Sahil Laul: And then one of the bullets goes down the street towards me and then all of sudden, ow! I'm like, what the f***? I felt like someone took a hot poker through my leg. I was really blessed. One bullet went through my leg. The other one grazed my ear. Rock and roll pancakes, Saturday Night Live after parties, and SpongeBob SquarePants. What on earth do these things all have in common? They're all part of your raw, unfiltered backstage pass to rock guitar stardom. And it's all coming up right now on Count's Culture. Welcome to Count's Culture, a late night podcast about all things cool. I'm Danny the Count Coker. This show's for anyone. who lives for rock and roll, cars, bikes, laughter, the occasional tear, and inspirational stories that'll stick with you for life. Doesn't matter who you are, where you are, what you do, or what you believe, I'm welcoming you all home. From this moment on, you're all part of the Count's Culture family. I guarantee you no filter conversations, unforgettable characters, and stories about passion, purpose, and the roads that shaped us. Thank you for being here. Buckle up, let's enjoy the ride. As you know in every episode, I'm joined by one of my Count's Customs family, and I'm blessed to be joined once again by one of my most calming, yet motivating influences of my life, my creative rock and roll brother, and my dear friend Mr. Stoney Curtis. Great to be back. What's up, bro? Man, I'm excited for today. You ain't kidding. I know you are. I know you are. You know how I know you are? Because from the moment I ever met you, I know you are a Kiss fan, and I know that... Kiss influenced you so very much. Absolutely. think the reason that I sit across from you is because Kiss. Right, right. And our guest today is a big influence on me. Major part of Kiss-tery as we call it. Absolutely. And one of my all time favorite guitar players. So this is big for me. Yeah, this is a great, great episode. And on top of it. Bruce is just a beautiful human. And so he's become such a great friend over the years. He really has. This is just a, it's going to be a lot of fun today. Yeah. And he's part of the fabric of our community here in Vegas now. it... How cool is that? Right, because the first time we met him, he didn't live here. And then he moved here. And now he's been here for years. And you're right, he's part of the fabric. And he's part of the circle that we all kind of know and hang out and cause trouble with. Yeah, and he sends me, calls me once in a while and text messages me. you still, it's like that 14-year-old boy is going like... I know, really? You look at your phone, you're like, really? So there's still that part. There's the part where like, well now... We're kind of friends now. We talk and we hang out and we have dinner. We do these kinds of things, but they're still that 14-year-old boy. I know. I know. We're blessed. In just a minute, you guys, one of the most respected, versatile, and understatedly influential guitarists in rock history is going to be joining us. He's a player who helped shape a legendary era. He has toured the world and always put the songs first. It is literally the one and only Mr. Bruce Kulick. Steven Tyler started Janie's Fund for a simple but powerful reason, to help girls heal and move forward after trauma. I've been honored. to support and work with Janie's Fund over the years. This is about giving young women access to counseling, education, stability, and the confidence to reclaim their future. Janie's Fund is built on compassion, community, and real impact because every girl deserves the chance to stand strong. Learn more or get involved at JaniesFund.org and help change a life today. Today's guest is one of the most respected guitarists in Rot. He played with Kiss, Grand Funk Railroad, Meat Loaf, Michael Bolton, Billy Squire, Union, and countless others. His guitar work defined the non-makeup years of Kiss. He's a storyteller, a lifelong student of the instrument, a Vegas local, a dedicated teacher, and a gentleman who earned his place in rock history through craft, consistency, and world-class musicianship. A brother right here, the one, the only. Mr. Bruce Kulick, how are you my man? ⁓ Wow, an introduction like that, I'm very happy. It's all true. And you forgot to mention that I've played with you sometimes. swear to you, Stoney and I, were just talking about that and I can't begin to tell you what an honor that is, but... Bro, are the real deal, man. Well, thank you. It's an absolute honor to have you here. We met, the three of us actually met the first time for real in that parking lot. 100 years ago, it was the second anniversary of Kiss Mini Golf. And you were the most generous man to come and sit in with Count 77 with us out there. I remember that. It was out in the parking lot. It was a cool event. I knew a lot about... you, more from your television fame and everything. But I was aware that you loved music and I knew you loved grand funk too, which makes a nice marriage. Big time. And Stoney, you know, I always heard about you and all of a sudden there I am, meeting you, playing with you. And of course, I didn't know at the time I'd be moving to Vegas within a few years after that. But it was pretty exciting. So you guys have always been family to me. Amen, brother. I'll never forget it was crazy for us. We're out there in the parking lot, we're doing this thing for the minute and we're like... Really, you serious? Bruce Puel is going to come and do some stuff with us? you It was the original Kiss Mini Golf on over there by the old Hard Rock. Yeah, awesome stuff. We're going to do all kinds of things here today. So first off, can we talk about pancakes, ⁓ You and your beautiful wife Lisa, who is just amazing, run a number of successful cooking recipe websites together. Fans love everything from pies and pancakes to French toast. What's your personal signature go-to recipe? And where on earth did this culinary talent and passion come from? How did this happen? Well, first of all, to answer the first question, I just love the way she makes pancakes. They're just amazing. We've had some guests over. You're welcome to come out to our home anytime. Thank you, my brother. Stoney is a... You can give a testimonial right now, Stoney. I can tell you this. They are all... Yeah. Yeah, they're awesome. it's everything that's cracked up to me. Yeah, exactly. They are, they're amazing. I mean, Lisa's hanging out with us right over here. How did this happen? So it really came out of many good things in a terribly scary, weird time, the pandemic, ⁓ that actually a kiss man, of course, you know, who introduces himself to me as being a guy that he knew he could work with these, you know, cooking people and everything. And he knew that we were trapped in our home basically. And he knew about Lisa and he just thought it would be a great idea. What do you think? Would you guys, I'm more the flipper face of, know what I mean? Q-licks, pancakes recipes, but it's really my wife's passion to cook, especially when I wasn't gonna be traveling every weekend with Gram Funk anymore during 2020 and almost into half of 21. So there we were filming and I wish we could have filmed like the way you do your shows. But we were just doing the best we could. ⁓ She would experiment with the recipes. And then we were filming it, know, doing some crazy content. And with a little help of, they were from that kind of ⁓ business so they understand how to guide us with it. And the Kiss, you know, lot of our fans, especially the Kiss fans really hooked onto it. You know, it was pretty funny. for me though, the biggest pleasure. Obviously I don't mind wearing a culic pancake, you know, like apron and holding a spatula or a guitar in my hand. But to just showcase my wonderful wife, who is a very good cook, to the fans. So now any event we go to, and I make sure my wife is with me, I just love it that way, they know her and they always want to talk about that and they love all the other content, because she's a great singer too, so we would be doing... some Kiss songs and I beat, that's when I was learning a lot about how to do a video on iMovie. Primitive really compared to what your show is, but it was still content. And remember everybody was content crazy during the pandemic, because you couldn't really do that much. So I learned new things. My wife was busy in the kitchen and we shared it. So it's just another fun facet of my life that we enjoy. We don't take it seriously. We know some people that could... really promoted or like we're good friends with a local guy who does like the food and wine magazine and stuff. And I wouldn't even think of wanting to be the face of that because it's not really my career. It's just another fun facet of our life and we're really blessed that some fans know about it and they want to celebrate it. You're talking about it. You were there to eat it. And let's not short-change it. It's not just pancakes. There's some cookies. I've had cookies. Those are just as amazing. Across the board she loves doing it it comes from the right place You know in the same way and she's also a perfectionist with that like me Yeah, you know so we make a good couple because you know anything you're gonna do if you're gonna venture do it right? know I mean that takes time and preparation absolutely, and then if you screw up you need to accept maybe Shift it a little bit one of those cookies you got recently was a surprise because you had a like ran out of one ingredient You know and then you make it work. You know, but that's no different than all of a sudden something breaks at the gig and you figure out how to make it work. Right. So we make a good team and thanks for bringing it up. Absolutely, Matt. Thanks for sharing that with us. It's beautiful, Matt. Now you're always playing, teaching, performing, recording. What's the project or musical project that you're currently deepest into right now? Well, it's really crazy how my life is ⁓ not being on the road every weekend, which is what I did with Grand Funk, which... ⁓ great gig and I loved the guys and the music, but it was the travel part that really killed me. And it was wearing me out and I didn't want to do that. So the big goals that I always thought would be so easy to jump right into, which would be new music from Bruce. And then I could finally, because always all the Kiss members have written books, that I'd write a book. Now with the book I have a lot of subjects and chapter titles with. a lot of memories in my head. I also have a lot of great interview tapes to review. But it's really kind of weird, but for the right reasons that neither one of them made the progress that I thought would be so easy. The music, there were spurts during last year where I made a lot of progress, recorded a few new things. But some of the guys that I like to work with to complete the music, they get so busy, they're home maybe one month at it, and I think you know some of the people I'm talking about. especially Todd Kearns, who's the singer that I love, that we work on something, when are you back? Three weeks, but I only have a two day turnaround. I'm like, how do you continue on? So one of the goals in 26 is obviously kind of manage that better. So I've already shared some demos with a good friend of mine who was working on merchandise shirts for me of my guitars and things that did quite well. And he's a guitar player and everything. It's great to... I don't want to run it by a fan. Well, I'm sorry, he is a fan. But he's someone that I work with, so I trust him. And he was just giving me all these comments about it that were so encouraging, you know what I mean? That I don't know why I didn't just go full speed ahead and get it done or even get to that point where I could offer one at a time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Man, you have so much cool history, okay? On this podcast here, we like to talk about the coolest of the cool. And I'm gonna bring up something. don't know if it gets much cooler than this. Let's go back to 1978. Yep. Okay. You performed with Meat Loaf. Yes, I did. On Saturday Night Live. Yep. Christopher Lee was the guest on the show that night. The cast, in my humble opinion, is the greatest cast that Saturday Night Live ever had. We've got Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Bill Murray, Lorraine Newman, Garrett Morris, Gilda Radner. take us back to that night, if you don't mind. It was almost 50 years ago. What do you remember? What stories can you share with us about that night that I guess enough time has gone by you won't get anybody in trouble? Well, me always being the kind of shy, I really got the importance of it. I didn't know years later I'd be in Kiss, but I am the only Kiss member to do Saturday Night Live. That's huge. And that's pretty big. Especially that era. Yeah, exactly. ⁓ Honestly, ⁓ the whole Meatloaf thing, once it took off, it took off so big, everything was kind of like a shock. I almost felt like I was an observer, you know what I mean? But of course I could play my guitar, but between him being over the top, nine people on stage, and the cast of his management, Steinman, who's such a talented man. ⁓ being so eccentric in some ways. ⁓ It was really weird in many ways what I had to manage, working with my brother. Had his complexities, but it was perfect. Meatloaf called us killer and pretty boy. And Bob had... Big cajon is, if you know what I mean. And I'm kind of like the tall guy with the huge head of hair who's kind of like. And don't forget the mustache. And a mustache, a porn mustache, right. And I remember, you know, their stage is not big. It's a television studio. So I do remember that nine of us being up there with a grand piano. remember when I got to watch Two Out of Three Ain't Bad backstage after the first performance, there was a guy who was handling the publishing. who actually is a famous songwriter. I didn't even realize it until more recently when Lisa and I went to see some guy perform a song and he mentions his name and it was Earl Schulman. And I go, who wrote this beautiful, what? He wrote this beautiful song? I didn't even put that together, but I later on, right after that, reached out to the drummer from that era of the Meat Loaf band to say like, tell me about Earl. I didn't know this. I just thought he had a publishing company and was wise enough to get Steinman involved. But I remember saying to Earl, like, you kind of see me there. Do you think there's any other shots? You know, again, there's nine people. I was going to focus on me and Carla and the singers. And by the way, I'm still very tight with Carla DeVito. She's lovely. married to Robbie Benson, who's such a talented guy. Yeah, we've done some autograph shows together and got to go out to dinner. Wonderful people. Unbelievable. So, but just to tie in what it is to do Saturday Night Live. So we get through the two songs. The introduction by Christopher Lee, I'll never forget, because it was obviously a great setup. know, meat. Yeah. Loaf, ladies and gentlemen. Loaf, okay, you know? And of course we played great, it was well received. And you know, they're pretty stingy about Saturday Night Live being shared and everything. So how much viral it went or how much YouTube is out there. But it is at, know, somehow it was amazing. There's always an after party for a Saturday Night Live, who would know? So I could clearly see myself on the stage at the end where everybody. Like, they're playing that kind of jazzy R &B thing. Everyone's happy. Everyone's applauding. And I'm like, ⁓ let's get around them. ⁓ my God, I'm high fiving. You know, the cast of Saturday Night Live, I'm freaking out. But then there's an after party, a local groovy New York bar, restaurant or something. They're all there and I'm just out of my mind. I mean, I just have little glimpses of that in my brain. ⁓ And then my conversation with Earl backstage, you think anyone will know I was on the TV? Right, right, And there were many highlights during Meat Loaf that were similar. Just very bizarre, wonderful success, but this huge entourage doing it. I can imagine. I can imagine. That had to be just unbelievable. are you, like, early 20s at that Yeah, well, I was born in 53, so 25, 26, you know. Boy did I learn a lot about the business. But I'm sure both of you agree, each thing that as your career grows and as you experience things, it kind of helps lead you to the next thing. know what I mean? So I've always felt that if it wasn't for the Meat Loaf Tour, I wouldn't have known what to do with Michael Bolton to be in a band and now do have a record deal. I wasn't part of the Meat Loaf record deal, of course. I'm just one of the guys in the band backing them. And then of course, By the time I'm with Kiss, oh, I understood arenas because I toured with Meat Loaf in the Rhinos. Even with Michael Bolton, we had an opportunity to tour for three weeks, you know, with like a Peter Frampton or Bob Seeger later on when he was solo. So I just always knew before I was in Kiss what it is to have that big arena, you know, and get out there and tour. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. That's one of the coolest stories, one of the greatest memories. Huge. And now I know what to put in my book. Thank you. It's a cool way to kind of get the career going. I'm here to help. I'm here to help. on a whole different note. We do something and we're going to go a lot deeper, but we do something kind of crazy here on the podcast once in a while where I want I I'm going to give you the opportunity to ask me anything you want to ask me. It can be cars, music, bikes, business, Vegas. don't I don't care. And I'm going to do my best to not. to not dodge the question. I don't know. So now I get to ask you You can ask me anything you want. Anything you want. Well, I'm very curious. This is easy for me. Well, first of all, I always knew about what you're capable of with your custom cars and everything. Thank you. Which is wonderful. Thank you. And obviously the show I was a big fan of. Thanks, bro. Thank you. But then meeting you as a singer, you know what mean? And then performing with you. ⁓ I don't know much about like who was your first... vocal hero or band or just that real, that you you got the bug. You know, that you said, I have to do this. Brother, thank you for asking me that and coming from you. I feel good right now. We'll be back in 40 minutes. I feel good. So I'm going just keep it as quick as I can. I grew up in music. My father was a musician, ⁓ old school gospel. So I grew up in Southern gospel and black gospel music out of Detroit and out of Ohio. And ⁓ so I grew up singing gospel music. And so that was my first into it. ⁓ I'm so, so thankful for that. And as I grew older and started to fall in love with all genres of music, ⁓ vocally who I really connected... who I connect with, I believe, this is a really good question. ⁓ You know, I mean. Well, you got 38 more minutes. Right, exactly. I mean, I'll look back to, you know, ⁓ people in the gospel genre that really get me going, cats like Andre Crouch and the Disciples, that's one of the craziest things, and I know you're going, what? But Google that somewhere and you'll dig that. But moving into the rock scene, I... I can't help myself that I love people like Jim Morrison. ⁓ And I don't look at Jim as being like a singer. He's a crooner and I love that. He's a storyteller and I love that about him. I wouldn't think you'd be the guy to like, let's say, you had to like Led Zeppelin to a point, but I don't think you'd want to be Robert Plant. Correct, correct. Led Zeppelin. So would be more blues, &B more? Yes, that's very much the influences in my vocals, which I think cross over from the gospel, especially the black gospel side, crossing over. into the rock side, it is more of the blues rock. Which is why I think you're also more credible with Don Brewer's vocals for it. We're an American band. Brother, love it. Love it. Stuff like that. Grand Funk, Don Brewer, phenomenal. Things like, you know, and I love Bob Seeger. Huge influence on me as well. So things like that. Yeah, no, and I can see that. It's not the high, the Billy Squire voice. No, I'm a baritone. I don't have those ⁓ crazy high vocals, you know. So for me, I like... I like to sing sing and not scream scream. know what I'm saying? That's a good man. But I didn't know about the R &B. Yeah, yeah. That's great. ⁓ my lord. And still to this day, I mean, you get in my car and you're either going to hear ⁓ Zeppelin or you're going to hear Marvin Gaye. It's one or the other in my car right Can I ask a bonus question? Yeah. All right. Favorite Beatle? Harrison. ⁓ interesting. Yeah, that's my favorite Beatle. I mean, there's no wrong answer with right, right. Favorite Kiss member? ⁓ Bruce Cullin. No, I meant the original four. Original four, Gene. Gene, yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah. See, because when, and I think it's because I'll connect with him vocally. Yes, no, I get that. You know what I'm saying? You know, that's, know, goes, when 77, when we do Kiss, one of my favorite things that we do is, you love me? Yes. You know, and so. And the right kind of... Words. Exactly, exactly. And it's in my pocket. So, you know, that would be my connection. I think I just hijacked your show. Bro, I'm loving this. Bruce will be back. Don't anybody go anywhere. We are gonna take a minute here and I'm gonna gather my thoughts because Bruce has just got me rolling. stick around. We got more with Bruce Kulick here at Count's Culture. You guys rock. There are few causes more important to me than camp freedom. Camp freedom isn't about what someone's lost. It's about what's still possible. We give disabled veterans, first responders, and Gold Star families something powerful. Time outdoors, shoulder to shoulder, fishing, hunting, riding, away from hospitals and stereotypes. Out here, it's not therapy, it's camaraderie. If you're looking to support something real, monthly giving, sponsoring land, or just learning more, Camp Freedom is changing lives one acre at a time. Head to CampFreedomPA.org to show your support. All right, let's go back. Let's go back before KISS. Let's go back before Meat Loaf, before the big stages. What kind of kid were you growing up in New York in that most transformative, culturally rich era? Do you remember about New York culture of the time, sports, music, et cetera, whatever? How did that city make you who you are today, That's a great Roll it up in that. I'm very blessed, I always feel, being born in New York, Brooklyn. A lot of people ⁓ know the importance of back then. This is way before, obviously, the way we now can, between the internet and the... everything is ⁓ shared, anyone can come from anyone and be exposed. But back then, without all that available to you, being in a major city is important. And New York was still probably, ⁓ New York and Los Angeles, and then you have London, of course. And the British invasion came. ⁓ I did love the Mets and the Yankees, depending on, one year could be one or the other. Obviously when I moved to Queens from Brooklyn, the, you know, suddenly with Shea Stadium right there, and that's became important, know? But the music scene was so really, really wonderfully represented. All the bands came there, okay? And access to record shops and everything was so easy. And even at a very young age, I was blessed enough to... As soon as I was, well, having the older brother was very helpful because he could expose me to certain things, right? Bob was almost four years older. So I was pretty hip, you know, and absorbing everything. But the incredible story to share with everybody here is that here I am, I'm 13. So it's 1966, right? Now there was a very famous guy, a radio host called Murray the K. Now, he mostly did shows at the Brooklyn Fox Theater, never saw one. Featured many of the R &B, mostly R &B. But now music's changing into all of a sudden the British Invasion, right? So all of a sudden, he gets to do a show at a theater on 57th Street in Manhattan. So now I'm able to take a train from Queens for a matinee and go, right? So I go, the headline is gonna be... Good Love and the Rascals, Which is terrific band, and they were huge at the time, right? And I was happy to see them. But there were two bands that were going to be the opening acts. And of course they were bands I never heard of, but all of a sudden the curtains open and they roll out this gear and all of a sudden The Who is going to play a 20 minute set. Right? First time in America. Yeah. It gets even better. And then that ends. I'm like, what was that? Oh my God. I loved it. And then all of a sudden, ladies and gentlemen, cream. Oh, no way. And they roll out their gear and play 20 minutes. I'm like, what was that? You know? Yeah. And then, of course, I still love, you know, seeing the rascals. Right. But who knew? Yeah. You know what I mean? It's 66. That's life changing. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember doing a fantasy camp, because I've done a lot of the rock and roll fantasy camps through the years, in London. know, the promoter, David Fischoff, did one in London, which was great, using Abbey Road and everything. But Jack Bruce was going to be one of the guests, right? And I was fortunate enough to be one of the main lead guitar players, counselors, so I got to jam with Jack Bruce and Simon Kirk on drums instead of Ginger. And we did a couple of cream songs, which I literally cried when I watched some of the recording of that in my hotel room. It was amazing. And I was just like so nervous around Jack being one of my heroes. But it came up, there was another camper there saying like, I first saw you in New York in 1966. I mean, the fact that it was actually brought up and I think he had a photo to show Jack because he waited by the side stage afterwards. I was too young to even bother with that. I didn't think he took a Polaroid or something, know, back then it's primitive. But how amazing is that? And there I was in New York seeing Hendrix multiple times, you know. I recorded him. I was able to take a tape recorder. Back in those days in the 60s, they had these little portable German recorders. You know, people who did sports or interviews, that was high tech, guess, Little three and a half inch reel to reels, right? And I don't know, some friend of mine had one. said, can I borrow that? I want to take it to the garden. Nobody's asking to check anything, right? I go in. Now, Hendrix played that time in the round, okay? Meaning a revolving stage. So he's in the middle on the floor and it moves around. Now, when those marshals would come around to my microphone, I'm just sitting there like that. ⁓ my, unbelievable. And years later, when I got to work with Eddie Kramer with Kiss, of course I shared the fact, you know I have a recording that I digitized ⁓ of Hendrix. I ⁓ I archive everything for the family. I know there's another version of that night at the garden. Why don't we swap tapes and I'll master it and give you a copy. And we did that. Anything archival of Jimi Hendrix, of course, who's still my biggest guitar hero. But I have to admit, just having the opportunity to do that, I didn't see the Beatles, my brother did. I sort of led Zeppelin. And in fact, I went to a very iconic concert, early Zeppelin concert, where we lived in Queens, so did Paul Stanley in Flushing. I'm in Jackson Heights. And Shea Stadium and the park where the World's Fair was, it's right there, very close. And the New York State Pavilion, they never tore that down when the fair was done. and Led Zeppelin did a gig there. And I was there to see that. you know when Jimmy Page would do the dad-gad tuning, sit down and play the Dan Electro? And I remember hearing, I'll never forget, I'm like, he's doing all this wild stuff. It's instrumental, know? And I'm like, this guy's amazing. But I remember some guy behind him, he might be better than Hendrix. You know what mean? who else was there to compare to? You know how Eric Clapton? felt about Hendrix, and Hendrix will have clapped, and then there's Jimmy Page. So the fact that I can tell you that I saw all those players live is really crazy. What an incredible But again, living in New York, and having the foresight, and thankfully my brother turning me on to that stuff. just want to pop on one thing on when you're talking about that, with seeing Cream and seeing the who, you're 13 years old. Now, is that the moment? Well, no, actually seeing the Beatles when I was 10 was the moment, because they came out, well, February 64, so I was like just a little older than 13. ⁓ Wow, you know, I knew I wanted to play guitar. And my brother was first playing guitar, actually folk music was his first love, because there was no British invasion yet, you know. But I just had an innate ability, look that word up. ⁓ I just... I took to it. There was a local record store in Brooklyn that had a guitar teacher. ⁓ And all of sudden there I am at Mel's Records, learning ⁓ chords and everything. And then I kept learning and playing and to this day, you know what I mean? It's really wonderful. But growing up in New York, during that magical time of culture, and you kind of set up the question. Knowing that there was that element of that. It was an incredible time. It wasn't just the where it was the when right, right, right, brother Let's let's while you're while you're touching on this right now. Let's talk about let's talk about your brother Bob for a minute, which by the way Curtis and I both absolutely love Bob. Amazing. What did he teach you early on, musically or just life? Well, he would bring home records. I obviously had opportunities to listen to the radio or what my friends would hear. But I did like certain things he brought home. And it was varied for him, too. I know he liked... I would like progressive music, meaning... Yes, or King Crimson, more than him. And he would go a little more to some of the blues, things like a humble pie. But I still ate that stuff up too. So there we are sharing all this, sharing a bedroom in a ⁓ two bedroom apartment in Queens. So obviously on top of each other, to the music. Music has always been my life. And we shared... Obviously he played and then all of a sudden I'm like, ⁓ you're doing that chord different now. What do mean a G chord with two, you know, with the other fingers? You know what mean? So we're sharing stuff like that. And the other important thing was Bob was very much driven by that he was either gonna be, he was a good ball player and you know he always played when he was here. But he was either gonna be an athlete or he was gonna be a guitarist. But I was so proud of him when he literally just decided He was old enough, he was still young. besides playing down in the Village when he was like underage, you know what I And seeing Jimi Hendrix before Hendrix was discovered, things like that, which is amazing. I was too young to go to the Brendage Village, are you kidding me? But all of sudden he decided to go to London and see if he can join a band. And he winds up meeting the people from a band called Hookfoot. And if you look up Hookfoot, that was Elton John's first band. ⁓ managed by a very famous music publisher, manager guy, this ⁓ Dick James. You remember Dick James music? Yeah, absolutely the name. was on salary with Dick James. Okay. Not much. ⁓ He was 20 pounds a week, deal with it, whatever it was. But he actually became the fifth member of Hookfoot, playing this beautiful epiphone casino that Caleb Clay, the main guy and singer, who again worked with Elton John, they were more like session guys. They all did that first Elton John record, I knew that. But he came back at a certain point, Hookfoot couldn't continue, they did the tour but Bob got to do it. I have some amazing photos of that that I shared in that video of him I did. But when he came back he was just like really bummed, you know. And what was sad was to me he was like a hero who just takes a guitar and goes to another country. with no connections, nobody, right? And I know I couldn't do that, okay? So to me, he was like a hero at that moment. So he was the one that would really get himself out there and always be like, I can do that. Even though I know he was tremendously insecure, like most artists, the meatloaf thing wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for, he had his ears to the ground with like, ⁓ they're auditioning, they're looking for two guitar players, things like that. Gotcha. So I owe a lot to him. He believed in me because he knew I was talented. He always wanted me to be in Kiss even though it came about very roundabout way. And the only sad thing in conclusion with Bob was towards the end before he passed away from a heart attack, it was just so tragic that he was very angry because he didn't feel like he got his due. When if you really add up all his credits and the accomplishments he did. He was like that fifth member of Kiss and things like that, way, you know, contributing and all the artists he worked with. But sadly, he couldn't see it that way. And there were many times I tried to reach him, you know, and explain ⁓ how lucky he is and not looking at it like, it should have been me or I could have done this and I should have been paid this. You know what I mean? And what's fun is protecting his legacy. You know, he wrote this incredible song for SpongeBob, a him and David Glenn Isley, a great singer, called Sweet Victory. And he made a deal about a year and a half before he passed away for it to really be used with a proper company. And I'm telling you, that thing does well. It does more than any songs I've written. Do you see what I mean? I mean, think it even had a, they had a little clip of it in the Super Bowl at one point, a couple of years back. And Nickelodeon did something with it and it gets used. Paramount Plus was using it for a big commercial one year. I mean, I'm just blown away by that stuff. There's probably other uses going on right now. So his legacy won't be forgotten. Oh, it's a video game called Fortnite that I know nothing about. It's And one of my friends is telling me, you know, my kid just bought Sweet Victory for the, I'm like, what is it? You know what mean? I don't have any kids to understand Fortnite, but I looked into it it was really cool. So look, I always, and that's why at the Virgin gig that I did, know, Kiss-Glan, Landlock, was to represent him. losing Ace, obviously I wanted to do a song for him. But the people, the more I dig into what he contributed to Kiss, in particular, I realize what an incredible player he was and how it's actually hard for me to do. We did a Kiss Night here at VAMP. Well yeah, I was gonna bring that up about the job. And it was, I said, I'll do it, let's do it, why don't we do a, since I'll probably do a half hour with you guys, let's do all things Bob. That was the hardest stuff I ever rehearsed. Bob could play. Yeah. The vibrato and stuff. I just think he was a little more, he really, there was so much emotion in every note that it's hard for me to like match that. You see what I mean? I saw one guy comment when I shared Larger Than Life, someone recorded Larger Than Life from that event this year, past year, and they said, oh, you nailed the solo. No, it was like 80%, my brother. I could never really do it. Lisa and I, whenever she hears me practice that stuff, she's always like, there it is. Whee! You know what mean? I'm like, I can't do that note. It's so hard for me. Just larger than the overbend. The woo woo is hard. ⁓ man, it's so Bob. And how even Kiss thought that people would think it's Ace. We know that Ace played Magic on the Kiss records and so it's such a unique player. He certainly didn't sound, Bob didn't sound like him. You know what I mean? But again, ⁓ Kiss fans, they look at Kiss as it's it, it's all of it. You know what I mean? It's a package. And ⁓ what can I say? I just, so happy that I'm able to continue the legacy by doing some of those songs too. It just expands my kind of like era too. I'm not afraid to go into other things, but it always feels good to represent my brother. And in this room, know, Bob would do the kiss nights with us. And ⁓ it was such an honor for us. But in this room, these couches right here, we would have our rehearsal for the kiss night. it was great because after the rehearsal, we'd all just come out and sit out here and like a campfire. And Bob would tell stories and we were just, you know, it was so great. He was so wonderful. got a lot of experiences with people, not just rock, people like Diana Ross and all. So anyway, I will admit, sometimes I learned, I watched how Bob handled some gig or something, I said, great gig, but the way you handle it, I would not do it that way. You know what I mean? But that's another way to learn. And that was something he had to learn. He was going to stand up to somebody and handle it his way. Well, you might not be there the next day, but that's... there's another opportunity that he can get into. But it was always interesting to see how many things he accomplished once I was really celebrating his life. Really amazing career. He was beautiful. And if you get a chance, you can go on YouTube and see some of the performances from the Kiss Crews with Bruce and Bob together. It's ridiculous. Look that up, everybody. Yep. Well, that was a great set because it was half my era, half... everything he contributed. And it was really magic. And I broke the wall on that Kiss Cruise and the fact that there was someone else performing that was part of the Kiss family to perform. Because first they just wanted us on panels. And then it was my brother who was the one that said, well, why don't we do a real set and we can bring... some of the best of Vegas to back us, which was Brent and Todd, and we killed it. And at that point, ⁓ every cruise I was on, Bob talked himself out of the next cruise, because he has a tendency to do that sometimes. And I was not going to do the next cruise without my brother until Paul told me, no, he doesn't want to do it, I want you to do it. So I got that blessing and I moved forward. And then of course, by the next time it was already, ⁓ He was gone, know what I mean? Sadly, but that's an iconic performance. Definitely great. Amen to that. Amen to that. You know, with all of those early days of paying the dues, the clubs, the sessions, all this, when did it dawn on you that, you know, I think this might be Yeah. There's a funny story to tell with that. I'm sure I got to, you know, like frame it right. So I remember inviting some agent down that I met somehow through another friend. just to see a cover band I was in, you know what I mean? And they came to see the group. And I always played with really good players. I was very blessed, okay? I have to admit, same as sitting in with you guys, right? So I remember ⁓ afterwards, I said, so what'd you think? What do you think of the group? Because I'm just looking for work. All musicians are looking for work, right? And they go, you know, ⁓ I did enjoy the band, but I need to tell you this, you're a star. And I'm like, I'm just a freaking guitar player. I didn't sing, I didn't move much, you know what mean? I got my wah-wah pedal and my things. And he said like, you're a star, you're going to make it. And I'm like, and I was so humble and I listened, it didn't give me an ego. Cause I was trying to sell the band. Do you know what I mean? And believe me, everybody held their, but that person saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself. Okay. So- When you laid your head on the pillow that night, it probably- I hope so. I remembered it. I was, I'm a terribly humble musician, so I'm always admiring the players that can do what I can't There's nothing terrible about it. It makes you so beautiful. Yeah, well, thank Keep going, keep going. Let me interrupt. And I always felt like, God, if I can only sing like Paula Jean, what a danger I'd be. You know what I mean? But then I have to accept, well, God gave me this talent and people... in a way I sing through the guitar and I have to be happy for whatever that is because I know other guys who do sing. Not everybody can be Prince, do you know what I mean? I play every instrument and form and write all that. But ⁓ what can I say? ⁓ I guess ⁓ I wasn't always doing each gig and each thing desperate to make it. It came to me, all the successes, by just being consistent. ⁓ being prepared for the gig, doing the best I could. And ⁓ when it didn't work out, ⁓ didn't go home and cry. I just realized that ⁓ some other door will open, you know? And that eventually happened when Kiss went into makeup, you know? And I had to accept, like, I'm not flying first class. I don't have a tech. And what am I going to do? And then all of sudden I'm in a band with John Karabi. who's a super talented guy, but we struggled and struggled and struggled. And music was changing and we couldn't, and now all of a sudden, oh, now I gotta pay quarterly taxes. You know what mean? There's no W-2 from Kiss and a pension. You know what I'm saying? I gotta grow up now. You know what I mean? But all those hardships, you accept because the people with a cushy life, like these people who are born into millions, some of them are really not happy. And then they don't even know what they're doing. And I guess ⁓ never really always having to work for it, you just strap, tie up the boots, you know what I mean? Get the boots on and whatever they call that. And just deal with the next ⁓ thing the best you can. That makes us who we are. Yes. So I've continued and then I was shocked when I got the opportunity for Grand Funk, which... which clearly I was meant to settle into something that great music, all right, the travel would be a little bit of a challenge, but then I'd be home to do other things too. And I was always able to supplement my life with the Kiss related content, because I do love always celebrating my era and everything. So, no, I'm very fortunate with my life and I always laugh with Lisa sometimes going like, wow, I wonder if I was like in an arena headlining you know, artist, you know, with a private jet and everything. How would I treat, you know, Stoney? You know, how would I treat my, you know, my friends and my fans, you know? But I think with my humble nature, I think I'd probably be the same guy wondering how is this even happening? You know what I mean? I cry on stage when they go crazy. I literally do. Because sometimes I just have a hard time, you know, talking to them. Because I'm just so moved to see thousands of people going like, you know, hanging on to my, what I'm saying, you know what I mean? Because I'm used to being the guy in the back and it's Gene and Paul up there, you know, or Don and the singer, you know, carrying the show. So it's really a remarkable emotion, you know, to be this humble, I guess. But it makes me who I am. Amen, brother. Oh my Lord. And don't sell yourself short. The focus was Gene and Paul. When you were in Kiss, you were... just as important as those guys up on front. Cory and I had a big discussion about you last night. you are ⁓ her favorite era. ⁓ wonderful. And she was referring to all of the things that you have done. And when she brought out her Kiss record collection last night that we were looking at, all of the stuff ⁓ with you on it is her stuff. ⁓ just saying. Just know, another recent interview I did with our buddy Eddie, If you know, you know about me. And then I'll be honest, there's times I talk to someone and they go like, oh, you're musician, I can tell. know, someone will know I'm Kiss or they'll just say, are you Bruce Kulick? But then sometimes they could just tell my musician, yeah, I play guitar. Oh, who have you worked with? I said, well, I was in Kiss. And then I played with Graham Funk. You know what I mean? It was just so weird. And they're obsessed with that. It's kind of odd. Or Meat Loaf, I some friends. That's their favorite artist. Kiss, no, no. Meatloaf, you played with Meatloaf. You were on Saturday Night Live, you know. So it's really interesting. I'm one of those guys that I will trip out just as hard on the grand funk thing. Okay, good. I know that. know you're... know too, and then with a lot of people that we all know and hang out with, if they're five years younger than we are, their era of Kiss is Bruce Keighley. Right, absolutely. Which, you know, my wife, Corey, that was her thing as well. There was that whole era of the reunion tour and beyond when Eric and Tommy so talentfully performed as those guys that they didn't focus a lot on my era, which really made it mine. You know what I mean? And I'm kind of, I wave the flag and it works because it's authentic, I care, and they know that I am proud. I mean, there was a period during that first reunion tour when it took off like that, I didn't want to listen to Hot in the Shade or. Revenge, I don't even know how I would have felt about it. Yeah. Yeah now I embrace it all Yeah, you know good and bad. Yeah, I find most of it is beyond good is excellent. But the truth is ⁓ There is a market for that. Yeah, and I'm always gonna want to celebrate it and embrace it. Amen to that brother All right. Okay. We're gonna we're gonna we're gonna do some more kiss stuff in a minute, but but It's not always straight talk here on Count's Culture. Sometimes I do a segment we call What's in the Garage? Because, you know, I'm a car guy. But I want to mix it up for you. We're going to change it to What's in the Case ⁓ today. If you could put only one item, one item from your amazing career in a guitar case, okay, we'll call it the Bruce Kulick time capsule. Okay, what would it be? Now, it can be an instrument, it can be a prop. a ticket, a souvenir, it doesn't matter. The only rule is don't tell us what it is. We want you to describe it. right. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter what it is. Stoney and I, we're going to do our best to try to guess what this item is. And if we can't, don't worry about it because you're going to tell us. You're going to tell us in the I think you'll get it. You want it to be like what I really want to, again, frame the first part of it. Not that I don't tell you, I describe it. Is that my favorite thing from my Kiss Hero that is going in Well, it doesn't have to be Kiss Hero. It's Bruce Kuhler. can be a souvenir. It can be anything. It doesn't matter. We just know that you've carried a lot of cases, so we're calling it what's in the case. So it doesn't matter. But it can be a guitar, right? It can be anything you want. It can be anything you want. And, but don't tell us just description. And my money's on Stoney getting this over anything. So am I trying to trick you guys with the description or just No, no, no, just honest. It's you, it's your heart. What's in your heart that you would, that one thing, that one thing. the one thing that always has been dear to me. Don't describe, don't just describe it, don't tell us. It's colorful. It's been held by me tightly ⁓ and means a lot to me. So far I'm going with Lisa, but let's keep going. It's been a good woman to me. okay. And it's incredibly loud ⁓ and it's ⁓ still actually really beautiful ⁓ and it would fit very well in the case. Okay. Is that enough? I think you're very much on the roll. I mean, I'm trying to be a little subtle with it. I'm just looking to Curtis as to which one it is. You need some more hints? All right, I'll give you another hint. right. In a sense, it has a nickname, and if you were at the local grocery store, you'd find it in your produce. I got it. Have at it, Curtis. It's the banana guitar. Yes. Is it really? Yes. Tell us about it. See, I didn't want to say yellow. I took pictures right here where we were sitting with it, on one of these things. Right. Why is she so special to you? So she's so special because when I started working with ESP Guitars, which were based in New York back in 86 when I still lived there, 85 and 86, they wanted to work with me. Friends of mine were going to be there, which is nice, know, that our guitar people. And it actually being a Japanese-owned company. But they were establishing themselves in New York and all of a sudden I'm in their little factory. They were doing mostly, they had some new lines of guitars, but they were mostly doing parts. So I was able to go to a bin where necks are, pull out a neck. And especially Stoney knows how personal a neck is to a guitar player. And then there's bodies, like super strat body color. I'm going, oh, that's a cool color. It's not a taxi yellow, it's hard to describe, but it was yellow. I'm going, oh, that's cool. I asked a guy that we knew that worked ⁓ with them to, here, put these together. You know, one humbucker, Floyd Rose. And ⁓ I don't know, just, you know, the material's aligned, you know, and it was just a magical guitar in the sense that it was very loud, hence me saying it's loud, okay. It really played effortlessly for me. And we were getting ready to do Crazy Night's album, okay, because we were recording that like in 86, going into 87. And it obviously had to be the one that I'm going to hold on the back of the album. That was that hint that she didn't get. Yeah. Because I'm holding it tight. I got it. Took a photo of you like that too. Paul said, hold your guitar. ⁓ He taught me everything about posing, which my wife is very jealous about. he taught me everything about posing. And then later on in the studio using it because it became the go-to recording guitar for the lead guitar. So Crazy Nights, the lead solos, most of the solos all the way through. Carnival of Souls, the last record I did with them. A lot of leads were done with that guitar. I only took it to spot gigs and occasional TV thing. So it wasn't a tour guitar, because it meant that much to me. Because you know what could happen on tour. Truck falls off the road and ⁓ whatever, customs doesn't let you bring it back. So ultimately, that guitar, which I still have, ⁓ and it's my number one, my desert island rock guitar, and it still plays great and looks great. ⁓ But it just became like, the nickname, I'll give you the story on that. So it's in the studio a lot, and then, you know, I do like bananas, in fact I'm going to have one right after this interview. And Chiquita being a very popular brand, of course. And one of the tech guys, you my roadie, just, yeah, it's yellow, it's like a banana, you know what mean? He put the sticker on it, which is still on the guitar, okay, to this day. know, Chiquita's thing. But then I realized, well, if I'm going to nickname it, I don't want to call it by the brand name. It's a brand name. It could be a dull banana or whatever. But it's a Chiquita banana. But I just call it the banana guitar. And to some people, they know it's the yellow guitar. And it's pretty legendary. There are guys who have shown me, I made my version of the banana guitar. You know what mean? It's so funny. And I'd have to admit, and Lisa knows, I see the jaws drop on the occasion that I'm able to show it to somebody. I brought it here when I did that, know, Lisa and I threw a New Year's Eve experience thing that one of the things of the ⁓ weekend for the fans was to be here and watch us perform. And I had the radioactive B.C. Rich and the Banana ESP right there on your stage in the rehearsal place. It was right here. So what can I say? That has to be, I mean, there's other clever things I could have thought of that would be really cool in a guitar case, but that guitar definitely has defined me or helped me do the best I could, you and you gotta honor your tools. Yeah, that was a great choice. That was a great choice. Let's talk about the moment you got the call from Kiss. How did that unfold? What do you remember about literally just stepping into that crazy world? How'd that go down? Well, it was a very unusual way to get in the band because originally I was just gonna be a temporary member, because the new guitar player, which in my gut was like, this guy doesn't look right and is... The music he likes doesn't sound right. He was into Alan Holdsworth. I'm like, what does that have to do with Kiss? Alan Holdsworth's a fluid jazz player. So ⁓ again, I knew those guys through my brother. Another guy happened to mention, Mitch Weissman, who's written with them and was good friends with Paul, said, if you're have a ghost guitar player, you can ask. Bruce, you don't have to go to Bob. All of a sudden I get a call from Paul to come in and do something for Animal Eyes. Me not knowing, like, is there something wrong with the new guitar player? Or do they don't like what he's playing? Whatever. Anyway, I had to have a guitar with a Floyd Rose. I go in there, I had some put together guitar. This is pre-The Banana, okay? It's 1984, like June. So I go down to the studio, I did a good job. My hair was probably this length at the time, but... He says to me don't cut your hair and I'm like, that's a weird thing to say I'm just doing a ghost guitar with and if you're Watchers don't know what it goes guitar. You don't get credit. Okay. Yeah, you're a ghost Okay, yeah and kiss used to do that a lot. Hence my brother's infamy and fame with kiss, right? uncredited but everyone knows so All of a sudden within us like a month or six weeks. I get a call You need to go to Europe. Would you please? with them in Europe because the guitar player is sick. And I'm like, I thought I won the lottery from that, right? I'm out of my mind, you know? And I wind up ⁓ rehearsing Kiss material, they give me some tapes. So now- a minute, I have to ask a weird question. When you hung up the phone, what did you literally do? ⁓ I was definitely, everything that Bob always said, you should be in Kiss. Even if it's temporary. jumped into my head. I'm like, wow, this is unbelievable. And they're not in makeup, because you got to remember, I will admit, I did audition when they did the cattle call to replace Ace, but I was kind of, had a mustache and Gene said, nice vibrato, but it was definitely not, it wasn't my time. And they went with Vinny and that was, there were good parts of it with the songwriting, bad with. They could never get along with him and that ended. Go ahead. could just only imagine that moment. Yeah, but that moment was just like, wow. And I literally, I knew it was only going to be two weeks or six weeks and I still thought I won the lottery because now I could say, I played with Kiss. Right. You know, and then of course there I am. My knees were shaking before the first gig in Brighton, England. ⁓ And I remember getting in the limo with Eric Carr afterwards who was kind of... He's already in the band four years, know, saw the ups and downs, pluses and minuses, and was kind of grumpy. And I'm like, would you shut up? You know what mean? Like, to me, this is a dream come true. Please, I get it that there are things that are frustrating to you because you've been here. But for me, this is unbelievable. And I kind of always felt that I had the home team advantage as it went on. By the time the touring in Europe was done, I was very comfortable with the guys. They were really happy. Denmark is better, Mark St. John heals. He can go on the road with us in America for the Animal Eyes Tour, which by the way, thankfully, was a huge hit. All of a sudden it's a platinum record. So the next thing you know, we're both on tour. They wanted him to watch the show and then they would try him out and that's what they did. We used to jam backstage because back then that was really bizarre. And in my mind, I had a look at it like. May the better man win, but I don't have to like take him out and knock him out like, know, Tonya Harding or one of those crazy things. You know what I mean? So we were jamming backstage, you know? And then they tried him and I was like, I don't think they're going to like him, you know? And within a few shots of letting him sit in, think he tried really hard, which was not the right approach. ⁓ In fact, he was trying to overdo. and overcompensate, know, like throwing the guitar around and everything, they're getting them looks. I knew Gene and Paul already pretty well. I was like, and then I knew that that was final. They were sending them home. get that call from Paul and he just said like, just want to let you know, we do want you to join the band. We're sending Mark home. Now I'm hearing a nice speech just saying, I want you to be competitive with what's going on in music now. Because it's 19... 84, the very tail end of 84. They needed to make this decision before MTV animalized live. So I got that call like the week before. And they needed me to sign a contract, you know what mean? So all of a sudden, you think the first call was weird, that one was really mind blowing, because now I really am going to be in kiss. Even though nobody will know who the hell it is on stage. Because back then there was no instant way of sharing that stuff. Mark St. John's in the video, Mark St. John's on the back of the record, and all the publicity, you get what I mean. But I proved myself. There's Diana Ross backstage at Cobo Hall tying my shoelaces because she's dating Jean. Oh, come on. I'm being a friend. You know what I mean? like, I'm like, yeah, you're in Detroit Cobo Hall and Diana Ross is tying your shoes. Yeah, because that's what it is when you're in kiss. Okay, you know what I mean? Okay. Yeah, and the crazy thing about this performance too is that now he's it's only been a week or two that he's the guy. Right. you got to go do this. MTV performed and it's a great concert. To this day it's great. I think he's only been there for six six weeks, yeah. Too fast, but a great concert. I always celebrate there was a 40th anniversary a while back. ⁓ Wow, what can I say? And then to think I could have gone on with it for 12 years, knowing that there was always talk like people wondering if there'd be a reunion, knowing that Ace and Peter were really... They struggled a bit. Ace always was doing new product and touring, it wasn't what we were able to do. We were still a headlining arena tour. They were always trying to repeat their success, which was a hard thing when you know what it was like in 75 and 78. But I helped climb them out of where they were, and I'm so proud of that. But I knew at some point it would probably end. What can I say? just to wrap it up with Kiss, obviously once Ace was not happy and didn't want to be in the band anymore with the huge success, were they going to ask me to be the spaceman? And I had a struggle with that. I was happy with Gram Funk. I don't know what I would have done, if they'd said, because I know what it is to have that lifestyle and be in Kiss. But in retrospect, they didn't ask, number one, but number two, more importantly, was... I really think I would have like kind of pooped on my ear if I suddenly just became Ace Frehley. Yeah, that's Because it wasn't you. You a different And I was never asked to be that. Where Tommy does a beautiful job of that, you know, and loved and hated for it. But he does a beautiful job of that. But that was cool when Paul asked you to run with it, so to speak. Yeah, at that time, the players are Warren Demartini, know, Eddie Van Halen. And he's not saying, but... Then again, I knew in my own brain, I'm not going to turn Firehouse into ⁓ some sort of hot fat teacher. You can't do that. So the truth is, ⁓ it became a situation of ⁓ that era was perfect for me. I was undeniably the right guy at the right time, although with how huge the next wave of Kiss became and how long they strung it out. Incredibly. I was always having to struggle for the attention. But all good things come around in these cycles. Maybe it's 20 years or Star Wars comes back. So Kiss came back. But I feel there's a celebration of non-makeup years and that's come back. Okay, all right. Well, check this out. Right now you're speaking about ⁓ Eddie, Satriani, you're speaking about Vi. There's so many legendary guitarists out there. They got one... Maybe they have one single career defining solo, okay? It's unmistakably theirs. Eddie, know, Eruption. got Slash, sweet child of mine. You got Randy Rose, Mr. Crowley. Tell me yours, man. Yeah, I know, that's a tough one. ⁓ I'll give you, I think I know what she is. want to know, which one is so you and that you are so proud of, what's Bruce's? Yeah, mean, one that, and it keeps coming up. I'll give you two only because the other one's so different. I'll give you Tears of Falling. This is my first album, my first introduction. It starts off melodic, there's harmony on it, Paul helped me with it, which was wonderful. And then I get to do some unique stuff that was very un-kissed sounding with the fast ending. ⁓ And then people always ask for that, so I love it. We do it, right? ⁓ And then the other one's Forever because it's acoustic. And I love that that's a power ballad that's beautiful. And I actually thought my first approach to that solo was actually gonna be like on a loud guitar. I was actually gonna do the melody and then Paul, no, no, no. I hear this Zeppelin thing where it's more like the Lemon Song or something. he runs off the tower of records to go get the cassette. That's how long ago it was, 89. There's no. Let me pull it up on my phone, you know, and play it for you in every which way. And then, oh, I could separate the solo for you on this app. You know what saying? This is what we have now. And by the time he came back, he had a beautiful Guild six string acoustic there that I just started to play. And me and the engineer were recording it already. By the time he walked in and was like, maybe 15 minutes after he came in, done. And it's such a melodic and so me. You know what mean? Expressing myself that people are always asking me, do more acoustic stuff, you know? So it's great to have, again, that balance where I could do a melodic and then flashy lead guitar solo and then do a melodic, loving acoustic solo. One of my favorites on a perso is Spit. Oh, that's a tough one to do the big solo in it. But anything on Revenge, I'm super proud of because I worked with a really incredible producer, Bob Ezrin. I always have to give him a shout out because he's just so talented and he knows how to bring out the best of the artists. So I was so grateful about that. Everybody stick around. Don't go anywhere. We have so much more with the amazing Bruce Kulick coming up on Count's Culture. Don't go anywhere. If you're a fan of this podcast, of counting cars, or of my shop Count's Customs, head over to Count's Customs dot shop for official gear, collectibles, and shop favorites. Or better yet, come by and see it all right here in person. The builds, the history, the vibe, it's not a showroom, it's an actual working garage. Online or in Vegas, Count's Customs is always worth a stop. All right, Bruce, we like to do something fun because I am the car guy. I got a segment that we call Shifting Gears. And I'm going to run you through the transmission here of stuff. It's like running through a training. I like to ask a set of questions to you and just running through gears. Boom, we're going to hit this. First gear. Union, powerful creative chapter for you. What did that band bring out in you that Kiss did not? what it is to really start from the ground up, you know what I mean? Completely opposite of Kiss. Here I'm just like, that tire, Kiss has to have four, you know? And I'm not the most important one. I'm not steering the ship or the car. ⁓ Where with Union, I had to do all the driving. John being much more of a creative type. So that was a big challenge. But I'm real proud of the music. The result was still... really great in that sense. And obviously I can't judge something by the financial success. Got it. In quality. Second gear, beautiful answer by the way. And I totally get that. Second gear, you talked about your humility, which is beautiful. How do you balance professionalism with the demands and inevitable temptations of being a rock star? Well, ⁓ I guess because I'm so... ⁓ kind of humble or in awe of so many people that I admire tremendously that I kind of have that I'm not worthy vibe that it's really almost like when we go places, my wife and I and she sees someone recognizing me. So did you see this guy? Did see how he's looking at you? I'm oblivious to it most of the time. And generally when they do corner me and say something to me, I'm kind of like, I got to change the subject. Like, ⁓ what do you do? Yeah, because they- they might get geeky or ask me if ⁓ I remember the elevator ride with them in that Hilton in St. Louis, you know what I mean? Back in 1989, you know, and it's kind of weird. Yeah, right. So ⁓ I rather, I don't see myself as this rock star. So it's always weird when it's slapping me in the face. Now, when perks start to happen because you're a rock star, I'm very grateful for it, but I'm also just very kind about that. You know, because there are these artists that they expect everything and they're so empowered by their fame or whatever that they, well, truly they can be a ... too. It's disappointing. Right. Right. So ⁓ I guess you don't see a lot of salacious stuff about my life or career because I can't view it as I don't want to be an I'm not that guy, in fact, I run from that guy. So in that way, I try to balance it, you know, and I think I do a good job of it, I think you do a great job of it. It's a beautiful thing. Third gear, what's something you tried creatively that felt risky at the time, but ended up kind of reshaping the way you play or maybe think about music? You thought maybe, I don't know, it's kind of a risky move, but it really worked out for you. Well really, mean, you know, after Kiss and Union and hitting like a wall with Union, knowing you did great music but not enough support of the fans and the business, ⁓ I decided I'm going to try to do a solo record. I'm even going to sing some of the songs. You know what mean? And believe me, if you're a Kiss fan out there and you know I sang I Walk Alone on the... know, Carnival Souls. I wasn't supposed to sing it. I did the demo with Gene and the last version we had to show to co-producer was with me singing and then he got to convince them, you got to let Bruce sing. Prophetic lyrics, right? I walk alone, right? So for me to be brave enough to say, you know, I'm going to, I don't want to label, you know, so it's like 1999, 2000, I'm going to do my own. Union's kind of over. I'm going to start recording. And by 2001, I was able to put out a solo record called Audio Dog, named after my little best friend, Joe the dog, the audio dog. And yet I'm gonna sing and some instrumentals and I'm not used to that, you know what I mean? And I'm writing lyrics on the plane with Gram Funk, because I'm working with them and I'm just obsessed with getting it done. And it was brave to do, you know, and then selling it, only myself, never. It wasn't the time of someone offering me money for it. You get what I mean? But I went on a limb not really expecting anything. And I had, oh, I better make another thousand copies. Oh, I gotta make another thousand copies. You get what I mean? And not that long ago, I did it on vinyl. You see what I mean? So you put yourself out there and sometimes you gotta take a risk because I don't see myself purely as a solo artist, but there I am. with that solo record of all original material. No covers, I did it again, I did it so well, then I did Transformer. I'm actually looking at in 2026 having, and this time with more structure and a real label behind it in an exciting way, it could be released as a vinyl. know what I mean? So to think that it could live on like that. And then I did the third one, which I didn't know what to call it, so I called it BK3. You know I mean? And having, I remember just recently talking to Gene's son, Nick Simmons about it because I got him to sing on it. I did learn on that record to have some exciting guests. Nice. You know, and that was cool. So doing the solo records was a risk. Beautiful. The rewards were great. Amen, amen. Fourth gear. You've got a legendary depression era, cold ball blue glass collection. Yes. When did you first fall down? that rabbit hole and what does collecting give you that music doesn't? That's interesting. It's a whole different part. question, Well, I always was fascinated with antiques and it's kind of funny that, ⁓ you know, meeting Lisa years later, because this obsession with antiques was happening in the late 70s, early 80s, ⁓ that she's just a fan of old Hollywood and everything, which is all that kind of stuff. But ⁓ I just remember that my mother had some green glass that we could eat the Chinese food on. Because the rest of the plates had to be like kosher meat and dairy because my grandfather was religious. Look that up. So ⁓ we still have the plates. And then I was like, I don't remember ⁓ why I was always attracted to going, instead of going to a football game, I'm fine, take me to an antique store, I like to walk around. You know what I mean? But I loved oak, you have some stuff around here like that. I loved Tiffany lamps, couldn't afford one, stained glass. And then knowing that the Pression glass was a collectible thing, was, being my favorite color, seriously, the cobalt thing became an obsession. So now I'm buying that. And then, yeah, you see a cool green piece or pink piece, you gotta get it, you know what I mean? And then I realized... If I was going through a rough time in my life, and I remember one time specifically, and I don't know what triggered the rough time, but I will tell you it was a rough time and I was really depressed. It was probably the in-between gigs when I wasn't sure what I was doing and not that happy with the gig I was doing, even if it was the step to the next thing on the ladder, that I would go to the antique places. And the funkier and the weirder the better. Oh, what's behind there, ma'am? And all of sudden I'm fine. ⁓ look at this, you know? And fortunately, my wife and I do still enjoy that. And we proudly display it, Stoney has seen it at the home, you know? And what can I say? ⁓ It's a harmless collectible type of thing. It doesn't take up too much space. And I know just recently we had a family in town and we made sure that all the meals were on. My cobalt blue depression glass. It's got your plates and bowls. I love it. That's a beautiful thing, brother. He's got some nice guitars that he picks as well. Yeah, the guitars are nice too. But I don't know, know, colors mean something. And it's not that unusual. ⁓ Paul being, becoming so successful at a young age, he started collecting like Tiffany lamps and stuff. I remember when his first marriage, I knew what to get him for his wedding. I went to... the best department store I knew to buy him some of these fancy glass things. You know what I mean? Because I knew he appreciated that. So it's not that far a stretch for creative people to like antiques, to like glassware. You know, now that everyone knows me, send me your depression glass. That's fine, you know? We'll put up an address at the bottom. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, you know, what can I say? There's something, and then there's the hunt. You guys all know about hunt. I used to like the Picker Show too, right? Absolutely. They're like, whoa, what did they find? My mom always had stuff from her grandparents. We still, Elise and I have a beautiful porcelain clock from like the 1700s or something. So not that I'm looking for more of that, but there's something about the Depression era glassware that I'm really fascinated with. And there's always a new piece from a new company to find. That's what's fun about it. Fifth gear, I love it. Fifth gear, there was a moment, in your life when everything really could have ended. How did surviving a shooting change the way you look at things? Time, purpose, life, what matters? Well, it's a popular Google search, Bruce Kulick shot. Yeah. Yeah. And then you dig into it. Yeah. Look, there's a few ways to look at that. Yeah. First of all, when it happened, which was just a very random... ⁓ where someone got way too drunk, was thrown out of the rainbow a block and a half away from a club that I was visiting to go see my dear friend Brent Fitz play with Vince Neil. Just to name drop if you know Vince Neil. Yeah, absolutely. And I had to go see I'm leaving with a friend at like 1.15 at night. We walk out of the venue and we're walking towards wherever I parked. And that was on the way towards the rainbow, right? Right. So this ⁓ young kid who was actually not someone with any priors or known for any violence, but he had so much ⁓ alcohol that he got into a thing where they threw him out of the rainbow. And now he knew his friend had a nine millimeter in the car and goes and gets the gun, goes back to the rainbow. The security guard there pushes him away. And as he pulls out the gun and as he's falling from the security guard, he's shooting the nine millimeter randomly. now shots are fired, a guy that worked for some band that I can't remember the name got shot in the foot. And then one of the bullets goes down the street towards me. There was a photo in the LA Times of the guy falling and shooting that you see. And you see the bullet. That could have been one of the bullets that hit me, okay? And apparently you hear something like a, ⁓ I would call it, it sounded like the backfire of a car. You guys know what that sounds like, right? But it was a gunshot. And then all of sudden, ow! And I'm like, what the f***? I felt like someone took a hot poker through my leg. Okay, so now you go into like, what's going on? And you go into shock. Obviously I go off to the side to the street. Right away police are being called. Paramedic comes to see me. And I was really blessed because one bullet went through my leg. Right one, yeah. Right, right, yeah. The other one grazed my ear to that, just gave a little burn over here, right? I know, he's like squirming and everything. And then all of sudden the ambulance comes. The paramedic asks me, to move my toes. And because it went through muscle and it could have shattered my knee, it could have gone through a major artery, went through muscle. So it exited cleanly through my leather pants. And ⁓ when he saw that I could move my toes, he said, you're gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine. I'm in shock. You know what I mean? Now we go to a short ambulance ride to see the cyanide. It looked like a freaking TV set. You see like five beautiful nurses, five male model nurses, and they're like looking at me like in panic, you know, and I'm going like, I'm sitting up, you know, and I'm like, ⁓ what, you know, right away, they're going to treat my head wound. Yeah, it was a graze. Yeah. Thank you. Yes. It was a graze. Yeah. They knew about a bullet that went through my leg. So all they had to do is do some testing. They sent me home that night, by the way. It's not like I didn't even have to stay. But I did ask one of the nurses, I was just like, why is everybody looking so serious about me? We heard it was a head wound. They probably thought like, know, brains were falling out of my head. And then she walks over with a little zinc oxide and puts it over here. Can you believe that? So you realize one inch different, one ⁓ distracted moment where I turned a different way. And the bullet could have gone through my head. A bullet could have gone through a major artery and killed me. So I wrote a brilliant song called I'll Survive and it's on BK3. And my lyrics, I love writing lyrics, I don't do it often enough, but it's a great way to be poetic and not be literal but still tell your thing. So a warm smoking gun couldn't take me away. It starts like that. And then I viewed it as just one man's anger. You what I mean? ⁓ Causes this insanity. He had no priors. He never was violent before. He's drunk out of his mind. Now he's shooting a gun and he could have killed someone. He went to jail for 10 years. But I remember he wanted to make amends. Not necessary. You could have killed me. I was lucky. I don't need to be your friend. But he paid his penances very serious in probably any state, I would think, especially California. So what a story. I can't help it. I have to say this as a believer. got to say God had a purpose for you, You have spread so much love in your life that you got a reason to be here. Thank you. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Let's shift it one more time into overdrive. ⁓ there's another gear. This is overdrive. Last one. What's the mountain you still want to climb? Musically, personally, creatively? You haven't tackled yet. Is there something that you still want to do? Well, I did talk about that I do want to see a book get out there. And I know that all the Kiss guys have always done it. And I think it would do very well. So I know that's one. mean, putting out another Soul Work is a goal, but I've done it, right? So I would say ⁓ to finish that book, obviously I'd love to, as part of that mount, I keep saying it's still being written. And it is, every year there's another like, wow. I mean, who would have thought ⁓ that Kiss is over and then all of a sudden I'm doing a huge kiss related event and being really proud of it. And then again, what will happen in 2026 that could be exciting. So it's always being written, but I do feel like that would be really important to me. And I'd like to live a long life and hopefully every doctor that I have for every body part in my body will help me. Because life is fragile and you really need to... stay one step ahead of it, you know? Because whenever you read about, I'm always curious every time I hear about one of my heroes passing away. ⁓ You know, obviously, some of them you know about their lifestyle or what they were about, but some of them, it's just really shocking. Totally healthy people, all of a sudden, sadly they have cancer and it's unbeatable. Look what happened to Eric Carr. So obviously, ⁓ one mountain I see in my life is to live every day like it's your birthday, you know? And I think my wife can tell I've been trying to do that a lot lately. Because you know, you got to be aware of your mortality and know that every day is a blessing. And you got to live it to the fullest. So that's why when a Danny Coker calls to say, need you on my podcast, you say yes. And you're there with bells on. That's it. I'm not sure where my bells are, but they're here. You know what trips me out? That in my ancient old... ⁓ rotary style cellular phone. I actually have your phone number and when I called it you answered. Stuff like that trips me out. I just want you to know I'm very friendly to 702 numbers. If it was like an 866 you wouldn't have heard from me. You would have to leave a message. But I was really glad you called. It was great. It was at a good time. was exciting week in my life. My wife's celebrating a big birthday and everything. But obviously, I don't always hear from you. I didn't even have your number saved. I've had your wives. You are like speed dial with me. We do a lot. That was wonderful. And I really appreciate you having me on your podcast. Bro, let me just say this, I can't begin to tell you thank you enough. You are amazing. Your stories are amazing. Your career is amazing. Thank you. Your playing is amazing. but I'm just gonna fanboy out here in a minute. No, I'm gonna turn the page on a fanboy. I'm a fanboy on all those other things. But man, you're just a beautiful human being. I love you, man. You rock. Thank you for being here. And thank you for having me. And one thing, again, I've known you and Stoney quite a few, many years now. And it's one of the one things that makes me really happy. You know, this business, people can be really backstabbing and weird. It's tough. I it all the time. It's always a scary thing to meet your idols or the people that you admire because it might be the most disappointing thing in your life. ⁓ The fans and the friends that get to know Bruce, we are all blessed. Well, great. And I feel really blessed that I'm in this circle. And Las Vegas has been a wonderful place for this community. ⁓ Not everything goes exactly how we want here. mean, you're aware of that. But we all have each other and that's a good feeling. And whatever community, wherever anybody lives, be good to everyone, look out for your brothers and sisters and take care of it. Because good things come when you do care. That's what I feel. Amen to that. Everybody at home, I hope you guys have enjoyed this as literally as much as I have. Thanks for joining us here in Count's Culture with my brother, Mr. Bruce Kulick. Good Lord. Yay. Tony, that was amazing. That was great. That was Bruce Kulick. It Bruce Kulick, yeah. I mean, it just, I don't know what I'm more got by the stories, the growing up, the career, the... the playing, the different bands you know, I mean, we all love Kiss, but you know how I am about grand funk, know, all this kind of stuff. But just the person, Bruce is just such a really wonderful guy. Yeah, he really is. He's become ⁓ a true friend over the past several years. You know, and this conversation was great. And you know, he's another one too where we're just scratching the surface. There's so much more, you know. Right. You know, just did the Kennedy Honors with Kiss, you him being there. Right. You know, I think, you know, this event that we talked about a lot, this landlocked gave him some closure, I think, in a way, with Kiss, you know, because they did their farewell tour. And, you know, he wasn't invited, like, you know, to maybe make a final... Something right so I think this was important to him this Vegas thing was real important to him so that was great and Yeah, and and you know the different plane throughout the years You know the different styles meatloaf and you know Michael Bolton Billy Squire right you know the kiss the grand funk and all these other little things But it just shows you his versatile versatility as a as a player. I was like you to Willie scratch the surface there There is so much more we learned so much about Bruce, and you know we've known him. We've been friends for a long time now, but I still learn stuff all the time. Yeah, and for me as a lifelong Kiss fan, obviously I'm a child of the 70s, so the 70s Kiss was, that's my Kiss, but his era of Kiss is just as important to me in a different way. for a real Kiss fan, there's two eras of Kiss. There's the original and there's the Bruce Kulick era. There was a couple years here and then there's everything that they've done after the reunion tour, but it's still part of that 70s vibe. So there's the 70s vibe and there's the Kulick era. So this was great. It was really special for me. Yeah, Speaking of special for you, I just had to throw this out there. We find ourselves at a point in our lives where we actually know some of these guys from kiss. It's crazy You know, especially growing up on you know, the South Side of Chicago and you know This is stuff that we saw in magazines. This is stuff that we saw on TV, you know So but they are now you're like in that that world, right? It's it's crazy some of the people that we talk to and see every day boggles my mind, know, and my friends and family back in Chicago, still trip out, after all these years, they still trip out on the people that we get to spend time with. Right, right. That's cool stuff. That's cool stuff. Well, everybody, we're wrapping up this extremely special episode of Count's Culture. Thank you all for hanging out with us. I really am just so thankful that you guys make this a part of your evening. If you want the full experience, do me a favor. head over to our YouTube channel at Counts Culture, Cultures with a K, and watch the entire episode there. You can also find the show on all major podcast platforms, and please connect with us on TikTok, X, Facebook, and Instagram for exclusive and behind the scenes content. Until next time, stay cool, take care of each other, and I can't wait to be back here with y'all again. We'll see you soon.