In this Main Street Business podcast episode, host Mark Kohler interviews rock legend Gene Simmons, delving into the intersection of music, entrepreneurship, and personal philosophy. Simmons emphasizes the fleeting nature of time, urging listeners to act purposefully each day. He recounts how Kiss’s iconic makeup and branding were deliberately turned into valuable intellectual property, culminating in a $1 billion sale of the band’s assets to Pop House, and explains the distinction between a musical catalog and a trademark‑protected “library.” The conversation shifts to business tactics: Simmons praises focus, strategic cost‑cutting (citing Carl Icahn’s approach of firing excess staff), and the importance of viewing touring as a massive logistical operation—Kiss’s shows involved 60 personnel, private jets, and a fleet of buses, while his solo band operates with minimal crew and local promoters handling setup. He critiques the “get‑rich‑quick” mindset, noting that true wealth comes from building lasting value and leveraging brand assets. Simmons also shares personal history, describing his mother’s survival of Nazi concentration camps and the inter‑generational lesson to “live” and appreciate each day. He reflects on truth versus lies, citing Hitler’s propaganda as an example of how the biggest falsehood garners attention. The discussion touches on modern financial technology: driverless delivery trucks, algorithm‑driven LIBOR trading, and the disruptive potential (and risks) of crypto and AI. Cultural observations surface as Simmons remarks on the Jewish origins of Hollywood studios and the African‑American roots of popular music, framing the entertainment industry as a product of immigrant and marginalized communities. He offers advice to artists about the challenges of forming and maintaining a band, likening it to marriage, and underscores the value of trademarks and intellectual property in protecting a brand’s visual identity. The interview concludes with family wisdom from Simmons’s mother and a reminder to appreciate everyday life despite hardships.
Chapters
You will never get this day back. And the question is, what the hell are you going to do with that? You can't just sit around and let life pass you by.
Everybody wants to get rich quick scheme and you got to know what you want. You got to have a vision, you
got to be focused. It's a business and you want to go where the money is. Carl Icahn, who was major takeover unfriendly takeover guy would do is he would fire lots of people and the company would turn around immediately and be in profit.
When you started, did you even envision the fact that that makeup when you were putting it on, would have its own value?
You specifically, but generally, yes. And we just sold Kiss the band for a billion.
Welcome to the Main street business podcast. I'm here with the infamous Gene Simmons. He just gave us a master class at our tax and legal360. He had a room full of accountants in the palm of your hand that kind of. Have you had that before? But 200 accounts just sitting there.
Yeah, I've done corporate, corporate events, but it is interesting to me always that people don't realize how precious like today is right now. I can point with some sense of pride a little bit. I drove here and it took two and a half hours. Going to take two and a half hours to go back home. And while I was here, maybe I changed or somebody's mind or lit the fire a little bit and so that it's. They have to go do all the work. All you can do is say, hey, how come you haven't done this or done that? So, yeah, I feel pretty good about today. But the shocking idea is you're going to be alive one less day. You will never get this day back. And the question is, what the hell are you going to do with that? And it's finally going to come down to if God only gave you one 24 hour day, what would you do?
No, you'd want to spend it with the people you love the most.
I know, but what would you do? Not.
I'd hold it.
Who would you be with?
I'd get them around and hold my own little master class with the fan.
Sure. Teach everything something.
Yeah.
You know, be kind. Gifted charity to do a thing. Build a pyramid yourself, whatever it is. You can't just sit around and let life pass you by. I didn't create that.
If you. You know, I didn't plan on asking you this, but with that said, you've probably had so much more reward writing your books than performing music or did you feel like one was.
Why do you have to choose? Why can't you like cheesecake and steak? They're separate. Why do you have to choose stuff that the best thing in life is where you're. Every day you're having a ball, which is not necessary. You're blessed if that's what's going on. If you really love what you're doing. But I get different kinds of pleasure for doing all kinds of things well.
And the money and the power that you've said before is. Allows you to do more. Started I guess with your artistry in the music and then it opened up so many more opportunities to change the world and people.
Right. Which is a learning lesson to everybody because it was to me. Which is once you crack the door open and can make a name for yourself or make some money and all that other doors can be pushed open as well.
I don't know why other artists, whether it's music or even what they just. They feel like they're selling out to make money when their real power is to make.
You made these rules? Yeah. Who created the credibility rules? Who. Who is that person? Is it sort of the question I keep asking of all the, you know, the mystics who are on street. They have these street corner stores come in and I'll tell your future. And all that question I have is, and it's only 15 bucks. How. Why is it that they have to wait for the phone to ring to pick it up? Aren't they supposed to know who's on it and why are they poor? If you have the knowledge of the future, why wouldn't you invest wisely?
They should be the richest people on by far on the street. Well, your story. And I've been wanting to ask this about your mom. It chokes me up thinking about her sewing buttons to get you through school and the hard work that you. Three jobs, teaching school and saving your money. I made my kids read that story of yours.
We all have different life experiences. My mother had the kind of life experience I wouldn't wish on anybody. She was 14 years of age when she was in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. And our whole family was wiped out. Starved, tortured and all that. And by the way, not just 6 million Jews, Catholics. A few million Catholics were killed. Romani. Who are the darker skinned? Europeans, like gypsies. Quite a few different groups. Anybody who didn't fit into the Nazi ideal. But it's interesting if you read Mein Kampf, Hitler's book, which was awkwardly written, not very quote poetic in the illiterate sense. But he did say something that's profoundly accurate then and continues to be now. Never tell a small lie. It's not worth it. Always tell the biggest, most monstrous lie, whatever it is, and continue to tell that lie over and over and over again. Because people are lemmings. Fortunately or unfortunately, whether you're talking about politics or religion or anything else, the biggest lie gets the most attention. So he was saying the master race is German, but everybody knew he was from Austria. The lie was right in front of them. The master race is tall and blond. Actually, he was quite short and dark. Yeah. So you can keep going down the list. He was not the embodiment of what the Aryan looked like. Yeah, yeah. And so. But if you insist on the lot, they can't see past.
Yeah, Everybody wants to get rich quick scheme. And I just love the get rich slow scheme. You know, we don't need to jump at every little idea that what's shiny,
other than the lottery, which is very rare, what is get rich quick? What does that mean?
That's the elusive point. There's a dream that it's possible.
But how do you do that?
Yeah, I think that's the lie. People think that there's a way to do it and boy, the influencers have figured it out. Though maybe the only way to get rich quick now is to post online
and they invented themselves. Before the influencers started doing that, there was no such thing. The interesting thing though about the west and pop culture is it's not created or ruled by the elites. American music, which rules the world, pop, jazz, blues, rap, you name it, is black music comes from slaves. Hollywood, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal, every single studio were created by Jews who came out from Europe in a 500 square square mile area, never knew each other, found themselves in New York. Fox from 20th Century Fox called himself that because you couldn't pronounce his Russian name. And he started to import fox foxes from Canada and sew them onto coats and then he charged double, whatever the price. Fox coat. That's where he got his name, Fox. So they all had the same idea and without knowing each other, moved to California, right here in la and invented the movie business where they can shoot year around. So they bought property and did that, created the studio system and all that. By the way, the music industry, I don't know if you have an agent or not. It's all Jewish. The agents, the managers, the record companies, it's all that.
When you talk about everything changing too, what is your thoughts on AI.
It's already too late if people are just entering into it. Amazon announced today that their trucks are going to be driverless, that a robot's going to or AI is going to deliver your package and then this automaton is going to deliver it to your door.
These drones are coming and.
But also algorithms, now banks. There's something called Libor, which the banks loan each other billions and sometimes trillions overnight. The London international banking rate is what LIBOR is, but now there are algorithms. The rate of exchange of a dollar, let's say, is worth a dollar and one cent. And in a minute it's going to be a dollar, one cent and a quarter. So people buy and sell the value of money futures in essence based on these algorithms. And they're making fortunes and the rest of us have no idea.
And crypto and bitcoin hopefully will make the playing field more fair. Or is it going to take away more freedom?
There are going to be growing pains and where there's an opportunity, you're going to get a lot of bad guys. You know, the bad guys tend not to break into small poor homes. They want to go for the big. So wherever there's money, they want to figure it out. And some of the guys were bad guys.
You know, what's next for you to conquer?
What do you want to do so much?
What's the Gene Simmons band about to my.
My solo band.
Yeah. By the way, I played drums. I just want to point that out.
If you need the bits and giggles. We have a lot of fun, but if you look at it as a business. Kiss toured with 60 personnel. Private jet, three triple decker buses, 24 tractor trailer thing. Just like a moving city.
It's amazing you made money on tour.
That's right, we did okay.
Yeah.
But the Gene Simmons band literally has no manager, no roadies, no nothing. The promoter locally sets up the amplifiers, the screens, all that stuff. We just show up, I bring my guitar pick and that's it.
Do you still play a lot?
Sure, but it's fun. But in some of the gigs, I make more money doing the solo band than I did for single shows with Kiss.
Oh my word. It's crazy, the overhead of those big shows.
Well, one of the first things Carl Icahn, who was major takeover, unfriendly takeover guy would do is he would fire lots of people and the company would turn around immediately and be in profit because we're so overstaffed. You ever go down a highway and there's a guy with a sign that goes Slow down and all that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's not going to last long. And by the way, you need. The union says you got to have two or three. I got to go get a popcorn fart. Okay, you take over the sun. They gotta go. Slow down.
Well, now you're back to the. The good old days. You have roadies, a van, and you just show.
No, no roadies. No, that's.
Oh, the promoter just sets it all up. You just roll it there.
No van, no roadies, no nothing. We carry nothing with us.
Do you still sing?
Sure, if you call it singing.
Oh, wow. Do you get the same thrill when you get up on stage that you always had?
Would you like the real answer or the romantic answer? It's like people ask me, where's your favorite city to play? Then I always have to. Do you want the truth or do you want these? It's. Oh, that's so romantic.
No, I.
The truth is.
It's hard.
One of my favorite cities is Paris or London or New York. They're their favorite cities. So if we did a show or you did something for appearance and they gave you, I don't know, hundred. A few hundred grand to show up for a few hours work, that ain't bad. The worst place I can imagine is Antarctica. Got polar bears and sub zero thing and all that stuff. And they want me to appear there, do the same thing. Two, two, three hours or whatever with nobody around and all that stuff. Give you 50 million. What's my favorite place to play?
Well, if I know Gene Simmons, any
human being who's sane who's.
Well, sure, you're going. You're going to go dog sledding next weekend.
I'm not going to look at the trees or look at that nice gothic architecture. About that. It's a business and you want to go where the money is.
Why do some artists just miss that?
Well, because there. There are no classes. Nothing prepares you for accidentally having a hit or an album or getting the right band together and all that, which is very difficult to do. Getting a band together and keeping together is harder than marriage because you're living together 24 hours a day. You drive in the same van, fly together, do all that stuff. Sooner or later, you know, familiarity breeds contempt. And then the egos. Did you step in front of me when the spotlight like all that stuff? It's very hard to do that. Having said that, I'm a lucky guy. I found a guy named Paul Stanley over 50 years ago and we just sold Kiss the band to an Amazing company called Pop House for a billion. And that was a cough.
Is that what you call the library? Is it the band or the library? I don't understand the difference.
It's the. There is a difference. Because most, almost all other acts only have a library. They're only songs. If you buy Springsteen, you're just getting the songs because his face is public domain. There's no. We are the only ones whose faces are like Disney without the overhead. You can't use our face makeup without me taking your firstborn when I sue you. Yeah, so they bought the makeup. The trademark in the Library of Congress. It's the only musical act whose faces have been trademarked.
When you started. I know. You know trademarks now. You were showing me trademarks. You probably trade in trademarks more than URLs or Bitcoin. They're so powerful. But when you started, did you even envision the fact that that makeup, when you were putting it on, would have its own value?
That it would be you specifically know? But generally, yes, I've always been blessed. Maybe it's genetics, but I've always been delusional about myself. On a sane level, I'm aware I'm not the best looking guy in the world, but I also know that I'm not the worst looking guy in the world. But I know I can walk in anywhere and I will walk out with your girlfriend. Either you have presence or power, or you don't. I, by the way, this stuff may look cool and everything, but after 50 years of being on stage, these lights kill me. So it happens to be the. The sun never sets on Planet Cool, but also gives me a chance to look around. Like right now, I'm looking at your wife.
Yeah, she's pretty hot. I know. She wore that leather for you, too.
If only I wasn't gay.
That's what the rumor is.
But you can't. You can't say that either. Why? What's wrong with being. No, no, I think it's good for you. I just don't want to be.
Well, Gene, what a pleasure. Thanks for chatting with us. It's been a long day. And thank you for driving and being here for the event, being here for a moment on the podcast, your business acumen, experience.
It's not. It's not. It's not. Not a genius. I'm not a business this or a business that. You just got to keep your eyes open and see. Opportunity, it knocks all the time. The vast majority of people simply ignore it or they're looking someplace else. Or doing something else. You know, we have a song called Beth and it's a ballad but it's really not. It's not a love song at all. Beth, I hear you calling but I can't come home right now because me and the boys are playing all night. What's more important, the band or me? Actually it's the band because you're not going to pay my rent.
You got to know what you want. You got to have a vision. You got to be focused and lazy about it.
You may not know specifically what you want, but all guys understand that the more more money they have to put it in the language of the street, the more the chicks will like them. And then you hone in on the one that. And look and I've got a daughter and she's an alpha female. Let me tell you something. She's married now. She was nobody's girlfriend. They are her boyfriend. She's in charge.
You saw my daughter too. Same way you feel it, right?
She was tell me to off right away. But think of it, think about it in your early years before you get to your middle, you're going to have children and she's going to be quote, quote stuck with them. She's got to feed them, get up in the middle of the night because you're not going to do that. So you're going to go off on your merry way and chase that fortune that you want to make and everything.
Because a woman wants a guy with
a plan, with money. Whether you won the lottery or earned it. Because that's why I keep saying and I said it at the talk that so many, the vast majority of women are single mothers who are raising children on their own and have to figure out how to earn a living. I can't do that. I wouldn't be able to do that. After you come home dog tired, then the crying kid or the kids are fighting with each other. You can't do that.
There's a place, a place in heaven for every single mom. It's, it's.
Women are on a higher level. You will never be able to get. And we joke around, know about women and all this kind of stuff because we're so fancy free we get to do it. Yeah. Because you don't have to take care of the kids. You don't change diapers, you don't even have to wipe your. Somebody's going to do that. But women have to do all. Once you get up and the bed's on. Have you ever made your own bed? I've never done that.
I make them bad once in a while. I've got a woman, special woman. She's not only beautiful, but love. My life.
Tomorrow wake up. And every day just say, I'm sorry. It'll go much better for you.
Yeah, ever since you told me that, she's been reminding me every morning, what did Gene tell me tell you to say?
And so they need verbal. My wifey never says, you're so good looking. Never. I don't care. And as a matter of fact, I've never had another guy walk up to me and say, hey, Gene, guess how old I am. I'm straight. I don't care. It's funny. Not an issue. But they need affirmations every day. Thank you for doing this. What does it mean? But then you have to teach them how to read, how to be able to pronounce. I'm sorry, I was wrong. You gotta. There's a lot of letters, letters in there. You can't. Well, she's giving me the stick guy, right?
She's gonna have all this ammo for me when I get home now. Mr. Gene Simmons, it's an honor.
Wow.
Thank you, sir. I could keep talking with you all night, but your agent here is like, mark, we've got to get some food and drink.
My mother. And it's a good piece of advice for everybody. We complain about a lot of stuff. My mother, in her broken Hungarian, rather broken English, translated something from Hungarian that actually is profound. Every day above ground is a good day. And that's literal because my grandmother was my mother's mother, grabbed her mother's hand, my great grandmother, and walked her to the gas chamber so she wouldn't die alone. They took the oldest slowly and by the way, naked. And before my grandmother, my mother's mother, left, she basically turned to my mother and in Hungarian said, live. In other words, survive. That's all of it. If you're surviving in America and you have food in your belly, Shut the up. You have nothing to complain about. Bad traffic day, bad hair day. I always have a bad hair day. So what? It's all good. You'll be a better person for it. You won't stress as much. And that stress stuff will kill you. Ask your doctor.
