Portland’s Own Kiss Guitarist

Interview With Tommy Thayer

Portland’s Own Kiss Guitarist

Tweet: “Rock on with this original interview with KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer.”

June 22nd KISS returns to Portland in the Clark County Amphitheater. Why am I writing about it and what makes this such a momentous occasion you may ask? Well its all because of Portland's own Tommy Thayer, KISS's newest guitarist. 

My first interview with Tommy was after he arrived back from Germany, where Black'n Blue recorded their first Geffen Album. Now 20 years later I had the opportunity to ask Tommy about his new job with KISS. So the first question I asked had to be:

How did you become the new guitarist? Can you talk about what led up to you being chosen.

There was no audition, no long decisions, it was almost like nobody told me.   KISS was readying to play a concert in Jamaica back in February 2002 and Doc McGhee (KISS manager) called and said to get ready for the trip etc.., Oh and by the way, Ace has decided not to go, so you're playing guitar.   So that's how it went, I was actually filling in for an absent Ace for the first two or three things.   By the time we left for Australia in February 2003 for the monumental KISS Symphony show in Melbourne, I was officially on board.

How does it feel coming back to Portland and playing as a member of Kiss?

It's incredible, not bad for a geeky kid from Beaverton. Believe it or not, KISS was one of the earlier bands I saw live in concert when I first started venturing out to the Paramount Theatre and the old Memorial Coliseum in the early to mid-70s. KISS was the opening act once for Savoy Brown and another time for a band called Ballin' Jack at the Paramount. I used to stand outside in line with every other kid out there freezing my ass off anticipating the rock & roll magic that we couldn't wait to witness inside, it was a magical time those days. I never would have imagined that I would be able to do all the things I've been fortunate enough to experience playing guitar. Coming back now to play in Portland as a member of KISS is mindboggling to say the least.

Were you a little disappointed on the last tour, that the closest you got to Portland was Seattle?

No, not really. In that case all of our closest friends made the road trip north to Auburn.

How have your responsibilities and interaction with the band changed now that you are a band member?

After Black 'N Blue ran its course over 10 years ago, I started working for Paul and Gene doing anything that needed to be done. I needed a job at the time and I was lucky enough to get one doing something that interested me. So, I've come up through the ranks in the KISS organization starting at the bottom and worked my way up. It was never a conscious thing though, I always cared a lot about what I did, so most of the time it wasn't like working. To be honest, the transition of coming into the band was seamless, I'd done so much recording, sound checking and rehearsing with KISS through the years that it was very natural to step up onstage and be in the band.   I actually came very close to subbing for Ace onstage when he almost missed a couple shows on the 2000 tour, but that's another story!

Are you still doing the same things behind the scenes or has somebody else taken over those jobs?

I wouldn't have the time to do much else. We have new people that have taken over the road management that are getting the job done well. As far as the video production work goes, I'm still very much involved with that. I put a lot of time into the KISS Symphony CD and DVD.

What other rolls do you play within the KISS organization?

Since I've been on the team for so many years, in many situations I might have a point of view or an opinion that others might heed to. Or in other situations, I might run with the ball and take care of business. Paul and Gene have said at times I'm the glue that holds things together so to speak.

You said, “I'd done so much recording, sound checking and rehearsing with KISS through the years that it was very natural to step up onstage and be in the band” Have you filled in for Ace in the studio?

Yes, I have at times. At other times I've recorded with the band on tunes I might have written on a certain KISS album.

Gene Simmons just released his second solo album “Asshole” did you work on this project in any capacity?

No, I did not, on purpose.   I believe that Gene wanted to use musicians outside of KISS (even Eric at the time) exclusively so that there was no conflict of interest issues, so that his solo record was defined as being a separate project outside of KISS.

I was reading somewhere that a live recording is made of every show and you can buy a CD of this recording after the show is over. Will Kiss be doing this at the Portland show?

Yes, I think it's called "Instant Live." It's a new thing that other bands like The Who have done successfully, whereas you can take a live-recorded CD of the show home with you, a great concept!

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This article was originally published in Flossin Magazine. This article is edited by Edna Waters. This article is optimized for web by Steven Christian (Artist | Author | Podcaster).