a click track, I plugged in…I think I started off with an acoustic, and started layering guitars on top of it. It all just came together rapidly. And then three or four days later, we got Matt Starr to come in and play drums on it. He really pushed it. I loved what he did with the song.
I loved how the song ends — which is a nod to how “Black Diamond” ended on Kiss’ first album.
Right (laughs).
The lyrics to the song “Bronx Boy” reminded me of one of your earlier tunes, “Hard Times,” off Kiss’ Dynasty.
Yeah, pretty much the lyrics were drawing from growing up in the Bronx, and the trials and tribulations, and so on and so forth. That song was co-written by me and my friend, Ronnie Mancuso. He’s got a studio in Vegas and he’s a good songwriter, and he brought that song over to my home studio in Rancho Santa Fe. But it had a different title and I really wasn’t happy with the lyrics, or the message in the song. Because it was kind of an anti-drug song. And even though I’ve been sober for twelve years, I really don’t like to preach. I think it’s a personal choice that everybody should just do what they want, and you’ve got to figure it out for yourself. I decided to erase his lyrics and rewrite all the lyrics. I drew from my childhood — growing up in the Bronx. It worked out great.
What made you choose “I Wanna Go Back” to cover — which was popularized by Eddie Money?
I was laying in bed with Rachel, and we were watching videos on YouTube. We were just picking bands randomly, and I said, “Are you a fan of Eddie Money?” And she said, “Oh yeah!” So, we put on “Two Tickets to Paradise,” and then always in the right hand corner of YouTube, there are other songs by the same artist, usually, when you pull up a song by an artist. So, I scrolled down, and found “I Wanna Go Back.” I remember that was one of Eddie Money’s comeback hits [as the follow-up single to “Take Me Home Tonight,” in 1986]. So we gave that a listen, and I immediately identified with the video, because I had recently done a piece for The Village Voice here in New York about going back to my old high school, and places I used to hang out. And that’s pretty much what the message was in Eddie Money’s video — he went back to his old high school, was driving around his old neighborhood. And then, upon closer inspection, I realized the lyrics and the melody and the chord changes were really great. So, I took a stab at it, and it worked out great. Eddie Money’s version is pretty much all keyboards and saxophones. But mine is all guitars layered on top of each other.
Something I don’t think I’ve ever read about before — how did you and Rachel first meet?
We met at the House of Blues in San Diego, when I was doing a concert there. She’s from San Diego — a California blonde. Grew up at the beach. The complete opposite of how I grew up I grew up living in an apartment building. But I was actually only a block away from Bronx Park, and maybe four blocks away from the New York Botanical Gardens. So, we both came from different backgrounds. But opposites attract. We got along great, and when I started recording Anomaly, we decided to move in together. And now, it’s solid.
Something else that as a longtime Kiss fan that I can never seem to get the definitive answer about — do you own your make-up design and license it to the band for Tommy Thayer to use, or does Kiss own it?
My attorney told me that I licensed it to them. That’s all I can say. They may deny it, but he told me, “You didn’t sell it to them.” But what are the ins and outs of the licensing deal, I’m not 100% sure of. I think I licensed it to them for perpetuity…does that mean forever, or something?
I’m not totally sure.
There are all these legal terms that I’m not always so familiar with, or understand the complete meaning. But I definitely didn’t sell it to them. Peter sold his make-up to Paul and Gene, but I didn’t.
What are your touring plans in support of the album?
Well, we’re doing a Kiss Kruise that kicks off from Miami on Halloween. And then after that, doing four or five shows in Florida, and then I’m going to go back home, and start working on Origins Vol. 2 — get a jump on that record. And then we have some shows in January…oh, I forgot I’m doing the Kiss Expo two days before Christmas in New Jersey, where I’m going to perform my 1978 solo album – with “New York Groove” — in its entirety. We’re thinking about maybe recording that audio and video, because if we play it well enough, it can be a big seller.
Is it possible that if you are asked to participate in Kiss’ End of the Road tour, that it could conflict with a solo tour?
Getting involved with Kiss on the road would take precedence over what I’m doing with my band. But the only way I would seriously consider it is if I took back my make-up and costume and my character — which I designed. Tommy Thayer is not a bad guitar player, but he basically just mimics everything I wrote, and tries to imitate my persona. He’s been doing it for 15 years. But the reality is I’m the original guy. And nobody can really copy the way I play guitar.
Would you still consider participating in the tour if Peter was not involved, or only if it’s the original four?
I think it would be great if Peter was involved. Obviously, at this point in his life, he wouldn’t be able to do a two-hour show. But I can see if we worked out a situation where Peter came out at the end and did three or four songs — sang “Beth,” did “Black Diamond,” and a couple of others, I think that would be fun.
