The X5 Podcast we're recently joined by Evan Stanley, son of KISS frontman Paul Stanley, and his bandmate Marshall Via from Amber Wild.
In the video below, they share stories from their recent tour with KISS, the challenges of winning over tough crowds, and a wild backstage mishap at Madison Square Garden. Evan opens up about the support his legendary father and his mom gave him growing up and its impact on his musical journey.
On KISS legendary stage show, and supporting his dad's band, Evan says, "Oh, it's wild. And for us to get to play and then watch them every night, it really makes you, you know, up your game and study what you do, 'cause you never wanna be another band, you can't out-KISS KISS, but you can be the best version of you and take away a ton of just ridiculous insight from watching that show. And not only is the show amazing, but it's the most consistent show I've seen, it's every single night. The difference between a bad night and a great night, it's like, no, they're only great nights. It's, like, they're different shades of great. And it's wild to see a band that far into their career where every night they go out and just throw it all down. It's awesome.
"And then, I think it's weird 'cause I grew up, obviously, so close to it. So I didn't grow up really listening to a ton of KISS, it was more dad's band and dad's work. And when I was maybe, like, 17, I was, like, 'I've gotta try my best to...let me just try and listen the way a fan would or someone.' So I got KISS Alive, 'cause that seemed to be kind of...everyone talked about that. And I'll never be able to listen like a pure fan, but I did my best to kind of disconnect, and I'm, like, 'Whoa, this is actually so sick.' And then, you know, I kind of started listening to some of the earlier records and made my way through the discography.
"But all the theatrics aside, which are awesome, they're just great songs. Like, if you close your eyes and go to a KISS show, they're killer, killer players playing great songs, and I think a lot of times people will try and go, 'Oh, it's all spectacle. It's not a real band.' It's, like, get up there and try and do that, good luck. I'm, like, no. They have incredible songs, timeless songs, great, great players, and it's so cool-looking. And they blow up a million pounds of shit every show. How do you top that? It's, like, you've got everything."
