Intervju med Paul Stanley av Ultimate Classic Rock:
Paul Stanley on His Childhood: ‘I Was Simply Determined to Find My Way Out’
Kiss star Paul Stanley’s new memoir, ‘Face the Music: A Life Exposed’ is garnering many rave reviews for its raw and open honesty, along with the many life lessons that the Starchild has amassed over the years. Revealing in great detail a wildly dysfunctional childhood made harder by an ear deformation, Stanley’s straightforward storytelling is electrifying.
We had a chance to sit down with Stanley and talk about the book just before he warmly and generously greeted and posed for photos with a crowd of over 500 at a Los Angeles bookstore.
Paul, there are a lot of surprising moments in your new book. One that really jumps out is the scene just after Kiss played Madison Square Garden in late 1977. You describe how the other guys in the band were off with friends and family while you found yourself alone in a deli on Third Avenue eating matzo ball soup. What an unexpected picture.
Right? I think it’s healthy for people to get a reality check on what it’s like sometimes. I think moments like that can help us stop deifying people and putting them on pedestals. A lot of times in this book I think people will relate to the fact that they’re not much different than I am. This idea of helping to inspire people by letting me know what my life was like is a gift to me. You get the most out of life when you give the most. I didn’t realize that as a kid but I certainly learned it as I got older.
Many of us are familiar with how hard Kiss has always worked, especially back in the beginning. But what you experienced during your childhood may be startling to readers. There was a lot of dysfunction in your household growing up.
I don’t know what I’m made out of. But it’s pretty strong. I’m not somebody who folds and I’m not somebody who surrenders I’m not somebody who gives in. I was simply determined to find my way out. I just didn’t know what was going to take. You can paraphrase Bob Dylan. Dylan said in one of his songs, “You know what you want but I know what you need.” And in life, we chase what we want. We don’t always chase what we need. And to reach a point where you understand what life is really about is freeing and liberating. You only get to that point by opening up. That’s what I did in this book. If you shut down all the time you get nothing.