Backstage with…Ace Frehley

Before you hit the road for your current tour, you made a major life decision, which was to get sober. Was there something specific that prompted you?
Well, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve tried getting sober over the years. There were times that I got sober in the past when I just couldn’t make things happen, probably because of all the years of abuse—I had a brain cloud or something. But I’ve done more in the last 18 months than in the last five years, easily.

Is it harder to resist old temptations when you’re out on the road, or do you have support?
The band and the crew are sober; I don’t allow any alcohol or any other substances around me. My tour manager is celebrating 20 years of sobriety. Sometimes we’ll go to a 12-step group together. Life’s good today: It’s nice to remember what I did the day before.

What’s it like to be playing with guys young enough to have been your fans when they were kids?
They were my fans! I try to just take it with a grain of salt and move forward, you know, and not focus on that. I’ve been around a long time, so I guess I’ve touched a lot of people’s lives—hopefully for the better.

You’re not playing anything from your upcoming album, to prevent leaks on YouTube. Can you tell us what to expect from it?
The new CD is probably going to be closer to maybe a follow-up to my first record, with “New York Groove.” Most people cite that album as being their favorite Ace Frehley record, so I started trying to decipher some of the things that make it special. I remembered the building blocks I used on that record, and I did the exact same thing for a lot of the songs on the new CD.

Kiss is on the road celebrating its 35th anniversary without you or Peter Criss. What’s it like to have someone else out there wearing your face and playing your role?
I really have no control over that. From what I read on the Internet, a lot of the fans aren’t happy about it. How do I feel about it? It’s maybe not the coolest thing somebody could do, you know? [Laughs] I mean, they could have easily invented another character.

Any hope of a proper reunion and farewell, the way it was supposed to happen 12 years ago?
I left the group in ’82, I rejoined in ’96, and I did five years. I sound like I’m talking about doing time! [Laughs] Five years with those guys, they know how to push my buttons. It took me a while to recover from that tour. For me it’s about the music, and it always has been. Maybe for some other people it’s more about money.

Ace Frehley plays Nokia Theatre Times Square Apr 4, 2008.