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Grand Funk Railroad guitarist Bruce Kulick took some time between studio tours to sit down with us at GlamMetal to talk about many topics. Some of the topics we touched upon is his upcoming solo CD, the new Kissology DVD, and why he chooses to participate in so many Kiss expo’s. So let’s see what the 12 year Kiss veteran had to say….
Gus: You’re here in N.Y.C. taking part in Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp. What camp is this for you and how is it for you taking part in this experience?
Bruce: Technically it will be my 6th one but the other 5 camps I was actually a counselor and was in it for the long run. Because of my schedule performing with Grand Funk Railroad, I can only come on the last day. The gig was close enough to where I can get here. So it’s exciting! I made the extra effort because Paul (Stanley) is involved. It was a different special guest it may not have been as relevant. Everyone is aware that I’m a big supporter of the camp and enjoy it as crazy as they are.
 Gus: You are currently on tour with the legendary Grand Funk Railroad. How long have you been a part of Grand Funk now?
Bruce: It’s been 7 years now. We don’t tour in that traditional way that Kiss did when Kiss did like 6 months in a row. We do fly in and out dates all year. The summers are our marquee season. I have not been home much in August or July for that matter. When I fill it in with other things, it just gets crazy. I’m very fortunate to be busy and the band is a lot of fun to play with. We just did a show in Connecticut last night at the Mohegan Sun and it went over great. We do very well. I’m very proud of it!
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Gus: Touring with a band like Grand Funk Railroad is so different than touring with your former band Kiss. Explain some of the differences?
Bruce: Kiss takes the big show and the whole thing. Grand Funk is really more about the music. When Kiss committed to a tour it was like say goodbye to your family, you know? You are going to be on the road for a while. With Grand Funk, I get to go back and forth. In the musical presentation of what I do, we have a terrific front man who just sings named Max Carl and I’m the featured guitar player in every song so I can really perform. In Kiss, Gene and Paul are such amazing performers, that I knew my role and where to go so I was able to work with them. It’s ironic that in some ways, I’m getting even more showcased as the lead guitarist in Grand Funk.
Gus: You are working on a new solo CD. Any perspective titles for the CD and do you have release date?
Bruce: It’s been hard to get the work done on it due to my traveling this summer. It’s going to be called “BK3” or at least that’s the working title that has been sticking as this is my third solo record. Plus graphically with those letters, I can do something strong as I have had some people present some things for me. On my website which is www.kulick.net I show a blog for every time I go into the studio, which is 15 days now. I’m hoping certainly by the end of fall or maybe getting it out by the end of this year. If not, early next year. I’m very serious about doing it. I’m really excited about the songs and the progress I made. When I home I’m recording, but I can’t record on the road because I don’t have a touring bus.
Gus: Any special guest appearances on the CD?
Bruce: Yeah! It’s exciting so far and I’m thinking of other people but one guy I have recorded with who I met through the Fantasy Camp is Doug Fieger (The Knack). We hit it off really well and he is a fan of vintage guitars like myself. He lives in LA and we’re able to keep in touch. I found the song that I knew that I couldn’t sing on and needed a real rock singer, a guy who sang on a hit single. He came in and sang it and I’m real excited. The song is called “Never Enough.” There is a photo of us in the studio when he came in on my website from about a month ago. I’m hoping for Corabi (John) schedule permitting, that he can sing a song or two for me. If not, there are some other people I’ve been thinking about. I may some interesting surprises up my sleeve. When they actually happen is when I’ll mention it.
Gus: What’s the difference working on this CD than your previous two ‘Audiodog” and “Transformer?”
Bruce: With “Audiodog” I used this guy Curt Cuomo who worked with Union. I was very comfortable working with him. I needed someone who knew me. I never did a solo record. I never sang a multitude of songs. I sang very little in my career. So it was great working with him. “Transformer” I was like one dimension, one mind, I was driven to do this album. It was about being in love and the not being in love. Everything came together very quickly. That was a lot of pressure for me but I did enjoy it. I love both records even though I was in a different state of mind.
Gus: For both records?
Bruce: Yeah! Well for this one, I started writing towards the end of 2003. I’m working with a guy that has been trying to work with me for the past 3 or 4 years. He is a cousin of Bob Ezrin who is very talented, his name is Jeremy. As soon as we started to get together, I started to throw at him some of the songs I had that I knew I wanted to record. He just took them to another level. So I realized, “Hey you’re the guy!” We are going to produce this together. I want you to do this. He wanted to do that for “Transformer” but I was already knee deep in the project by then. So Jeremy and I have been working together and he has been really pushing me and he is a really creative guy. I’m really excited about the stuff I accomplished with him! I lot of my friends who have heard the demos and roughs… they hear the evolution of Bruce as a solo artist. That’s the whole point that if I’m going to work with anybody, I want them there because I’m only going to shine more. It’s really going to be interesting. I’ve used an engineer that he is friends with to do the drums. I’ve also got Brent Fitz to play and Eric Singer on a track as well. By the way speaking about another performance that I will record, is a song I wrote with Max from Grand Funk. That hasn’t been recorded yet but he will sing on it because he is an amazing singer and it’s a song we wrote. Grand Funk was doing it or a few years so I just made the offer to him and he said “Great let’s get it out there!” At least he knows we will do a great version.
Gus: Speaking about Brent Fitz from your old band Union, a couple of years ago there was a DVD release called “Do Your Own Thing Live.” Are there any plans to resurrect the band to do any future projects with them?
Bruce: With John being so busy…. I do work with John on a project with Eric Singer as ESP. That kind of answers that with doing a little bit of Union. We were getting a little criticized too with people saying “What is Union? Is ESP Union or is Union ESP?” You know? It was getting complicated and I realized we were blurring the lines a little bit and I wasn’t proud of that. But, I was always proud working with Eric because the fans then would be getting 2 KISS members and I knew that they would really appreciate that. Then when Eric performed in Japan when Brent couldn’t because of an important commitment that came up everybody thought.. “Well, Eric joined Union!” It was really a mess. He didn’t join Union. What am I going to do? Was I going to cancel the gig? Who am I going to go to? Somebody like Eric (Bruce says in a funny voice: please do this for me and laughs.) It was a Kiss related event anyway. Anything I play is a Kiss related event, well not under the Grand Funk moniker but you know what I’m saying.
Gus: Yes
Bruce: I still see my fans out there. So, I don’t think Union is going to do much but I’m real proud of those records. I look forward to John doing stuff on my record and hopefully ESP will do some more stuff in the future.
Gus: Talking about Eric and ESP, there was a new DVD released called “Live at the Marquee” that you were part of. How fun is it to get together and jam to some old Kiss tunes and covers?
Bruce: It is fun. I know when we went to Japan we realized “Wow,” we get a good reaction from this. We fine tuned the set a little for Australia and as it turned out, we were lucky to get it filmed which turned into the DVD. It’s been fun doing it. It’s been a learning curve too. We did something with ESP for a cover record years ago but we didn’t really know what we were doing. We are now more aware of what the fans would like to see. There is now talk of going to Mexico, Japan, Australia, and Europe again. We were always able to go and do two weeks in Europe. We had offers in Russia but the scheduling is too hard with Eric with Alice, me with Grand Funk, and now John with Ratt, it makes it more complex.
Gus: It seems you do very well when you tour overseas.
Bruce: People always say “When are you going to tour America?” It’s easier to tour international because the fans really dig rock and roll.
Gus: What did you think of the results in Kissology 2? Did you have any say in any of the final cuts?
Bruce: I didn’t have final say but they did ask me to do the commentary track, which is great! I did have some footage from some of those years that they can use. Some of it’s on the personal side like my wedding, where they guys were at. I can understand some of it not being looked at seriously, where they could use Eric (Carr) in the hospital which is really intense at the end of the credits. My favorite part on the damn thing is ….Well I’m certainly proud of the Hot in the Shade and Crazy Nights but that Ritz thing is really amazing! That’s footage I never saw before and you can tell we were having a great time playing for New York. It came in at number 1 so it’s going to be, I don’t know like triple platinum? Were going to get the award for that and I’m really proud of it! The next one maybe will come out by the end of this year. They are not going to wait two years. Sooner I would think.
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Gus: You do a lot of appearances for KISS Expo’s throughout the world. How cool is it to get together with your fans and share old stories with them?
Bruce: When I can. I’ve been down to South America, Peru, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. The best way to do it is not only a performance but an Expo with a performance with a band. The Q&A’s are interesting but generally around the world the questions are quite similar. It’s great though. It’s cool to see fans that there favorite album is “Asylum” or they love “Carnival of Souls.” Or they ask “Why isn’t the MTV thing out on DVD anymore” you know (laughs)? “Why weren’t you asked to be back in the band?” stuff like that. I never get a real shocker of a question but I appreciate how the fans are about it. They know at least I’ll give them an honest answer with it and I’m not just some robot with it.
Gus: We appreciate you taking the time to talk to GlamMetal
Bruce: Thanks! If you want to dig deeper go to my website and I have some blogs about the past three camps I think, about what it was like. The key thing about me doing this is the people who work for the camp realize I’m a camper when I do it. I know how to be the counselor too but I get so excited when these people come in. I got highlights of me playing with Jack Bruce in England and meeting all the famous British people. Recording at Abbey Road was unbelievable. Being here in the city with Paul is great. I’m actually excited about Leslie West tonight because I’m a big Mountain fan! It all comes back to my passion for playing and rock and roll. They may say rock and roll is not what it was but there are more guitars sold now more than ever, go figure? It’s just the way that people are supporting and buying it is what’s different. These camps are great!
If you want to see what is currently going on with Bruce, go to www.kulick.net
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