I missed Ace Frehley’s concert last week in New Hope because of Philadelphia being under lockdown as a result of the Pope’s visit. But yesterday I made sure I was in Oaks, PA to meet and get my photo taken with Ace at the All Things That Rock Festival. Not only did my photo turn out great, I got to interview “Space Ace” and Ken Kelly, an artist famous for creating iconic album artwork, including KISS’ Destroyer and Love Gun, as well as Ace’s latest solo album: Space Invader. Below is my video interview with Ken Kelly, where he shows me some of his most famous work and explains how he broke into the business. It was a fascinating discussion and I hope you enjoy it.

With Ace’s Tour Manager, John Ostrosky.

I’ve been trying to secure an interview with Ace Frehley for over a year. Thanks to his extremely nice tour manager, John Ostrosky, I was fortunate enough to get a quick interview with Ace on Saturday. Below is what we discussed.

Ace Frehley Interview

What do you admire about each of the original members of KISS?

Gene is a good businessman. He’s a good entrepreneur, and he’s great at merchandising stuff. Paul is a great frontman. You can’t take that away from him. He’s one of the greatest frontmen in rock and roll. Peter is a great drummer and a good friend, and a real character (laughs). Funny guy. 

What are your thoughts on KISS fans coming together, through initiatives like the Tom Hale Memorial Foundation, to raise money for worthy causes like the Wounded Warrior Project?

I think it’s great. It’s wonderful that the fans raise money to help people in need, especially our veterans. 

You have a lot of unreleased demos and songs. Do you plan on eventually coming out with a box set of this material?

I have tons of stuff that’s never been released. The problem with it is it’s so old that I’d have to bake all the tapes and transfer it digitally, so it’s going to be a while before that happens. But eventually I’m going to have a lot of stuff released someday, yeah. 

Speaking of unreleased material, were any tracks left off of Space Invader that might see the light of day?

Yeah. There’s a couple of tracks that I recorded that didn’t make Space Invader. But they very well might make it on to my next studio record.

I know you have your covers album coming out next year, right?

It’s coming out in the spring. And maybe the studio album would come out the following year. 

Did you land on a name yet for the covers album? And are there any particular tracks you’re most proud of on that record?

I haven’t decided what to call the record yet. I’m proud of “Street Fighting Man,” which is a Stones track I did. I tracked “Emerald,” and I got Slash to trade off solos with me on that, so that’s a special track. Also “Cold Gin” and “Parasite.” 

Last question. Is there anything you haven’t accomplished yet in your career that you’d like to?

 Yeah, I’d like to score a movie. I’d like to be in another film. I want to write my second book. I’d also like to take some bands in the studio and produce them, and share the wealth of knowledge that I’ve accumulated over the last 40+ years in the business.  Ace Frehley is one-of-a-kind, and I’m glad to have had the chance to interview him. He continues to put out excellent music and perform killer concerts. For all of the latest news on what he’s up to, make sure to visit his website and follow him on Facebook.