Bandit - Vocals
Greetings to you all my fellow brothers, sisters and kissfreaks.
I'm Laine, the vocalist for KISStory. I try and fill in the spot of singing all four vocals. Not a lot of bands have all members singing. And...seeing as we at Kisstory are with 5 and KISS with 4 we tried a different approach. And it works. Pretty difficult. Just try and sing Nothin' to lose and compare it with I was made for....well....point proven I think.
I was the singer in a few metal bands in the late eighties. I started of in Piranha, a local thrash band that muted in Terraccess. We did a few gigs, recorded some tapes, laughed a lot, thought we were the shit, and...well the story of many a band followed. We got thrown out of more repetition rooms than we had songs, swapped the beers for girls and...say no more. Some of these guys are still active on the music front, though.
I let my microphone ambitions go for a while and then got a call 10 years later from my 'alter ego' Dirk. He asked if I was interested in singing in a KISS tribute band? Professionally I'm always on a tight schedule so I said something in the regions of; "I'll come check you guys out and if you don't kick butt in 5 minutes I'm outta there." It only took me half way through 'Deuce' to make me grab that microphone and... we haven't stopped since.
Now, the make up was another thing. How to decide? Singing in a Vinnie ankh sign??? I don't think so. Eric Carr and the fox make up? Out of respect for the man I wouldn't even contemplate it. There were other possibilities, though. Flicking through my "Kisstorybook" I found the sessions Paul did at the time he was thinking of changing his star 'make up, way back in '73/'74. Some fans may not even know this, but he even performed a few gigs in January 1974 with this version of the make up. It's called the bandit make up hence my nickname.
I really want everybody to leave the hall after a kisstory gig with a smile on their face. At least that's what happened to me everytime I saw Kiss. I've seen them on different occasions. Actually my first band I went to see was Kiss (well, technically it was Iron Maiden) on their Unmasked tour in 1980. I then saw them subsequently in Brussels in '83 on the Lick it up tour, same hall the year after in '84 on the Animalize tour, saw them perform twice at Donington, a couple of times during Monsters of Rock in '88 and then lost count...
My philosophy is 'enjoy life'. Hey, let's face it. We only live once (at least, that's my opinion). Everybody is entitled to differ. It's a free world, right?
I also collect magazines with the band on the cover, so if we can help each other out, give me an e-mail.
So, the world of Kiss has us engulfed for the rest of our lives.
Come see the band.
Enjoy the show.
CU
Laine
Year of birth: 1967
How many bands did you play in before KISStory? 2; Piranha en Terraccess
How many times have you seen KISS live? 18 times
What is your favorite KISS song? Spit, Love her all I can, Makin’ love, Deuce
What is your favorite KISS album? Unmasked, Unplugged (the uncensored bootleg version)
What other bands are your favorites? Marc Bolan/ T-REX, Jane’s addiction, Adam and the Ants, Pantera, Machine head, Van Halen, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Limp Bizkit, Tom Waits, Led Zeppelin, Mojo Nixon
What hobbies do you have? The ancients, reading, philosophy, music, music and music
Are you a collector? What do you collect? Yes, books, specials and magazines on KISS
What is your coolest KISS/non KISS item you have? My pictures with various rock and roll heroes. Most special is the one with Cliff Burton in Carnaby Street days before his death.
What is your funniest rock and roll story? First song during the first gig with KISStory and all the bombs, fireworks and pyro effects go off, at the same time. I look around towards Catman and he doesn’t know where the hell he is, where his drums are how the next song begins. Unforgettable.
What is your dream? Meeting the original KISS
What do you want to do in the future? Becoming a healthy old man with my wife and kids.