©Elizabeth A. White – Please do not reproduce without express written permission.
Are you ready for a treat KISS fans, because KISS ASYLUM is happy to deliver a big one for you! We were fortunate enough recently to be able to conduct an in-depth interview with the one and only elusive Mark St. John. Though Mark has been slowly venturing back out into the world of KISS fandom recently from his self-imposed seclusion by attending a couple of KISS Expos, we were aware that most fans would not get the benefit of attending those Expos to see Mark in person. Therefore, we made arrangements to conduct a phone interview with Mark so that all the online fans would be able to read what Mark has to say after his 15 long years away.
Mark was very gracious, laid back, open, and a real pleasure to talk with during the interview. He never shied away from any topic, instead seeming more than ready — almost relieved at times — to address all issues head-on. Mark seems to be genuinely enjoying getting back in touch with the fans, and had a great time during our interview relaying all kinds of stories about himself, both in and out of KISS. Don’t be surprised to see more of Mark in the coming months and years in interviews, at Expos, and musically because Mark is back and he’ll tell you so! Of course, there were so many possible areas to cover with Mark that there’s no way we were going to be able to cover them all.
However, we’re confident you’ll find Mark’s perspective on a variety of topics very interesting, including: memories of Eric Carr (“The best musician in the band. He was just always solid, he always played it right and he never really made any mistakes as I remember.”); why he says his time in KISS was actually “the worst time” of his life (“Everyday was lies and deceit, all kinds of little weird things. Everyday was like a little test or mind games.”); the interesting story of the Animalize album back cover photo (“Oh, it is a total cut and paste job!”); what he thinks the real reason is he developed arthritis (“I never had arthritis in anywhere in my family. I was playing violin concertos on the guitar before KISS, you know? I think it was just the stress of the whole thing.”); his feelings on being replaced by Bruce (“I’m thinking that Bruce is just helping, but which turned out to be that it was another plan in the big picture.”); how his KISS experience affected his music life (“Paul and Gene kind of wrecked music for me for the longest time, and it made me not like the whole thing anymore because of what I went through.”); working with Peter Criss (“We finally did the big recording and all that stuff and we sent the tapes to all these companies, and all the companies would send us this little letter back and every letter would be the same: We really like what you are doing, but at this time we are looking for something different.”); and, of course, his new CD the Mark St. John Project (“Now I am finding out that I have people who are really concerned about me and my music and the mystique of it all. People are interested in what I am doing, and I am playing more for the people, the fans.”). Read on for the complete Mark St. John KISS ASYLUM interview.
