By: Dr. Matt Warnock
Bruce Kulick is a guy who likes to lay it on the line. Who puts his heart into his writing and playing and who isn’t afraid to take chances with his music. Ever since he stepped into the role of lead guitarist with the legendary band KISS, after founding member Ace Frehley left to pursue a solo career, Kulick has been wowing audiences with his technical proficiency and penchant for finding the right melodic riff for every occasion.
After working with KISS during their “unmasked” period, Kulick left the band in 1996 and has been working on his solo projects while taking over guitar duties for classic rock band Grand Funk Railroad in 2001. With a new solo album, his third as a leader, and a full schedule of touring with Grand Funk on his schedule, Kulick shows no signs of slowing down as he heads into his third decade in the spotlight as one of the genre’s top players.
Kulick’s 2010 release BK3 features the veteran guitarist doing what he does best, writing, singing and shredding his way through eleven new hard-rock tracks. The album ranges from heavy tracks such as “Ain’t Gonna Die,” featuring KISS bassist-vocalist Gene Simmons, to the Dylanesque “Life,” and everything in between. Kulick is at his best on BK3 as he showcases the musical diversity that has made him one of the most sought after sidemen of the past thirty years. As well, Kulick has surrounded himself with some of the best in the business, including guitarist Steve Lukather, Gene and Nick Simmons, bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Eric Singer, among many others. With such a strong outing from the former KISS guitarist, fans and newcomers alike will be left wanting more from Kulick as he goes forward with his solo career.
Rock guitar extraordinaire Bruce Kulick recently sat down with Guitar International Magazine to discuss his latest album, his love of classic rock guitar and his thoughts on vintage versus reissued instruments.
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Matt Warnock: Your new disc BK3 seems to have a bit of a heavier vibe to it than your work with Grand Funk Railroad, or even with KISS. When you’re doing your own records do you feel more drawn to the heavier side of things, as opposed to the classic rock sounds of your sideman groups?
Bruce Kulick: To be quite honest I love all of those kinds of styles. Even with KISS I was known for “Unholy,” which is of course heavy, but also for “Forever,” which has an acoustic guitar solo. And a song like “Tears Are Falling” has a very melodic, harmony based type guitar part. I don’t really put any rules on the sound of an album when I start writing. I just try to have it grow organically as I write and get into the studio.
I knew I wanted to start this album with some aggression and I’m glad Gene’s song isn’t too heavy, even though it’s still pretty heavy. Then Nick Simmons picked a pretty dark track to sing as well, which I was really happy about. I think he really nailed it. He has that big, blues-rock voice that fit the song perfectly. Then I end the album with “Life,” which was based on a George Harrison-Bob Dylan vibe.
It was tempting to just feature really rockin’ songs on the album, but I’m a big music fan period. I love Led Zeppelin as much as Hendrix, the Who, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. I love it all.
Matt: You mentioned two of the great guest artists from the album, Gene and Nick Simmons, and there are many others. Did you write the material for each specific guest artist or did you allow each guest to pick the song they felt the most comfortable doing?
Bruce: It was more the latter, it was very organic how it all happened. I didn’t really have any guarantee that anyone would be on board with the record when I wrote the songs, so I had written all the material when I went and asked them all to be a part of the project.
With Gene, we wrote that song together with my producer Jeremy, which was a labor of love and we all had a part in the lyrics for that song. With Nick, I gave him a choice of a couple of tracks and he picked the one he wanted to do and he ended up writing the lyrics to the song as well. Each song ended up being almost made for those artists, even if I didn’t know it at the time.
I will say that for the Doug Fieger tune, Jeremy and I had this great power-pop tune and we knew that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off with my style of vocals, so we had to think of who to get for that song. Doug was on the shortlist and he was generous enough to do it so it was a real honor to have Mr. “My Sharona” from the Knack singing on that track.
The important thing was not really the journey of how we got each person on the album, but that it really worked out well in the end.
Matt: One of the tracks that really stood out to me was “Between the Lines” with Steve Lukather. Since you have such a large rolodex of people in the music world that you could have contacted to play on that track, what was it about Steve’s playing that made you think of him to guest on that song?
Bruce: To be honest, I didn’t originally plan on having dueling guitars on that track, but it’s very ironic how life kind of takes you through these little journeys and tangents from the road your on. It was a last minute decision to include that track because I realized at one point that we didn’t have an instrumental, so I decided to just sit down and get one worked out and I wrote the song.
I wrote the song and found that Kenny Aranoff and Jimmy Haslip were available to record. So I called the studio in North Hollywood to book a session and for whatever reason they didn’t get back to me. I started to freak out a bit because the studio had been recommended by Kenny and I really wanted to record there. I had heard that Steve had worked in that studio a few years back so I gave him a call to see what was up with them not getting back to me.
As we were talking he asked me to meet for lunch the next day to hang. My producer Jeremy was all over this and he suggested that I ask Steve to play on the record when we met for lunch. I’m like “what are you crazy? He’s a monster on the guitar, why would I want to duel guitars with him?” [Laughs] Again, it was very organic how it all worked out. I asked if he was interested, he asked to hear the track and loved it. Then we went in the studio and laid it down.
When he got to the studio I had the chorus parts recorded and was brainstorming a bit on what to do in some of the other sections. Being the genius that he is, Steve just grabbed one of my ESP’s and laid down a killer track. The amazing thing was that I tune all my guitars to Eb, and Steve plays in standard tuning, so to make things easier he just grabbed one of my guitars and recorded the whole thing in the slack tuning with my red ESP. Just shows how versatile and skilled a player Steve is.
I was really happy how that track turned out. Because even though it was done in studio setting, there’s still that magical vibe to it that’s very fresh and spontaneous, which is something that’s harder to sometimes capture in a booth than on stage.
Matt: Since the track came out great, and is one of the stand out songs on the album, have you ever considered putting out an entire record of instrumental songs?
Bruce: My other two solo records had more instrumentals than this one, and people have suggested that I do a full instrumental record, as well as an all acoustic album. I’m not going to commit to anything one way or another, but I’m just happy that the song with Steve is one of the most successful instrumental’s I’ve recorded.
Just to be able to get in the studio and do dueling guitars with a player of his stature was a great experience. Right now I’m so focused on the new record, and really happy with all the diverse styles that are featured on it, that I’m not really planning for the future. But we’ll see what the future holds. Maybe that’s an option somewhere down the line.
Matt: BK3 is your third solo record and something that’s holding your focus right now, but you’re still involved with Grand Funk and other bands as a sideman. Do you ever find it difficult to balance your work with these bands and what you want to do as a band leader and soloist?
Bruce: Obviously it’s all under the general heading of my creative, musical career. Sometimes I have to wear different hats in different situations. With Grand Funk I’m pretty much featured on every song, there are tons of guitar solos and I can improvise within reason, since there are certain riffs that need to be heard in specific songs, just like from the KISS days. I just try to do the best job I can in each situation. As long as I can get a guitar in my hand and kick some butt I’m happy.
It’s like playing guitar. We have Strats, Tele’s, Les Paul’s and SG’s, which are all guitars, but they’re used in different situations. It’s a matter of finding the right tool for the right job and then giving it your all in that specific situation. There’s also a greater amount of freedom when I record a solo album, and I think a lot of guys feel this way, even in the biggest bands in the world.
I mean, guys like Mick Jagger go out and do solo records even though he’s in the biggest band in the world. Maybe he just wants to try something different, or he has a creative idea that doesn’t fit right with the Stones, who knows. But doing a solo record has that extra freedom that a lot of guys, myself included, like to explore.
Matt: As someone who has lived through the shred days of the ’80s, and then the ’90s when grunge basically killed the idea of the lead guitarist, do you see guitar solos coming back into vogue as we head into the second decade of the 21st century?
Bruce: I firmly believe that one thing that hasn’t gone away, even though the idea of a band with a lead guitarist out front isn’t around much anymore, is the idea of classic rock and that approach to writing and playing music. Bands like Zeppelin, Hendrix and the Beatles are in your face everyday. You can’t turn on the T.V. or radio and not hear those classic bands in commercials, shows and movies, or on classic rock stations. I do really feel with the success of Guitar Hero and games like that that it’s getting better.
Even though bands like Coldplay and Muse aren’t using the guitar in the same way that I prefer to use the guitar, that doesn’t mean they aren’t making some really great music. It’s just not the approach I want to take when I do my own records. I have to stay true to what I do and do it right, and I’m proud of what I do. People always seem to be interested in a good lead guitar line and that makes me a very happy man. [Laughs]
Matt: On the front and back covers of the album you’re holding two different guitars, a Les Paul and an ESP. Are these your two main axes or do you have a bunch of guitars that you choose from when doing gigs and going into the studio?
Bruce: Yeah, I have over a hundred guitars, it’s insane. The truth is, and you can see a lot of the guitars I use on my studio blog on my website, if you really break it all down, all the guitars I use I really love and enjoy using on stage and in the studio. If you had to break it down to just two guitars to bring on a desert island kind of thing, those two guitars on the albums covers would be them. That Les Paul just rings out for days and it has a lot of history to it, or KISStory if you will.
When you think of the two most iconic builders of the last hundred years there are two models that stand out, the Gibson model and the Fender model. Even though I do own a number of Fender’s, ESP has been so good to me and of course Fender isn’t really known for the Floyd Rose, humbucking Strat body guitar, so that’s where my ESP comes into play. They make me brilliant guitars, and I custom ordered that black one that people will see on the cover. I could record everything I do on those two guitars and still be happy.
Matt: A lot of guys who grew up playing vintage ’50s and ’60s Les Paul’s have recently made the switch over to newer built models. Do you have a preference for any particular era when it comes to the Les Paul’s that you play?
Bruce: I like both the older and newer models to tell you the truth. Some of the reissue models are really excellent guitars. I have a number of Les Paul’s, not a lot but a few, and there’s just something that gets me with the older models, kind of a magic or mojo that you only get with a fifty year old guitar. But, Gibson’s really come a long way with the reissue models that they’re putting out now.
Do I own a couple vintage SG’s? Yeah, but when it comes time to record I usually go with a reissued model because they just sound so killer in the studio. Same thing with the Les Paul’s, the one on the album cover is a ‘53 conversion, which means originally it was a gold top that was converted to a ‘59, with the real PAF’s and everything. That guitar just sounds like gold and that’s why I love to play it.
It’s a great time in the music business for guitar gear. There’s a lot of quality gear out there, and though some of it is expensive, people can still go out and spend a reasonable amount of money to get something that makes them go wow.
Matt: Since Gene and Nick Simmons are on your new album, and you’ve played on both Gene’s and Paul Stanley’s recent solo albums, with Ace Frehley kind of being in and out of the band at this point, is there a chance that you’ll be returning to work with KISS in the near future?
Bruce: The only way that could really happen, and it’s not something I would expect to happen, is if they decided to take the make-up off and do a Revenge style tour. If they did that I would be flattered to be a part of it, but I think they do pretty well in the make-up, and as much as I miss being in the band because of the chemistry that I have with those guys, having me put on Ace’s make-up just wouldn’t work out.
I’m really proud of the time I spent with the band and if I ever play with them again it’ll be fun, as it always was, but if it doesn’t happen I’m cool with that too. Whatever happens, happens.
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Links
Bruce Kulick Homepage
Bk3 at Amazon
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