PAUL STANLEY: A Lot Of Young People Are Missing Out On Excitement Of Music Created By Human Beings
December 17, 2014In a brand new interview with Noisey, KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley discussed the current state of music. He said: "Music is like food — there's two kinds: good and bad."
He continued: "I think that there's a huge problem in that music nowadays that's most available on the radio is mechanically produced and interchangeable, and the people singing it really aren't singers — they're people that go into the studio and get Auto-Tuned.
"Look, I grew up going to Fillmore East, seeing Jimi Hendrix, LED ZEPPELIN, HUMBLE PIE. Hendrix was like somebody from another planet. God bless Stevie Ray Vaughan, but there wouldn't be a Stevie Ray Vaughan without a Hendrix. And Hendrix was… It was so deep because it was so original, it crossed so many boundaries. There were no racial implications to what he was doing. He was just Jimi Hendrix. So he was very very dynamic and made a huge impression on me. I saw him twice.
"I was lucky because in New York I could see people play for 2000 people or less.
"The music today, my problem is if you don't wanna sing a song, then get somebody else to sing it. Because it's faceless, and that's the biggest problem, I think, nowadays.
"Perhaps, I would hate to think, it's because I'm getting older, but it's a shame that a lot of young people are missing out on the excitement of music that is created by human beings.
"The reason we love so much of the music we grew up listening to is because it wasn't perfect. What we've done is we replaced passion with perfection, and the music that I loved, Motown, was full of mistakes. The first ZEPPELIN album was a disaster. It's brilliant because Jimmy [Page] almost goes off the rails at times. That's what music is about.
"Music is about pushing the boundaries in search of ecstasy. And that's missing today, for the most part.
"If somebody says, 'What's your favorite new band?' It's the FOO FIGHTERS. [Laughs] He's [Dave Grohl] been doing this for what now, decades?
"I just don't find a lot really does much for me, and if it does, it's because it reminds me of something else. And then I'd rather listen to that."
KISS played a residency at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in November.
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