It could be argued that Ace Frehley was the most influential guitarist of the ’70s. When Kiss hit its commercial peak, there was no rock band more entrenched in the minds of America’s youth. Frehley teamed up with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss to form Kiss in New York City in 1973; they donned outrageous makeup and costumes and assumed comic-book hero personas. Though Criss wore the feline face paint, it’s Frehley who seems to have had nine lives. After leaving Kiss in 1982, Frehley embarked on a solo career, releasing three albums and compiling a laundry list of troubles that included drug and alcohol addiction, bankruptcy and high-speed car chases with the police. The now sober Frehley is set to release Anomaly, his first solo album in two decades. Read our Q&A with him.
Ace Frehley: The way records are made these days! Almost all of Anomaly was recording using a Pro Tools rig. It’s incredible that I can edit songs on my laptop in my hotel room or on a plane! A great example of the use of Pro Tools was how Marti Frederiksen and I recorded the cover of Sweet’s “Fox On The Run.” With Marti programming a drum beat and a bass line, I got the lead and rhythm guitars and my vocals done. We had what turned into a working demo in just four hours! Marti’s a wiz at working Pro Tools. I’ve never seen anyone work so fast.
