‘Paul and Gene Have a Certain Work Ethic That I Don’t’: Ace Frehley Reveals What Made His Songwriting Approach Special in Kiss

“I’d say, ‘Why do you force yourself to write a song every day?'”

There’s no denying that since 2009, ex-Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley has made up for lost time music-wise: having released six solo albums and consistently toured in that time span, as opposed to the two albums released during that same period by his former band. But admittedly, the original Spaceman was not always following such a brisk schedule when it came to creating music.

During an interview with Goldmine, Frehley admitted that former Kiss bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were harder workers when it came to songwriting. In addition, he also touched upon the “quality over quantity” theory.

“Paul and Gene have a certain work ethic that I don’t have,” Frehley said. “For example, when Gene was living in Manhattan in his penthouse, he told me he’d go into his closet, he had a little amp and a recorder set up there, and he’d write a song every day. And I’d say, ‘Why do you force yourself to write a song every day?’ He goes, ‘That’s just my work ethic.’ I go, ‘I can’t work that way, Gene. I can only write a song when I feel inspired.'”

Frehley also pointed out how not all of Simmons’ songwriting creations were keepers. Something that was confirmed as fact if you were bold enough to scour through the Demon’s over-the-top “Gene Simmons Vault” box set from 2017, which featured 10 CDs and an astounding 151 demos.

“I’ll go three weeks without writing a song,” admitted Frehley. “And then the following weekend, something would inspire me, and I’ll end up writing two or three songs in a weekend. Out of 365 songs that Gene wrote in one year while he was living there, there was probably only a half a dozen songs that we used.”

Frehley’s latest solo album, 10,000 Volts, was released on February 23, 2024. It is his 10th solo studio album.