Bob Kulick
R.V.B. - Hi Bob... Robert von Bernewitz from Long Island. How are you?
B.K. - I'm Good. Oh Long Island... I know the area well because I'm from Brooklyn.
R.V.B. - Congratulations on your career and congratulations on your new re-release of the Kiss tribute album. The original production named "Spin The Bottle" was done a while ago. Why the re-release and where did you come up with the name change of "Pure Fire?"
B.K. - I'm the co-producer. Along with my co-producer Bruce Bouillet, we did this record in 2004. It really never got the kind of attention that it should have gotten at the time. Especially with the artists that are on there. So as fate would have it, The interest in the band and, all that's going on with my connection with the band etcetera, etcetera... it seemed like there might be an interest in re-releasing this. Sure enough, my friend Brian Perera at Cleopatra Records made the arrangements to put this... change the title and give it a whole new artwork package. What hasn't changed is the sincerity of what was recorded. The amazement now, is seeing something on the DVD... the making of the record from 14 years ago. The people as they were then.
R.V.B. - I'm sure it's for the love of the music and the love of the band. There is quite an amazing array of artists that appear on this. they seem to all gel together.
B.K. - Exactly. A lot of it has to do with the fact that they're awesome artists. Except for the ones that are no longer with us... Mike Porcaro... Lemmy... may they rest in peace, the great thing is that the other artists are actually bigger now than they were then. That really says something about them, in that this wasn't the highlight or the end of their careers... no, no, no. These people are still performing and in certain cases are bigger and better than ever.
R.V.B. - As a producer of such a nice project, was it difficult getting this amazing group of talent to work together or was it seamless because of the love for the music?
B.K. - Usually in the productions that Bruce and I have done, there's comradery in the fact that we're musicians. Bruce Bouillet is an astounding guitar player. I have my moments. As producers and in this case as an engineer, these people are our friends. They trust us, not only with the combinations of the players but the most important thing to me... to make it right... so that they all could come back again and have another experience. Whether it was the Christmas compilation that we did or a Sinatra tribute... or another tribute. They all showed up again because we always had fun. That's the spirit which should be taken. A lot of these songs are still part of the bands live catalog. So to hear these versions with Tommy Shaw... Lemmy and Dee Snider... really sets it apart in that these are recognizable voices. Their performances are heartfelt because they were all fans of the band. They all dig the songs that they were on. It was fun and all you need to do is look at it on the DVD. You can see the fun. This is done during that period of time, right before Pro Tools. If you look at the DVD, you do not see a screen. There is no computer sitting there!!!
R.V.B. - That's why there is spontaneity and a true feeling towards the music that's coming through.
B.K. - The life has not been sucked out of this by tuning it... by putting it on a grid... by beat detectiving' it... "Oh, that snare is a little late." That's what makes it human. That's what gives it its feel. Some people play a little behind the beat. Some people play a little on top of the beat. It's a nuance. The computer world doesn't allow for that... it's all fixed. This was not fixed!!! These are organic performances. We didn't cut... copy... paste anything!!! I'm really proud of this and the making of the DVD shows it. You'll see D88's. That was the original recording device at the time.
R.V.B. - This was the same exact CD and DVD package that was released before?
B.K. - Yes. It didn't mean as much before because it was current. Now it's 14 years old. It's like watching one of these VH1 Classic shows. You see the change in clothing. We see the change in recording techniques. We see what these people had to say at the time. It's looking through a time capsule. 14 years in the music business is a long time. Especially when you consider the fact that right after that was the advent of Pro Tools. You can't walk into a studio now without seeing sound Bytes on a computer screen and plug ins that are emulating stuff we used to use. There was analog stuff that was run through the D88 consoles and there you have it.
R.V.B. - You can tell that it doesn't have that sterile sound where everything is absolutely perfect. You can feel the comradery of the musicians through the music. One thing I noticed by listening to it is that you can hear the trueness of the original song but with the style of the artist.
B.K. - That was important to me. Faithful but completely different. How is that possible??? Nuance is how it's possible. On Detroit Rock City, Doug Aldrich doesn't play the conventional riffs as heard, yet they're all there. He plays more than that... and on top of that. On Cold Gin, there was Mike Slaughter's idea of putting in this Beatles section "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." It was really unique and perfect... and brought a smile to everybody's face. That's a part that is clearly different. The lyrics and the melody are exact. It's a fine line but it's not a copy. We're not trying to copy a note for note solo. On Love Gun, Steve Lukather doesn't go near the scale that Ace plays. He only implies it. There's something special about that because it doesn't sound wrong.
R.V.B. - You obviously have ties with the band. Why was this project so special for you?
B.K. - I worked with the band throughout the years... including Gene's new "Vault" thing. I have four songs on that. I just produced a song for Paul Stanley's fantasy camp here in Las Vegas. He did a version of Parasite which is on this record as well. This is what was meant to be where having a circumstance where I can feel passionate. A lot of these songs I played on with Paul Stanley on his Asian Tour. I played a lot of these songs with Paul back then. Knowing the songs like that just made it a lot easier to be passionate about it. It's part of my Kiss history.
R.V.B. - Growing up in Brooklyn, you have a lot of choices. A lot of amazing artists come through the New York metro area. What drew you to the Kiss sound?
B.K. - I auditioned for the band. I auditioned before Ace did. I was not attracted to the band. I went to an audition for a band looking for a Led Zeppelin style guitar player. The band did not exist in its current form when I met them. They were Wicked Lester or something else. They were looking for a guitar player. I auditioned and the Ace auditioned. A week later Paul called me and said 'You're definitely the best guitar player we saw and we love your playing but we just feel that the other guy fits in better with what we are doing. We should keep in touch." And we did. "We're playing Coventry. Do you want to come down?" Which I did. I got to see what they had in mind. Paul, Gene and I became really good friends. That's how I went on to play on Paul's record. I wrote songs with Gene... including Naked City... which is on the Vault. This has been an ongoing thing throughout my career. Obviously, this is not the only thing I've done. I'm a Grammy award winning producer. I've worked with Mötorhead and other people. I co-wrote the Sponge Bob hit Sweet Victory with Dave Eisley. Bruce and I produced Mötorhead from 1997 to 2004. We did God Save The Queen... Jumping Jack Flash... Whiplash and all of those songs.
R.V.B. - You do have an amazing resume. Do you approach a song differently from the musician side as opposed to the producer side??? Or is it basically one in the same?
B.K. - It's slightly different. If I'm playing on something that I'm producing, then I will usually take my producer hat off. When I'm producing only, it's a little different mindset. I concentrate on somebody else's playing. A lot of the stuff I produce, I do wind up playing on. Maybe adding stuff that was not there originally. This is part of the fun. It's like making a soup. "I think it needs a little bit more oregano and garlic." Ok let's put it in there. Producing is like soup. You keep adding things until it sounds right. Once you reach that point of understanding with music. I can be doing something else and listen to music. If I hear something awry, I immediately look. Your ear is so used to hearing what is right. When your ear is trained, you pick up on something that is not right immediately. What used to be a challenge "Is that sharp... flat... or pitchy'" is now "Your Flat." My ears are trained now to really hear it!
R.V.B. - How was your Grammy winning experience? Where were you when you found out about it?
B.K. - I found out when I got home from my softball game. It was a daytime award so I didn't go. Lemmy and company went. I had told them my opinion. My opinion was that they were going to win. All the other bands were newer bands, that would have another opportunity of winning. I felt that this was such a heartfelt performance. They were doing a song that Metallica had written trying to be Mötorhead. Here's Mötorhead doing a Metallica song, that's trying to be like Mötorhead doing. I thought the circle of that wouldn't be denied. I came home and the phone started ringing and it was just hilarious.
R.V.B. - Where was this studio where this package "Pure Fire" was recorded?
B.K. - "Spin the bottle" was originally recorded in my studio in Van Nuys... Office Studios.
R.V.B. - Did your studio help with the comfort level for the musicians.
B.K. - The great thing about having a private studio is just that... that's it's private. By being private, there was no distractions like at other places where there might be two or three bands recording at the same facility. We didn't have a studio B. It was 1500 square feet. It was quite a large studio. It definitely helped the comfort level. Lemmy could have a drink and everybody could just hang out. It wasn't like "It's Four O'clock... we got to get out of here." It made it a lot easier.
R.V.B. - You've accomplished a lot in your career... as a musician and as a performer. What are you proud about at this stage of your career?
B.K. - I'm proud of the fact that the recordings that I have made have been taken off the D88's and put on to hard drives and are now safe. They will live to be heard another day. Re-mixed... added to... changed. There's all these songs with people are no longer with us. Bruce and I transferred all the stuff off the D88 tapes. It was a walk down memory lane listening to these songs and remembering these performances from 20 years ago. Those recordings are now safe. That gives me a really good feeling. Plus the fact that I have a video coming out of a song that I did also in the past. It's a song called India that I did with Dave Eisley. We were in a band together called Murderer's Row. We have a video to go along with the song that we wrote. That will be coming out shortly. It has some amazing photos that my girlfriend Julie took. I was able to do my solo record last year. I very proud of it and people still buy it. People come up to me and say "I really love the song with Dee Snider on it. I have my solo record with 23 friends. I have a lot of irons in the fire now, We're about to start up a couple of new production projects.
R,.V.B. - It sounds to me that you like diversity.
B.K. - Absolutely. I'm going to be appearing at "The Gathering" pre-cruise Kiss party on October 30th. This Saturday I'm going to be playing with some of the Count 77 guys. There's a huge charity that they throw here every year that they call Kiss Night. The money that's raised purchases instruments for kids who can't afford them. To be able to hand a guitar or saxophone to a kid who doesn't have the means to purchase the instrument... who has the passion to play... that's everything. Because if no one plays after us, then the music will die.
R.V.B. - That's fantastic that you're giving back. You've had a successful career and it's time to pass it on to the next generation. Do you hang your hat in Vegas?
B.K. - I live here now... yes.
R.V.B. - Do you miss Brooklyn?
B.K. - The Brooklyn That I know, no longer exists. It's too crowded and not the same anymore. When I was a kid you used to be able to say ... with a bad accent... "I'm from Brooklyn, New York." It meant something. I was from Flatbush. Right at the junction of Nostrand and Flatbush. I went to Midwood high school.
R.V.B. - Was there a sibling rivalry between you and your brother as far as music is concerned? You were the older brother right?
B.K. - Since I was the first one to play, It was on me to show him things. Then later on, he reciprocated and got better and better and he started showing me some stuff. As with anything... you either pick it up yourself or somebody shows it to you. Where you see it as with other people that I worked with, when I played guitar with Dick Wagner. When I was with Alice Cooper, I watches him play. He shared a lot of guitar shop talk. It's always a learning experience.
R.V.B. - What were some of your favorite concert experiences?
B.K. - All of the biggest gigs were amazing by themselves. Like playing Giants Stadium with Diana Ross. I played on the hit songs Mirror Mirror and Why Do Fools Fall In Love. It was a huge thrill with Diana inviting me down to the front stage to do some improv soloing while she sang. How many people get to do that? "Wow... we saw you on the big screen next to Diana Ross in front of 55,000 people." Playing in front of 80,000 people at Donnington in some of the big rock shows, when I was playing with Meatloaf. Those were huge gigs. The cruise we did last year was a great gig. There have been a lot of memorable gigs. Donnington being one of the biggest. The people I would go on to work with played on that same show. I played with Meatloaf and we went on between ZZ Top and Whitesnake. I worked with guys from Whitesnake... I worked with Billy Gibbons. I worked with Twisted Sister and Dio. The introduction that you couldn't forget. People have known you from then and that's a great connection to have.
R.V.B. - Great experience. Thank you very much for sharing these stories.
B.K. - Thank you for your questions. Thank you Robert... have a great day.
Interview conducted by Robert von Bernewitz
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