What is your best memory of being in the group?

Really the preparation, it was all of the costume making and design and looking for wigs and that day when we pulled it all together and got dressed up. It was just really good friends all pretty much from the same neighborhood getting together to imitate our favorite band.


What other memories, stories, or comments do you want to share or make about the group or members?

Just that it was always fun. Before I was in the group and barely knew Troy, My parents like most hated KISS and didn't understand it. I remember Troy selling tickets to a backyard concert at Patterson Elementary. Troy even at that age was a great promoter. I got that orange ticket and was so excited to see Kiss. They built a miniature version of the Kiss Alive 2 Stage and broke a fake guitar and smoke and blood and the whole deal. So a year later to be asked to join was really cool to me.


You played Peter Criss and Eric Carr while you were in the group. Which one was your favorite to play and why?

Always loved Peter Criss. Liked Eric's drumming, but I always identified with Criss more. Maybe because of Beth and just all the girls screaming for him when he sang that. Drumming wise Eric, he was just bigger, he played big and when Peter left he was a great replacement. Never felt that way about any of the guitar players, Ace was just unreplaceble.


Was that your favorite member of the band?

Boy, I would say Gene, the Blood and Fire and his stage presence. Plus he is a great Bass player which nobody really talks about. He has these great walking base lines that give them groove instead of just straight blues based rock. In reality of meeting them, Paul was definitely the coolest and most accessible when you met them.


Did you ever want to play someone else in the group?

No I never really did. I was disappointed to play Eric at first, but then the costume was so great the first year we did it I really embraced it.


How did you feel about dressing up at the time?

I don't think it was thought of as the coolest thing to do, but I think going to the schools or hospitals made me feel like it was charity work in a sense. We were embracing what we loved and sharing it with hundreds of kids in one night. How many little rockers embraced Kiss because of us? Our feet always hurt and ankles at the end of the night but we sure had fun. The van the one year the Limo. We never did it half-assed and always squeezed every penny to make the costumes better.


Next to Troy, you spent the longest time in the group with a total of four years. How do you feel about that and what kept you going?

What better thing to do on Halloween than that. I just saw Kiss this summer and they still get me and I loved them, they helped shape my love of music. It really harkens back to the first time I saw them and wanted to be part of it.


You were a member of the group when it ended in 1983 and were part of the Ten Year Reunion. How did you feel when the group came to an end?

I guess we were growing up and all good things come to an end. I can't recall, but that night at Fat Fanny's was definitely the icing on the cake, being 15 and being in that bar. We were all trying to pass for 21. I didn't have a lick of hair on my chest…still remember it.


What was your favorite year of dressing up?

That year at Mike Feliciano's house we made the newspaper (1983). We had the limo and our costumes I think were the best yet. Plus Jimmie, Mike, and I had a great summer that year so we were very close. Also I really remember the year with Joey and that great Ace costume and I was so excited to do it that year (1979). I was so little.


Would you change anything about your time/experience in the group?

Only that we should have played a real concert. Troy, Mark, and I are real players, it would have been cool to take it to a real level or even do a cover group now.


Is there anything else you wish the group could have done (more concerts, television, another appearance, etc.) while you were in it?

We definitely would have done more with the media of today, hard to believe it was so long ago. Wish we had video or more video. I honestly can say that our love of Rock has taken Troy and I and stuck with us. That stemmed from that time.


Do you have any of your old costumes?

No but I wish I did, Wish I had the Peter costume and the last Eric Carr.


Looking at these pictures after all these years, what are your thoughts?

We were so young. I miss those guys….


Have you ever dressed up as a member of KISS since leaving the group?

Nope never, sacred I guess. I never put the make-up on even for fun. But I still doodle their faces when I am talking on the phone. I bet I could pull off the makeup…


Would you ever dress up like a member of KISS again?

We could do Kick Ass costumes now. We would have to start the Kiss impersonators workout program…


Any final words or thoughts?

I just want to thank Troy for all his hard work on this. There are very few things we are a part of like this and to have it memorialized in this way and to have access to all of the pictures is really amazing to share with my girls. I have 4 daughters now, maybe I need to have an all girls Kiss Group. Thanks to all of you guys that did this, it is and always will be some of my fondest memories…

Here & Now

Do you still listen to KISS?

Yes, still do, not as much of a favorite, but I still like the songs.


Top 3 Favorite KISS Albums

1. Kiss Alive II
2. Love Gun
3. Destroyer
Really liked Revenge, felt like musically they were KISS again. No make up but still great.


Top 10 Favorite KISS Songs

1. Love Gun
2. Detroit Rock City
3. Shout it Out Loud
4. Calling Dr. Love
5. Domino
6. Christine 16
7. Lick it Up
8. I Love it Loud
9. Hotter than Hell
10. Hell or Hallelujah


How many times have you seen KISS in concert?

Oh gosh, without make up 3 times with makeup 4.