For 17 years now Tommy Thayer has been under the spotlight as Kiss’ longest serving guitarist. When the ‘End of The Road’ Tour finally rolls into New York City in 2021 he’ll have been holding down those guitar duties for almost two decades. We caught up with Tommy enjoying a few days off after the Kiss Kruise and less than ten days before the band touch down in Perth to start their final ever Australian Shows. It’s going to be an emotional time for legions of Australian fans of all generations.
Tommy: Hi Mark
Mark: Hi Tommy how are you?
Tommy: I’m good, just enjoying a few days off in sunny Southern California, how are you doing?
Mark: Very good thanks. Hoe was the Kruise? (Kiss’ last shows before Australia)
Tommy: The Kruise was just phenomenal, we’ve been lucky, this year was the ninth year and every year has just been gangbusters. We’re really fortunate to have a thing like that, that’s so big and sells out so quickly each year.
Mark: So now it’s Australia’s turn to see you, next stop Perth for the ‘End of The Road’ Tour. One thing I didn’t realise until a Jewish friend told me is that we seem to see that phrase as something sad and a little negative but in the original Hebrew ‘End of the Road’ means “a great and wonderful thing” literally.
Tommy: Oh is that right, maybe Paul and Gene know something, they might be one step ahead of us on that (laughs)
Mark: I thought it was pretty clever. The tour is obviously a chance for a great celebration for a lot of fans world-wide and especially down here in Australia, but it’s also tinged with sadness. Something that means such a lot for so many people of so many different ages – legions of fans and families of fans – what’s your take on what will happen when one of the biggest bands in the world finally walk off stage for the last time?
Tommy: Well Kiss isn’t going to go away, it’ll probably go on forever in what it represents and what it means to people, that will never go away, it’s just the band touring that is obviously going to end at some point. We just announced that the last show is going to be in New York in 2021, I don’t know if you got that news?
Mark: We did.
Tommy: So we’ve still a long way to go, I don’t think we’re even half way into this tour yet to be honest with ya. But you know all good things have to come to an end at some point and we can keep touring forever, particularly Gene and Paul as they get a little older, I’m a little younger than they are (laughs) so I think it’s important, the band as good as it is goes out on a high, they don’t want to diminish over time and have subsequent tours kinda go downhill. While the band is still great and really smoking, that’s the way to go out, and that’s the impetus for doing this now when we’re still on top of it. But you know I think there will be a hole for a lot of people, a hole, but as I said all good things can’t just last forever though either.
Mark: That’s life I guess, all things must change. There’s such a huge amount of love for the band though and when I knew I was talking to you I reached out for questions from fans and so the rest of what I have to ask you is really from them, the Australian fans. I love this first one: “What was it like putting on the make-up for the first time, and what do you think it will be like putting it one for the last time?”
Tommy: Well the first time that I put it on was when I did my first show with Kiss, I wasn’t officially in the band at the time I was really just filling in. It was a private concert we did down in Jamaica in 2002. And obviously there’s a lot of excitement and anticipation in doing that, but also a certain level of maybe anxiety or nervousness to be honest with ya because those are huge boots, or shoes (laughs) to fill and to go out there and do that. So there were a lot of emotions with that for me because honestly to begin with you’re almost in a ‘no win’ situation with people because they’re really scrutinising you, all eyes are on you and they’re all trying to determine if you’re up to snuff or not. I think fortunately I pulled it off pretty well but it’s been a big growing experience and a big developing experience being in a band like this over the years. I obviously feel very comfortable where I am now but it took a while for me to find that comfort zone. As far as putting the make-up on for the last time I think that’s going to be a very emotional experience and I think it’s going to be a mix of all kinds of feelings: a celebration and excitement but on the other hand maybe a little bit of sadness at the end.
Mark: At least you can always retire to your own bathroom and put the make-upon at your own leisure if you want to relive those moments!
Tommy: (laughs) Yeah, yeah if I’m feeling down, missing a little bit I can run in to my bathroom and put it on! (laughs)
Mark: Australia has always had a deep love of Kiss and I remember a couple of tours ago when you played with Thin Lizzy and Motley Crue going down to the hotel to catch up with Scott and Marco from Thin Lizzy and seeing Paul and Gene there, and one of the images I have of that night is of you sat there surrounded by people all hanging off your words. There’s such love there for Kiss that must be so different than that most bands see, or even that you must have witnessed working behind the scenes?
Tommy: Well I love that, the fans are really our life blood and we all know that, but besides that Kiss fans are kind of a breed of their own, they’re more than special. When we do the Kruise there are almost 3000 of the most dedicated fans on that ship and they’re really great people. Kiss fans have a great spirit and they really want to be together, and that’s a big part of it. Obviously they want to see the shows and obviously see Kiss as it’s all about Kiss, but it’s also a communal thing for them where they get together with each other and they look forward to seeing each other, almost like a reunion of sorts. And because of that common interest and common culture there’s a real bond between each other and with the band. I think the idea of following a band like Kiss it goes beyond following a lot of other bands it’s really a communal and cultural thing that goes beyond anything I’ve ever seen, it’s very unique.
Mark: It is, and it’s a very positive force bringing people together. I don’t think that sort of passion has happened before except maybe for The Beatles and I’m pretty sure it will never happen again.
Tommy: For sure.
Mark: It’s less than ten days now before you touch down in Perth ad I know that you can’t really say, but is there anything special you’ll be doing for Australian fans that you won’t be doing elsewhere in the world?
Tommy: Well I’m sure that there will be a few tunes that we will slide into the set that will appeal particularly to Australian fans, songs that are more important and more well known to Australian fans. I can’t really say which ones but we always love to try to do that and please fans in a country like Australia which has been such a special and unique place for Kiss over the years. It’s always been a frenzy when we go there and there’s always been a great following, some of the most rabid and crazy Kiss fans in the World. So a trip sown to Australia is always something we really look forward to.
Mark: You do have a few Australian connections too, one thing I didn’t realise until a friend who is a huge Cold Chisel fans told me, is that you actually played on Jimmy Barnes ‘For the Working Class Man’ album?
Tommy: Yes I did, and I have to be totally honest with you I didn’t know who he was when I got the call to go down and play guitar that day. It was really interesting because it was back in 1985, I had just finished recording the second Black ‘N Blue album in Vancouver in spring ’85 with Bob Rock and Bruce Fairbairn. I just got back home and John Kalodner who was the A&R guru at Geffen records who signed us he called me one day out of the blue and said “Hey would you be interested in doing a studio session playing guitar for this Australian artist named Jimmy Barnes?” I think he likened him to the Bruce Springsteen of Australia (laughs) or something like that. So I said “For sure” so I grabbed my guitar and a little amp and headed in to the studio, I think I played on two or three tracks and met Jimmy. It was a kind of interesting coming of age moment for me because I was around 23, 24 years old and all of a sudden I’m in the studio with Mick Fleetwood on drums and Billy Burnette on guitar, the keyboard play and bass player from Little Feat and here I am this young guitar player from Portland Oregon, that’s barely broken into the music business in the studio with these legends. That was a mind-blowing experience and I never got to appreciate it really for what it was until years later when everyone told me what a big deal it was and what a big deal Jimmy Barnes is. And I was kind of an idiot, I didn’t know at first. (laughs)
Mark: Being in the studio with Mick and Billy would have been a trip no matter how old you were! Incredible.
Tommy: Yeah, I mean I grew up a big Fleetwood Mac fan and all of a sudden I’m there with these guys. I got a little nervous to be honest.
Mark: And how could it possibly have gotten any better than that, but it did! And now for that other Australian connection, you told us about your first gig, but your first official gig was also in Australia, just a small intimate affair in Melbourne?
Tommy: (laughs) There are a lot of milestones for me in Australia, or related to Australia. My first official concert playing in Kiss was at the Telstra Dome, as it was then, in Melbourne for the now well-known Kiss Symphony concert. We played that show there in Melbourne with the 70 piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and that was a huge milestone as well. And here I am my first official gig in the band in early 2003 and I’m getting up there and doing this multi-formatted show – a first set just as Kiss and then a second with a ten or twelve-piece ensemble and then they came out with the full orchestra, all in Kiss make-up! It was incredible to do that last 8 or 10 set with full orchestration. And that was my coming out! I had a little nervousness to be honest with you but we pulled it off real well, and put it out as a DVD and a documentary, that was really something.
Mark: It was great to see, I lived in Melbourne in those days, a magical night, and a nice easy no-pressure first show for you! (laughs)
Tommy: (laughs) I hit the ground running hard there!
Mark: And as the decades roll on, we’re almost in the 20’s now if you can believe it? When I think of the 20’s always wonder if those strange fashions from last Century are just around the corner…
Tommy: Unbelievable, another decade just around the corner!
Mark: What do you think the 20’s hold for us? Some of the biggest names in music are disappearing.
Tommy: It’s interesting because there’s a natural attrition that happens just with anything. People get old and bands fall off, they end up quitting or retiring. I’ve thought about that a lot, what’s going to happen when all these famous Rock bands get older, will some of them continue? Maybe so, but I’m sure some won’t, but if they’re open to it there’s no reason why bands can’t continue I think, but it’s really important that that happens organically though. I don’t think you can just reconfigure a band and come up with a new version overnight, I think that it has to happen naturally and organically over time, where maybe one member comes in and they establish themselves and then another person comes in and gradually the whole thing changes. And I think if it happens that way I think it’s very realistic even with a band like Kiss.
Mark: That’s very interesting, food for thought.
Mark: Thanks you so much for talking today, I think we just a few minutes left, and I have to get this one in as it’s traditionally out final question. What is the meaning of life?
Tommy: (laughs) well it’s a good question (laughs). The meaning of life to me is really being happy and content and fulfilled and I really think the key to that is relationships and the things you end up accomplishing in life and finding success and that sort of thing. But most of all I think it is about people though really, and how you interact with the people in your life and how you nurture those relationships and make them great. And I think that’s ultimately what makes you happy and brings you joy in life. So that’s the meaning of life (laughs)
Mark: Thank you Tommy, that’s a great answer. Thank you so much for your time today and have a safe flight Downunder.
Tommy: Thank you so much Mark, I’m looking forward to it. See you at the show in Perth. Take care.
TOUR DATES
Tuesday November 19 ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, ADELAIDE SA
Thursday November 21 ROD LAVER ARENA, MELBOURNE VIC
Friday November 22 ROD LAVER ARENA, MELBOURNE VIC
Saturday November 23 SUPERCARS NEWCASTLE 500, NSW
Tuesday November 26 QUDOS BANK ARENA, SYDNEY NSW
Thursday November 28 BRISBANE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE QLD
Saturday November 30 ROD LAVER ARENA, MELBOURNE VIC
RESCHEDULED DATE
Tuesday December 3rd RAC ARENA, PERTH WA
For all KISS information: www.kissonline.com
