In Part 1 of our exclusive interview series with Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons, sons of the famous KISS musicians of the same last names, we discussed the upcoming release of their Stanley Simmons band’s album Dancing at the End of the World and their thoughts about nepotism in the music world. Here, in Part 2, we get more personal, examining what it’s like growing up in what would seem to be an unconventional environment given the notoriety of KISS and its constant touring schedule. Following are more edited excerpts from my recent conversation with the two.
Jim Clash: I think a lot of people believe that you two grew up in totally crazy households. True?
Evan Stanley: A lot of people ask that question. It’s hard to answer because you only have your own experience to draw on. I mean, what is crazy? I do recognize that we grew up in a way that’s very, very different from most.
But I also know that my dad tried to keep things fairly normal around the house. He was on me like any other dad about grades, going to school, all of that. I think it was as normal as it could be, which is probably not super-normal [laughs].
Nick Simmons: At home, I always looked up to him. You have that thing when you’re young — you look up to your father. I still do. My experience at home was that he’s a very funny, dorky dad who always rises to the occasion. He always prioritized his family over all else. He was the best father you could have. In public, though, I often cringed because of his big mouth. He talks crap all of the time. So there’s this strange dichotomy. There’s this man I know who’s highly ethical and loving. Then there’s this guy who goes out and acts like a blowhard with crazy quotes.
In fairness, I think he learned from a young age that that works for him as a career. He leaned into this character that’s very dissimilar to that of a real person. One part sends me to therapy, the other keeps me sane [laughs]. Overall, it’s net positive, but sometimes you feel like you’re running a PR goal-line defense. It’s frustrating.
Stanley: You know, for all the craziness there was, we are lucky to have had good families to rely on. Our dads are so supportive and down to earth, and that plays a huge part in us not being out of our minds. Whether KISS was on tour or in the studio, I could call my dad at 4 a.m. and he’d be on the phone for an hour talking me through stuff.
Simmons: Jim, my therapist says that the weirdest part of my weird dad is that he’s a good dad [laughs].
Clash: Moving on to your music. Malcolm Bruce and Kofi Baker — do excellent covers of their dads’ work in Cream. But you two don’t seem to be influenced so much by KISS. And you write all of your own material, correct?
Simmons: We have no desire to be our dads. When you hear our songs and see the album art, you’ll find we have less than nothing to do with that world.
Stanley: I love a lot of KISS stuff, and am very proud of my dad. There’s some really cool music there. But our stuff doesn’t sound like KISS. In our own way, we’re doing what they originally set out to do, but in a different way – chase our own musical influences, sound and passions.