KISS’s Paul Stanley Teases Band’s Digital Future: Listen

KISS has spent much of their five-decade career hiding their faces in makeup. Now, as the band plans its next phase of music and iconic characters, KISS continues to leave fans with mystery and intrigue.

after orgasm end of road trip In December, KISS started the new year by selling their name and likeness, with plans to live forever in the digital world. Details are scant, but the band says virtual performances will take place in Las Vegas in 2027. advertising billboardof Behind the playlist During the podcast, frontman Paul Stanley didn’t reveal exactly how the band will carry its legacy into the future. But in typical KISS fashion, Stanley had ambitious goals.

“This is a must-see, must-go experience,” Stanley said proudly. “This is beyond anyone’s imagination.”

Virtual artists are nothing new: A Tupac Shakur hologram appeared at Coachella in 2012, and avatars resurrected the Ronnie James Duo and Hui Live performances by late musicians such as Whitney Houston. These early examples of digital similarity pale in comparison to Abba Voyage, a high-budget, VR-meets-live hybrid concert in London that earned rave reviews.

In April, KISS sold its name and likeness rights to Pophouse, and the Swedish company helped create Abba Voyage around virtual versions of the four Abba members, making them look decades younger. Stanley says that while early generations of avatars wowed audiences, KISS isn’t content with replicating previous models.

“We’re creating something that’s not a concert,” he explains. “The idea of ​​a hologram — it’s not a hologram, but that term seems to be used a lot — but the idea of ​​a simulated concert is not what we want to do. I would find that boring, frankly.

Stanley said that, like Abba Voyage at the purpose-built 3,000-capacity ABBA Arena at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the KISS experience required a purpose-built venue built around the technology. Las Vegas is filled with venues ranging from the Sphere to the T-Mobile Arena to many theaters that host long-running shows (such as Bruno Mars at Park MGM). Stanley remained silent at the meeting, but told us advertising billboard The final product will be more advanced than Abba Voyage.

“Now, please note that the Abba show is an older technology because technology moves forward at an exponential rate,” Stanley said. “So, by the time the show starts airing, new technology is already there.” To do that, KISS will be working with Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company founded by filmmaker George Lucas, he added. Produced special effects for the Star Wars, Terminator and Jurassic Park series.

KISS fans got a preview of its plans in December, when the band unveiled digital descriptions of what was shown at its final End of the Road concert and released a two-minute highlight clip, “KISS: A New Era Begins,” showcasing the band’s use of Motion capture technology creates digital portraits of the scenes. Stanley insists the final product will be more advanced.

“This is just an early version – I don’t want to say a rendering – but an early version of what’s to come and is still being worked on,” Stanley said. “But it bears little resemblance to what’s going on there. What we’ve shown is just the beginning of the idea that we can continue to exist outside of flesh and blood.

As for Stanley, he hopes to keep busy outside of preparing for the Las Vegas show. Stanley leads a retro soul band, Paul Stanley’s Soul Station, playing original and classic soul songs and releasing an album, now and then2021. When asked if he would sing on his 1978 album of the same name and Live to win Starting in 2006 – Stanley keeps his fans guessing.

“We’ll see,” he said. “My interest in music isn’t over yet, that’s for sure. I’m getting smarter about what I do, pick and choose, because as you get older you see more and more what you do Anything that takes you away from other things at some point really comes down to picking and choosing what you do as it relates to what you can’t do. So yeah, I mean, I’m sure. Will do more music. Music is a big part of who I am.

Listen to Paul Stanley’s full interview on the embedded Spotify player below, or head to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, iHeart, or Everand.