Kiss Avatars Will ‘Take Some Time’ to Get Right

Tommy Thayer discussed the development of Kiss’ future avatar plans, and said he was considering options for continuing to play music after the band’s final tour ended.

In a new interview with Guitar World, Thayer looked back on his career with the band, which started out with part-time backstage roles before he became more involved and finally took Ace Frehley’s place in the lineup in 2002. The youngest member of Kiss, he was also their longest-serving guitarist.

“I feel good, just unwinding and decompressing a bit,” he said of the aftermath to the farewell show in December. “I’m happy and relieved that the tour went so well, particularly the final couple of months… it was great.”

While former guitarist Bruce Kulick recently expressed disappointment at the way the farewell show panned out, Thayer said: “I take it one show, one song at a time, so I wasn’t thinking about the finality of it all… But again, I’m super-happy with how the band came to end this.”

Kiss’ final album, Monster, was released in 2012. By that time Thayer had been elevated to the position of contributing material, including Outta This World – which has come to be regarded highly within their late-career output. “I had more latitude and the confidence to play more like me without getting too far away from what Kiss should sound like,” he reflected.

“What we wrote and recorded felt good – what we had on tape, so to speak – but the mix is where it got screwy. It would be nice to hear Monster remixed at some point.” He added: “Pound for pound, some of those songs are as good as anything the band has ever done … 'Outta This World' is cool; I like the way it sounds.”

Listen to Kiss’ ‘Outta This World’

Tommy Thayer Looking Forward to ‘Exciting’ Future

Asked about his future, Thayer confirmed he wasn’t “completely ready to retire yet,” saying he had “ideas and certainly options on the table.” He continued: “I’m not thinking of continuing to play in another band or that sort of thing – that doesn’t appeal to me. But I look forward to an exciting future, working hard and being a part of good things going forward.”

The Kiss avatars, announced at the end of the farewell show, remain an unknown quantity ahead of their debut appearance in 2027. Thayer observed: “It’s been interesting doing the avatars so far; it’ll take some time to get the imagery where we want it to be.

“I haven’t really thought about what it all means in the big picture, but with technology evolving as quickly as it is, there’s no doubt that this is the direction a lot of entertainment is going.”