I remember growing up in New York City and even as a little kid I can remember seeing people around me that were unhappy. I remember seeing people who seemed to compromise their lives and sell themselves so short not allowing themselves to live out their dreams. And I remember thinking to myself ”that’s not gonna be me”. And I remember thinking to myself ”you gotta go for your dreams”, ”you gotta go for what you aspire to be” because in the end perception becomes reality. Whatever you create, if other people see it, becomes real. I decided that I would become a rockstar and lo and behold that’s what I did.
When I was six years old we left Manhattan for Queens, New York, which is the suburbs. I wasn’t the happiest kid in the neighbourhood, but maybe I was unhappy because I had dreams that went far beyond my neighbourhood. While other parents were pushing their kids to get better grades so that they could become the next generation of doctors and dentists and lawyers, I had dreams that were way beyond that. Different. Things that I wanted out of life that maybe seemed impossible to others. But things are only impossible when you decide they’re impossible. Your dreams become the blueprints for your reality, so everything that I dreamed was just part of my plan to get out of where I was.
One of my favourite jobs I had when I first got my driver’s license was driving a cab in New York. And I remeber the only thing that kept me going in the cab was the idea that this wasn’t permanent. This was a way to make money to pay for my guitars, to pay for my transportation in to New York City so that I could rehearse with this band KISS. I remember I would drive people to Madison Square Garden and on one occasion I remember driving people to the Garden to see Elvis Presley. And I remember thinking to myself ”one of these days it’ll be me at Madison Square Garden, and someone will be pulling up in a cab to see me”.
At 10 East 23rd Street we had a loft. It was a large room, nothing really in it except eggcrates on the wall to try to dampen the sound, and this is where KISS first got together. This is where Gene and I rehearsed with Peter and ultimately Ace came in and auditioned and that was the start of the magic. That was the beginning of KISStory.
Life is about stages. Whether they’re the kind that you stand on, or the different times in your life when you experience different things. The stages have been many, the stages have all been good. I’ve had great times with friends, fans, women – but, you know, the funniest thing is you don’t really start to live as far as I’m concerned until you start to put someone else first. My family has become real important to me and, in a way, I think that brings the music much closer to the heart.
I’ve always felt that you can live to win and by living to win it means that you aspire to things and you set your goals and then you go for them, no matter what other people say. I wanted to live to win, and I have. And from all the stages I’ve been on in my life to the stage I’m walking onto tonight, I’ve always lived to win.
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